Mehbooba requests re-issuance of visa for PoK woman married to Kashmiri

Srinagar, Jan 15: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has requested External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to re-issue visa to a woman Maroofa Jan (a Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) resident, who got married to a Kashmiri 20 years ago and has two sons.

President of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was reacting to a tweet that requested her intervention, following which she asked Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India to issue a long-term visa in favour of Maroofa Jan.

''Requesting @SushmaSwaraj to consider issuance of visa for Maroofa Jan of Baramulla. She got married here 20 years back & is a mother of two sons. In 2016, she had applied for VISA extension but no response from @MEAIndia. Requesting for kind consideration,'' Ms Mufti said in a tweet.


A large number of youth, including girls, in the Kashmir valley, particularly from north Kashmir, have married residents of PoK or Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik has married a Britain born Pakistani girl, while chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) married a US citizen of Kashmiri origin.

Separatist leader-turned-mainstream politician Sajjad Ghani Lone, who heads Peoples Conference (PC) married daughter of JKLF founder late Amanullah Khan.