New Delhi: After the heinous terror attack on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, the tension between India and Pakistan has increased manifold. The Indian government has imposed a series of stringent actions against the neighbouring country including the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and the deportation of Pakistani nationals living in India back to their country. While many people have already left India, there are few who have allowed to stay back on humanitarian grounds, especially a former Pakistani lawmaker, who sells ice cream in our country. Amid the chaos and grief all around, his story and the gesture of the Indian government have touched the chords in the hearts of common people.
Dabaya Ram is a former Member of Parliament in Pakistan who is now residing in Haryana’s Fatehabad district. As per a News18 report, Ram and his family were summoned by the local police for questioning after the central government issued the directive. However, the family was later permitted to return to its home in Fatehabad district’s Rattangarh village of Ratia tehsil. In the family, six people have acquired Indian citizenship but the remaining 28 are still struggling for permanent residency.
The story of Dabaya Ram
Dabaya Ram was born in that portion of Punjab (which is currently in Pakistan) around two years before the Partition of the erstwhile undivided India took place. However, the Partition changed the demographics of the land and Dabaya Ram chose to continue living in Pakistan. According to the News18 report, he and his family stood up against forced conversion in the country and in 1988, Ram was elected unopposed to National Assembly of Pakistan from the Lohiya and Bakhar districts.
However, tragedy soon turned his life upside down. Religious extremists abducted a female relative of Ram and forced her to marry someone. Ram went to the Supreme Court of Pakistan for justice, but the court dismissed his plea. Ram realised that his family was in grave danger in Pakistan, and left the country with his family in 2000. At first, they went to Rohtak on a one-month visa to attend the funeral of a relative. Soon, they decided to settle in Ratangarh.
Selling kulfis and ice-creams to make ends meet
Ram started to sell kulfis and ice cream from a cycle rickshaw to support his large family. His seven children have married within the community and have formed their own family. His family comprises of 34 members and they are trying for the last 20 years to get Indian citizenship. According to the News18 report, six members, including two women, have become Indian citizens while the remaining 28 are still waiting with their application being under process.
Over the years, Ram has renewed the visas every year till 2018. In the initial phases, his family received extensions for a year at a time. However, later, the family started to receive visas of one year and five years. Reportedly, this week, 50 Pakistani nationals with the NORI (No Obligation to Return to India) visa, crossed over to India through the Attari border’s Integrated Check Post (ICP). Overall, 240 people from Pakistan, including the 50 NORI visa holders, entered India. On the other hand, 140 people from India returned to Pakistan via Attari. Also, since the Pahalgam terror attack, as per reports, 537 Pakistani nationals have left India.
