After J&K police denial, Shaurya Chakra awardee’s mother denies being deported

Hours after the family of Shaurya Chakra awardee Mudassir Sheikh’s mother claimed she had been taken from her home for deportation to Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Police issued a clarification denying the claim, while her own recorded statement later contradicted her family’s initial version.

The woman, Shamima Begum, whose son was posthumously awarded for his role in a counterterror operation in 2022, appeared in a video dismissing the deportation reports as rumours and stated that she had voluntarily travelled to Srinagar due to illness, The Indian Express reported.

The developments unfolded as reports emerged of the deportation of several residents of Pakistani origin from Jammu and Kashmir, with the authorities transporting 59 people to Punjab, where they are being processed for deportation to Pakistan.

Although police denied Begum had been taken into custody, her family had earlier asserted that she was removed from her home by police officials and listed among individuals facing expulsion, a claim which has not been officially confirmed by the administration.

Begum’s son, Mudassir Sheikh, had died in an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammad militants near Baramulla in May 2022, and she had received his posthumous Shaurya Chakra at Rashtrapati Bhawan in May 2023.

Her family had raised concerns that despite his sacrifice, she was being considered for deportation due to her Pakistani origin through her father, who had returned to India after marrying in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, several cases across Kashmir Valley came to light involving families affected by the deportation drive. In Srinagar, a local man accompanied a convoy heading towards Amritsar after his wife, a Pakistani national who had been residing in India since their marriage in 2017, was taken for deportation.

According to him, her documents, including a long-term visa, were valid and regularly updated, yet she was picked up past midnight and taken along with others from the District Police Line to be transported to Punjab.

Elsewhere in the city, a woman recounted how her elderly relatives, who had been living in Kashmir for over four decades, were taken from their home during the night and sent for deportation. The relatives, both in their sixties, had spent most of their lives in the Valley, had children who were buried locally, and had never faced legal issues regarding their residency until the recent directive was enforced.

The mass movement comes amid a wider crackdown ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir directing district officials and senior police officers to ensure that deportation of Pakistani nationals is carried out as per the notified deadline.

Reports indicated that at least 28 individuals had already been moved from the Valley to Attari, with many having no immediate connections to Pakistan and having integrated into Kashmiri society through decades-long residence and familial ties.