Is Seema Haider a spy? Does she have any links to the Pakistan Army?
It’s a love story that has got everyone fascinated and asking, ‘Is this a case of cross-border love or is she a Pakistani spy?’
Seema Haider, the woman who illegally entered India in May, has not only captured the attention of the common man but also the authorities. On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) questioned her, her partner – Sachin Meena and even her partner’s father, Netrapal Singh for over nine hours, trying to ascertain if she is in fact just a woman crazy in love or as some believe a Pakistani spy.
Tuesday’s round of questioning by the UP ATS was the second day in a row that they were interrogated, with an UP ATS officer saying that the couple “may or may not be arrested” after the interrogation, depending on the outcome of the inquiry in the sensitive matter that pertains to national security.
As the suspense deepens, we take a closer look at her possible connections with the Pakistan Army and the country’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The Seema Haider love story
Before diving into whether she’s a spy or not, here’s a quick recap of who she is. The 27-year-old, believed to be a resident of Pakistan’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar in Karachi, grabbed the headlines when she was arrested earlier this month for illegally entering the country.
She revealed she had fallen in love with 22-year-old Sachin Meena, who lives in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida. Seema said that the two had first got in touch in 2019 through the popular game PUBG.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, she revealed, “I used to talk to many strangers online while playing PUBG because I kept the mic on. That’s how I met Sachin, and we started chatting on the chatbox. We used to play for hours on end, even four hours and never stopped talking. After about four months, we exchanged phone numbers and began communicating via voice and video. We confessed our love for each other by January 2021.”
The loved-up couple then met in Nepal in March this year and according to an NDTV report, they even tied the knot. Seema then went back to Pakistan where she sold a plot of land and bought flight tickets and a Nepal visa for herself and her children. Seema then reached Nepal’s Pokhara city from Dubai in May. Later, she travelled to Delhi from Kathmandu. She and her children reached Greater Noida on 13 May, where Sachin had made living arrangements for them, NDTV reported.
As per News18, Seema entered India illegally on 13 May. Seema and Meena were then arrested after a lawyer they approached regarding getting married alerted the police.
Also read: Five crucial but unanswered questions in Seema Haider’s love story
The spy angle
After being arrested, the security agencies have been trying to determine if Seema is, in fact, who she claims to be or is this case of a Pakistani spy. Suspicions about her being a spy have been compounded by several reasons. First is her Pakistani identity card. The ID card, which is typically obtained at birth, was issued on 20 September 2022. The Uttar Pradesh ATS is investigating the delay in obtaining her Pakistani citizenship ID card.
Moreover, she has two passports, as per a Business Today report, and some details on them are suspicious.
Concerns have also arisen about her family and their links to the Pakistan Army. Her husband, Ghulam Haider, who lives in Pakistan, has made some startling revelations about her family members.
An IndiaToday report has quoted him as saying that Seema’s brother Asif and her uncle Ghulam Akbar are in the Pakistan Army. He said that he had met Seema’s brother Asif, who is posted in Karachi, and they often talked. Ghulam also said that Seema’s uncle holds a high-ranking position in the Pakistan Army and is based in Islamabad.
Moreover, authorities are also wary about her impeccable English-speaking skills. According to a report, when Seema was asked by the ATS to read a couple of lines, she read them out perfectly.
Investigating agencies have sent Seema’s identity card to the Indian High Commission in Pakistan for verification.
While there’s no official statement from Islamabad about Seema Haider, some media reports have quoted Pakistani agencies as saying that love was the only factor that caused her to sneak into India.
Threats and an uncertain future
The questioning by the police comes at a time when a little-known right-wing fringe group in Greater Noida has threatened a protest if Seema, who illegally entered India with her four children, is not evicted from the country “within 72 hours”.
In a purported video posted on social media that surfaced Monday, a man who identified himself as the national president of the group claimed that “Seema is a spy” and “part of some conspiracy” against the country.
Earlier too, the Mumbai Police had received a threatening phone call warning of a 26/11-like terror attack if Seema Haider did not return to her country. According to the authorities, the caller, an unidentified person, had spoken in Urdu and threatened that a terror attack like the 26 November 2008 attack would take place in the Maharashtra capital and the Uttar Pradesh government will be responsible for it.
And when it comes to her future, Seema is adamant that she wants to stay in India. She revealed to the media that she did not wish to go back to Pakistan and wanted to live with Meena in Noida. Interestingly, her family back in Pakistan also doesn’t want her home.
Not the first time
While Seema Haider’s case is grabbing headlines, it’s not the first time that a woman has crossed over the border for the sake of love. Earlier, there was Pakistan’s Iqra who met her love during an online game of Ludo.
Iqra then met 25-year-old Mulayam Singh Yadav in Nepal for the first time and got married at a temple in Kathmandu. Following their wedding, Iqra and Mulayam moved to Bengaluru, where she changed her name to Rawa Yadav. They were arrested in January and on 19 February, Iqra was handed over to Pakistani authorities along the Wagah border.
There’s also the famous case of Chanda Khan who managed to sneak into India in 2015. She had crossed the border on the Samjhauta Express and travelled until Jalandhar in Punjab without any ticket or passport before she was arrested.
When she was interrogated, she claimed that she came to India to visit ‘dargahs’ and meet actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Chanda Khan could speak Punjabi, Urdu, and Hindi and claimed to be a resident of Karachi. Chanda Khan was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and was sent back to Pakistan in 2018 after completing her sentence.
With inputs from agencies
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/xP5eBYM
FP Explainers
Comments
Post a Comment