Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 6: In yet another incident of cross-border relationship, a Jodhpur man “married” virtually a woman in Pakistan who was not granted a visa to come to India for solemnising her marriage.
In a recent case, Karachi resident Ameena decided to tie the knot with her Indian fiancee Arbaaz Khan virtually after she failed to obtain a visa for her marriage.
“Ameena will apply for the visa. I didn’t marry in Pakistan as it would not be recognised and we would have to remarry on reaching India,” Arbaaz said. The ceremony was held on Wednesday.
Arbaaz Khan, a chartered accountant, reached Jodhpur’s Oswal Samaj Bhawan with his friends and family for the marriage. Not only was the ‘nikah’ held virtually here, but the family also indulged in festivities and made Arbaaz perform all the marriage rituals. The ceremony was officiated by the Jodhpur qazi, who wished the couple a happy married life.
Speaking about his relationship with Ameena, Arbaaz said his was an arranged marriage which was initiated by his relatives in Pakistan. “Our family members had arranged this marriage. The reason for doing Nikah online is that these days the relations between India and Pakistan are not going well,” he said. He hopes that Ameena can get a visa and move to India soon.
It is the third known cross-border relationships in the recent months after Seema Haider became the talk of the town after she managed to sneak into India with her four sons from her Pakistani husband to live with her Noida-based Hindu boyfriend, and a Hindu woman from Alwar in Rajasthan went to Pakistan on tourist visa and married her Muslim boyfriend, leaving behind her two children and husband in India. Arbaaz and Ameena case, however, would not create a problem of religious conversion but the sour political relations between the two countries may not make their lives easy.