Thread by @filmborderlands

Stories from the Rajasthan border.

A thread.

The Thar Express runs between Karachi and Jodhpur, ferrying Indians and Pakistanis. Most of them are travelling, on their hard-earned visas, to meet their relatives, attend marriages and undertake pilgrimages.

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Every year ~5000 Pakistani Hindu passengers, majority from Sindh, choose to stay back in India. Many, fearing religious discrimination. Some, for better education & employment. Most want to reconnect with their relatives, usually in Kutch, who were separated post partition.

Since Pakistani citizens in India are not free to visit border districts or roam beyond a city, they start living in temporary settlements around the city of their arrival.

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Thus begins a 7 year long wait to gain Indian citizenship.

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They build houses of bamboo and reed, much different from their houses in Pakistan. They earn through manual labour, as any other work would require them to provide Indian identity cards.

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The children, who are well versed in Sindhi and Urdu...

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...find it hard to grapple with Hindi, a compulsory subject in most Indian schools.

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Many fondly remember their visits to Hinglaj Mata Mandir, a major Hindu pilgrimage in Balochistan, Pakistan. Citizenship processes complicate their visits to Hinglaj during the annual pilgrimage.

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Every few months, some decide to take the Thar Express back to Pakistan citing change in lifestyle, the long-drawn citizenship process and constant discrimination for being Pakistani's in India.

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Anywhere between 1-10 lac Pakistani Hindus, spread across 400 refugee settlements, continue their wait to become Indians.

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