The terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam has badly affected India-Pakistan relations, thus making a long-awaited cross-border wedding impossible for a Rajasthan family from Barmer district. The scheduled April 30 wedding encountered a disruption because Pakistan authorities barred the wedding procession known as the baraat from entering Pakistani territory at the Wagah-Attari border therefore the family had to leave.
Shaintan Singh a 25-year-old Rakhyal from Barmer held an engagement four years ago with Kesar Kanwar who resides in Amarkot district of Sindh province Pakistan. The wedding protocols followed heritage traditions which are typical practice in neighborhoods that represent shared cultural relationships across the international border.
The family of Shaintan Singh faced difficulties throughout the four-year period trying to obtain travel visas to Pakistan for marriage formalities. Three years passed before the family obtained visa clearance on February 18 after dealing with persistent bureaucratic delays alongside diplomatic difficulties.
They chose the wedding day for April 30 after they realized the visa would become invalid on May 12. Right as the wedding guests reached the Pakistan border for the procession new bilateral tensions emerged after Pahalgam saw a terrorist attack ending in 26 fatalities.
Following the terrorist attack at Pahalgam India took the decision to block Pakistani visa services and cancel all existing visas while asking Pakistani citizens in India to depart before April 27. India also compelled its nationals to come back from Pakistan at the same time. The wedding procession of Singh was ordered to halt at Wagah-Attari border and was subsequently sent back to Barmer.
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