After returning to India, Uzma thanks Sushma Swaraj, calls Pakistan a death trap

New Delhi: Indian woman Uzma Ahmed, who was forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint, returned home on Thursday and thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping her reunite with her family.

“I never knew my life would have so much value. I am an orphan. Sushma ma'am said being an Indian means you should be proud. I used to get calls from her daily. She said she was trying to do all she can to get you back. This encouraged me to think that Sushma ma'am and Centre is doing so much for me,” said Uzma.

"I was tortured, threatened. Firing goes on everyday, where I stayed. People have 2 wives in every home," Uzma said. "It's easy to enter Pakistan. But it's nearly impossible to leave. Pakistan is a death trap. I've seen women who go there after arranged marriages. They're miserable and living in terrible circumstances. Men have more than two wives," she added.

Speaking at the conference, Swaraj said that Uzma was beaten up badly.

Uzma, who is in her early 20s and hails from New Delhi, was allowed by the Islamabad High Court yesterday to return home after she filed a plea with the court.

Uzma was provided security by the Pakistani police till the Wagah Border crossing, and she touched the ground after crossing into the Indian territory.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Uzma recalled that she was tortured and threatened.

“I was told that my daughter would be harmed and to save my daughter, I agreed to marriage,” said Uzma.

Speaking of the ordeal she underwent in Pakistan's Buner district, Uzma said, "Firing goes on everyday, where I stayed. People have 2 wives in every home.

“Perhaps I would not have been alive if had I been there for a few more days. They would have had sold me, killed me. There are women from all countries who are abused and harassed. There are many girls over there who are not able to escape.”

“It is easy to go to Pakistan, but difficult to get out of that country, it is a well of death. India is far better, there is freedom. I will always discourage people from going to Pakistan. Even men are not safe in Pakistan,” said Uzma.

“I am proud to be India's daughter. I have seen so many countries, but there is no country like India. India is so much better off in so many aspects. I'd also like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Uzma added.

Sushma Swaraj said it is quite a big deal for us that when a woman is trapped in a foreign land, the Indian High Commission is a ray of hope.

“I feel proud of an officer like JP Singh. There was no one to advise him. But he did all he could for her. He said the moment she said she is an Indian, all other questions became redundant. He has really lived up to one of our slogans: In a foreign land, the Indian embassy is your friend.”

“Uzma had gone through a great deal of trauma. She was beaten up badly. The first time I spoke to JP. I said even if we had to keep her for 1, 2 or 3 years, we would keep her at the Indian High Commission.”

Sushma also thanked the foreign ministry and the home ministry of Pakistan. “If Uzma is with us today, they have a role too. I also want to thank the lawyer who fought the case for us. The Pakistani judge was told this case was a matter of 'Pakistan's prestige'. He asked how is it about India and Pakistan?

“When I saw Uzma kiss the Indian ground at Wagah border, that picture speaks a thousand words itself. That gesture alone won the hearts of all Indians.”

Yesterday, the Islamabad high court had allowed Uzma to return home and even handed over her original immigration papers, which her husband Tahir Ali had submitted to the court. Uzma is believed to have met and fallen in love with Tahir in Malaysia.

Uzma had petitioned the court on May 12 requesting it to allow her to return home urgently as her daughter from her first marriage in India suffered from thalassemia - a blood disorder characterised by abnormal hemoglobin production.

Ali had petitioned the court, requesting that he be allowed to meet his wife. A single bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard both the petitions and after hearing their arguments, he allowed Uzma to return to India.

Uzma arrived in Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to the remote Buner district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where she was married to Ali on May 3. She has said she was forced to marry him at gunpoint.

Later she came to Islamabad and took refuge in the Indian High Commission.

According to the law in Pakistan, her lawyer can continue to represent her in the case she has filed in the high court and she can return to pursue the case.

Uzma's brother said the Indian government had done more than expected for her, and that the embassy treated her with care, said ANI.