LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take no more than three days to decide the applications for visa extension and nationality of an Indian Sikh woman who married a Pakistani man after converting to Islam.

Kiran Bala, whose Muslim name is Amina, had travelled to Lahore from Delhi on a visa to attend religious rituals at the Gurudwara Punja Sahib.

Here, she married Muhammad Azam who she had become friends with on Facebook.

Her counsel, Advocate Ijaz Ahmad Khan, told the court that she had moved two applications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan nationality and extension in her visa, which is set to expire on April 21.

The Sikh woman came to Pakistan on a religious visa to marry a Muslim man

He said the petitioner was ready for due verification to acquire Pakistani citizenship.

The counsel argued that Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights entitled everyone to a nationality and also granted the right to change their nationality. He said the petitioner, during her visit to Pakistan, had married Azam and was now looking to exercise her right to seek the nationality of her husband’s country and an extension in her visa.

The lawyer asked the court to order the ministry to decide the applications as early as possible and to not take any coercive measures against her or her husband.

Justice Jawad Hassan disposed of the petition and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decide the petitioner’s applications within three days.

Later while talking to journalists, Amina revealed that she had travelled to Pakistan so she could marry Azam. “I do not want to go back to India where women get no respect,” she said, adding that she liked Pakistan and felt that the people here were caring.

Amina had mentioned on her travel documents that she was a mother. When asked about it, she explained that she had mentioned that for visa purposes, and denied that she had children in India. She added that her former husband had passed away.

Azam is a resident of Hanjarwal and works at an aluminium workshop. Amina converted to Islam on April 16 at Jamia Naeemia, a famous seminary in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018