Indian father-son duo reach Karachi via Afghanistan; alleged persecution back home

KARACHI: An Indian father and son, who entered Pakistan illegally, have claimed that they fled their home in New Delhi to escape from alleged religious persecution. Mohammad Hasnain, 70, and his son Ishaq Amir, 31, entered Pakistan illegally through the Pakistan-Afghan border at Chaman in the restive Balochistan province. They are currently at a shelter home of the Edhi Welfare Trust in Karachi, where the duo arrived some 14 days back.
“If the Pakistan authorities want to put us in jail we are ready for that. We have come without legal documents but we will try to seek asylum,” Hasnain said.
Hasnain and Amir belong to the Gautampuri area of New Delhi where they alleged they faced harassment and religious persecution for a long time and decided to flee to Pakistan.
“It took us 14-days to reach Karachi where we went to the police station and surrendered to them,” Hasnain said.
The two left New Delhi on September 5 for Dubai where they got visas from the Afghanistan embassy.
“We got visas and flew to Kabul from where we travelled by road to Kandahar and from there we entered Pakistan through the Chaman border,” he said.
The two were able to cross over the border with the help of an Afghan agent and later they paid 60,000 rupees to the taxi driver to take them to Karachi.
Karachi Deputy Inspector General of Police (South) Asad Raza said the two were not suspected of being spies but were considered “victims of religious bias and persecution”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office is yet to comment on the issue.