ABP Exclusive | Deportation Halted At Last Minute: Why Pakistan Stopped Sarabjit Kaur’s Return
On January 4, Pakistani agencies said Sarabjit Kaur had been traced and taken into custody. Sources said she was interrogated by intelligence agencies, including the ISI and domestic units.
An exclusive memo accessed by ABP Live has revealed why Indian national Sarabjit Kaur has not been allowed to return home from Pakistan, exposing what officials describe as a politically motivated misuse of religious corridors and consular processes. Kaur, from Kapurthala in Punjab, travelled to Pakistan on November 4, 2025 as part of an Indian Sikh jatha on a religious visa to visit Kartarpur Sahib and Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. She went missing when the group returned on November 14, sparking urgent diplomatic queries from India and shifting claims from Pakistani authorities.
Missing After Pilgrimage
Under visa rules, the Sikh jatha was permitted to visit only designated religious sites, and travel elsewhere would amount to a violation. When Sarabjit Kaur did not return with the group, Indian authorities sought clarification. Pakistani officials initially denied she was in the country, suggesting she may have gone missing on the way.
Within a day, Pakistani media circulated videos and photographs allegedly showing her nikahnama, claiming she had converted to Islam, changed her name to Noor Hussain and married Nasir Hussain, a resident of Sheikhupura district in Pakistan’s Punjab, on November 5. India subsequently demanded her deportation. Pakistan, however, claimed the couple were “absconding” and being searched for by Punjab Police.
Deportation Halted At The Last Minute
On January 4, Pakistani agencies said Sarabjit Kaur had been traced and taken into custody. Sources said she was interrogated by intelligence agencies, including the ISI and domestic units. Indian authorities were later informed deportation had been initiated and she would be sent back via the Attari-Wagah border around midnight on January 5-6.
But deportation was abruptly halted without explanation. ABP Live has now accessed a January 6 memo issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry stating the Interior Ministry, led by Mohsin Naqvi, had made an informal request to stop her return due to “political viewpoints”. The memo, signed by Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary, DG for South Asia and SAARC, indicates political considerations overruled completed legal and administrative procedures.
According to sources, Sarabjit Kaur is currently being held at a government-run facility in Lahore, where she is reportedly made to pluck guavas for 500 Pakistani rupees per day. An audio recording has also surfaced in which she allegedly says she wants to return to India and is living in extremely poor conditions, claiming harassment, exploitation and pressure for money.
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