A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable, whose wife was about to be deported to Pakistan and got last-minute relief from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, has now been sacked by the paramilitary force for concealing his marriage to a Pakistani national.
In a statement, the CRPF said Constable Munir Ahmed of the 41 Battalion has been dismissed from service “for concealing his marriage to a Pakistani national and knowingly harbouring her beyond the validity of her visa”.
“His actions were found to be in violation of service conduct and detrimental to national security,” the CRPF said.
After the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last week, in which 26 people were killed, India had revoked visas for most Pakistani nationals and asked them to leave the country within a specified period.
Mr Ahmed’s wife, Minal Khan, who is from Pakistan, had received deportation orders and had been sent to the Attari-Wagah border when she got relief from the high court. On April 29, the court allowed Ms Khan to stay in India for 10 days.
CRPF sources said Mr Ahmed, who is from Jammu and had joined the force in 2017, had written a letter and informed his department that he intended to marry a woman from Pakistan, but went ahead without waiting for official approval. The couple got married over video call on May 24 last year.
The sources said Ms Khan came to India on a tourist visa and began living with Mr Ahmed. Her visa expired on March 22, but she continued to stay with him.
India’s New Measures
In fresh measures in response to the Pahalgam attack, India on Saturday banned imports as well as incoming mail and parcels from Pakistan and prohibited the docking of ships from the country at all Indian ports.
After the Pulwama attack in 2019, India had imposed a 200% duty on all goods imported from Pakistan, including fresh fruits, petroleum products and cement. The Wagah-Attari crossing has also been closed, bringing trade with Pakistan to a halt.
In 2021-22 and 2022-23, India exported goods worth $513.82 million and $627.1 million to Pakistan and imports were to the tune of $2.54 million and $20.11 million, accounting for a very small percentage of its total trade. India’s exports to Pakistan between April 2024 and January this year were $447.65 million, while imports were just $0.42 million.
