I WAS born in India and got married to a Pakistani in 1992. I surrendered my Indian passport and got Pakistani nationality soon after my marriage which was solemnised in Karachi.

I have visited my parents, brothers and sisters in India about five or six times during the last 20 years.

The visa procedure was quite simple until a few years back but now the Indian government is demanding documents which are very difficult to provide.

Earlier, the Indian government demanded an undertaking on a stamp paper by the Indian sponsor but now they have drafted a sponsorship certificate which requires endorsement of any Indian government official, besides sponsor’s signature and copies of utility bills, passport and sponsor’s voter card.

Last month, I asked my brothers and sisters who live in Pune (Maharashtra) to send me the required documents for visa but despite their best efforts, they have not been able to find a single government official who could endorse the sponsorship certificate. The moment they learn that it is for a Pakistani national, they straightaway refuse to endorse the document.

I lost my mother a few years back during the Kargil episode. My mother suffered from a paralysis attack and was in a state of coma for 17 days in a hospital but I could not travel because the Indian Embassy in Islamabad had stopped issuing visas and flights were suspended between Pakistan and India.

I lost my father last year who died of prostate cancer in a Pune hospital. I last travelled to India in 2009. This year I have decided to go to India with my husband and children, but my brothers and sisters are unable to provide the required documents to enable me to apply for visas.

I request the authorities concerned to take up my visa issue with their Indian counterpart.

RIZWANA SURIYA Karachi Husband’s Name: Muhammad Rafique Passport No: AC5945072 CNIC No: 42000-8107507-8 Date of birth: Nov 23, 1965 Date of issue: Jan 11, 2012 Date of expiry: Jan 9, 2017