By Justice Markandey Katju, former Judge, Indian Supreme Court When I was a Judge of Allahabad High Court ( 199b1-2004 ) a large number of writ petitions were filed before me from time to time by old Pakistani citizens who had come to India on a visa of one month or so and did not want to go back.
So deportation orders were issued by the Indian government to deport them to Pakistan, which they challenged before me.
In every such case I would pass a stay order staying their deportation ' till further orders'. Since there are about a million ( ten lac ) cases in the Allahabad High Court, a case which had been heard once would usually be listed again after several years.
So the result of my stay orders was that in effect by a judicial order I converted a one month visa into a 5 year one or so ( because the case would come up again after 5 years or so, and till then the stay order would continue ).
Why did I do this ? I did it because, as I have said repeatedly ( see my articles ' The Truth about Pakistan', etc online and on my blog
justicekatju.blogspot.in ), I do not recognize the Partition of 1947, which was a historical swindle by the British on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, to keep Hindus and Muslims fighting each other, and thereby keep India, of which Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) is really a part, weak and backward.
I refuse to be a party to this historical fraud and swindle and I have never recognized, and will never recognize Partition of my country. India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) are one country, and are bound to be one day reunited under a strong, secular, modern minded government, which will not tolerate religious bigotry or extremism of any kind, whether Hindu or Muslim, and crush it with an iron hand.
So I regarded these petitioners before me as Indians. When they had been young men at the time of Partition they had been carried away by religious passions, incited by our British rulers or their agents, and in that fit of passion they migrated to Pakistan.
But now they had become old people, and were nostalgic and wanted to return to their native homes where they had spent their young days, and where many of their relatives still lived. Unfortunately, on migrating to Pakistan they lost their Indian nationality, and became Pakistanis.
The Indian Government has always been very reluctant to grant visas to Pakistanis, and even where it is granted after great difficulty, it is usually only for a short period of one month or so. Several conditions are also put on it, e.g. that the visa is only granted for living within one city, and there also one has to report to the nearest police station every week or so.
These old men ( and women ) had come on this short visa, and were reunited with their relatives and old friends, and wanted to spend the last days of their lives here. They realized the folly of their youth, but it was too late now, what could they do ?
As I said above, I do not recognize Pakistan. It is part of India, only temporarily separated, and I regard 'Pakistanis' as Indians ( whatever 'Pakistanis' may think of themselves ). So I regarded these petitioners as Indians. And how can an Indian be deported from India ?
I did not say so in my orders, but that was the real reason for passing them.
