Love in the Time of India-Pakistan Tensions: A Cross-Border Love Story Ends in Jail

(CTN News) – An Indian guy was detained in January for assisting a Pakistani national in obtaining a false identity document and unlawful entry into the country.

His wife was the one he ended up assisting.

The 21-year-old Indian Mulayam Singh Yadav and the 19-year-old Pakistani Iqra Jeewani fell in love three years ago while playing the online board game Ludo. Nonetheless, they were realistic about the challenges of their relationship.

Since India was partitioned on independence and Pakistan was founded in 1947, ties between the two countries have been tense. This might make getting visas to visit loved ones more of a hassle.

Therefore, Mulayam and Iqra went to Nepal in September to tie the knot. They eventually settled in Bangalore, India (then known as Bengaluru), the state capital of Karnataka.

But in January, tragedy struck when Ms. Jeewani was imprisoned for entering India illegally, and Mr. Yadav was jailed on charges of fraud, forgery, and harboring a foreign citizen without valid documentation.

As Mr. Yadav remains in jail in Bangalore, she was deported to Pakistan last week.

The arrests deeply troubled members of Mr. Yadav’s family in Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India. Some have said that the couple’s narrative is nothing more than a love story.

His sibling Jeetlal has clarified that the family wants everyone to return home. “We are aware of what is happening in Pakistan and India. Sadly, all they did was fall in love.”

The police force is on board with this theory.

An anonymous senior police official in Bangalore stated, “Besides the unlawful entrance and falsification, it looks like a love tale.”

When Did their Love Story Start?

In 2020, after the Covid system was shut down, the couple met and fell in love.

Mr. Yadav guarded an IT firm in Bangalore, India, while Ms. Jeewani studied in Hyderabad, Pakistan.

After meeting one another online, the couple decided to start dating long-distance. Nonetheless, Ms. Jeewani’s relatives kept putting pressure on her to settle down and get married.

Mr. Yadav suggested that she leave Pakistan and meet him in Nepal, so she did just that, going there through Dubai. According to the authorities, the couple traveled to India to get married in a Hindu ceremony at a local temple.

Police claim that Mr. Yadav arranged for a bogus Aadhar card (an Indian identification document) to be issued to Ms. Jeewani so that she could remain in India.

The police claim that while Ms. Jeewani stayed home caring for their children, Mr. Yadav worked every day.

The cops eventually tracked her out because of her frequent WhatsApp calls to her mother in Pakistan.

Authorities in Bangalore said they were on high alert last month in anticipation of the Aero India air show and the G20 finance ministers’ conference, which will take place in the city in February.

After additional inquiry, on January 20th, Ms. Jeewani was detained for unlawful entrance and turned over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office. Back in February, she was shipped back to Pakistan after being deported.

S Girish, the deputy police commissioner for Bangalore’s Whitefield area, told the BBC, “As of now, there is no violation made out against her other than merely arriving into the country illegally.” Yet, “the probe is still active.”

Unfortunately for the BBC, neither Ms. Jeewani nor her family in Pakistan was available for comment.

Her father reportedly verified to the PTI news agency earlier this week that she had returned home but that they did not wish to “talk on this topic.”

Shanti Devi, Mr. Yadav’s mother, has expressed her desire for the governments of both nations to facilitate a family reunion.

“She’s our daughter-in-law, and we couldn’t care less if she’s Muslim or from Pakistan. We promise to treat her gently.”

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