United after wait of 2 yrs, mother faces separation from child again

Jaisalmer: Radha Bheel, a 27-year-old Pakistani national living near Jaisalmer, is once again faced with the prospect of being separated from her toddler son just days after their emotional reunion following a two-year separation.
Radha, her husband Raju Ram (30), and their two daughters, aged 8 and 7, arrived in India on a Long Term Visa (LTV) in Feb 2023. However, the couple's son, Ghanshyam, who was then less than two months old, was denied a visa. Raju Ram's parents' visa application was also rejected.
Left with little option but to leave their newborn in the care of his grandparents, Radha and Raju proceeded to India in the hope that family would be reunited soon. It took two years of persistent efforts to obtain a visa, and Ghanshyam and his grandparents finally arrive in India on a Short Term Visa on April 6.
But Radha's joyous reunion with her son, who barely recognises her now, was short-lived. In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, India's decision to revoke all Pakistani visas with immediate effect and direct all Pakistani nationals to return to their country by April 27 has turned the family's relief and exhilaration to despair.
"I waited two years to hold my baby again," Radha told TOI on Thursday, tears streaming down her face. "Now, I must watch him leave once more," she said.
The govt orders rocked more than one Pakistani Hindu refugee family in Rajasthan. The state hosts over 20,000 people on LTVs. While the Ministry of External Affairs clarified Thursday that India's decision to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals does not apply to the LTVs already issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals, those on short term visas (STVs) — like little Ghanshyam and his gransparents — must return to the other side of the border. In Jaisalmer alone, there are approximately 1,200 such people.
In Jaisalmer's Amarsagar settlement, the atmosphere was thick with despair and uncertainty when this reporter visited them on Thursday. "You may as well shoot us here. We will die here, at least our ashes will be scattered in Haridwar," declared Dilip Singh Sodha, a Pakistani refugee who fled religious persecution after selling all his possessions to reach India.
In Barmer district, 25-year-old Shaitan Singh Rathore's plans to marry his Pakistani fiancée were abruptly halted when he was sent back from the Attari border on Thursday. His wedding, scheduled for April 30 in Pakistan's Umerkot, is now in limbo. "It feels like my dreams have been shattered," Rathore said.
Hindu Singh Sodha, President of Seemant Lok Sangathan, told TOI he has written to PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, pleading for a review of the Union govt's directive as it had stoked fear in villages, towns, and districts across Rajasthan.