Islamabad: An Indian Sikh woman, who went to Pakistan to attend the Baisakhi festival, has sought extension of her visa after marrying a man in Lahore and embracing Islam, media reports said on Thursday.
Kiran Bala, daughter of Manohar Lal from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, wrote to the Pakistan Foreign Office that her visa should be extended as she married one Mohammad Azam, resident of Lahore, during a ceremony held at Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on April 16, The Express Tribune reported.
She also changed her name to Amna Bibi which she used to sign the letter addressed to the foreign ministry, the report said.
“Now in the given circumstances, the undersigned could not return back to India and the undersigned have received life threats of assassination, therefore, the undersigned intends to extend her visa,” she wrote in the letter, published by the local media.
The FO or the Indian High Commission have not said anything about the letter.
She arrived in Pakistan on April 12 with other Sikh pilgrims to attend the festival in Gurdwara Panja Sahib located in Hasan Abdal near Islamabad. Her visa will expire on April 21.
The ongoing Baisakhi festival is the fresh subject of controversy between Pakistan and India.
It has already created bitterness after India accused Pakistan of using it to incite Indian pilgrims on the issue of ‘Khalistan’, which was rejected by Islamabad.
