Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR: Akhter Begum, who accompanied her husband Liyaqat Ali, accused of plotting an attack in the capital ahead of Holi, says her husband is being implicated falsely.
Begum, who reached the valley on Saturday, says the family flew to Nepal from Pakistan and were arrested near the Nepal-India border.
She says her husband made it clear to the policemen that he had come to surrender before the authorities in Kashmir who had approved his return.
“But they did not listen to us and arrested him, even after we clearly told them that authorities had approved his return under the rehabilitation policy,” she says.
She says her husband was separated from them after they were arrested. Begum, the second wife of Ali, was accompanied home by her teenage daughter, Jabeen. They, along with Ali, had left Pakistan along with another family of five, including three children.
The others, she says, were received by two of their relatives who had travelled to Nepal.
“But nobody had come for us and we were arrested.”
Begum says she is worried about her husband. “The government had told us that they will let us live normally and will not harass us. Is this the help that they promised?” she asks.
A disappointed Begum says she would go back to Pakistan if given a chance and believes the other former militants waiting to return home must have changed their mind now.
“In Pakistan they must be watching what happened here. I think nobody will come now.”
