Aligarh: It is said that love is blind, but the madness of that love can cross national borders and push him to the dark room of a prison is evidenced by the story of a man from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. Indian tailor Badal Babu, who illegally crossed the border without a visa in search of a Pakistani lover he met on Facebook, is currently in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.
Interestingly, even though the prison term imposed by the court has already been completed, he has not been able to get out of jail due to the delay in the official ‘repatriation’ process between the two countries.
The story of how Facebook friendship turned into love Badal Babu, who was working as a tailor in Delhi, met a Pakistani woman named Sana on Facebook. The online friendship gradually turned into a deep love. Badal, who was determined to see his lover, had tried to go to Pakistan for the first time in August 2024 and failed.
But, unwavering, on October 15, 2024, he left all his official documents at home and managed to cross the India-Pakistan border secretly without any visa and reach Pakistan.
The lover gave in, and Badal, who was caught while herding goats, faced a bitter truth when he reached Pakistan. Sana clearly refused to marry him. Due to this, the heartbroken Badal did not return to India, but stayed in Pakistan and joined a local employer as a goat herder.
How did this incident happen?: On December 27, 2024, while she was herding goats, the locals became suspicious after hearing the Indian dialect that Badal was speaking that was not there before. They immediately informed the police. Badal was arrested by the Pakistani police on charges of illegal infiltration and imprisoned.
Family’s tears to bring son back to homeland Badal’s family in Aligarh is washing their hands in tears after seeing their son in jail for almost 20 months. They are continuously appealing to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Central Government to bring their son back to India.
Diplomatic efforts: The local administration of Aligarh has already verified Badal’s citizenship documents and sent them to the ministry. Local MP Satish Gautam has also written to the Ministry of External Affairs demanding his early release.
International assistance: An Indian-origin woman lawyer in London is coordinating with Badal’s legal representatives in Pakistan on humanitarian grounds and is fighting a legal battle for his release.
Social Media Love and Border Crossing Craze In recent years, there has been a huge increase in cases of visa-free border crossing between India and Pakistan for Facebook, PUBG or Instagram love.
Seema Haider and Anju case: While Seema Haider from Pakistan came to India illegally via Nepal with her four children in search of Indian Sachin, Anju from India went to Pakistan on an official visa to marry her Facebook lover Nasrullah and converted to Islam.
Although such love stories are exciting to hear, due to the bitter enmity between India and Pakistan and national security reasons, the security agencies of both countries consider visa-free infiltration as espionage. Thus, in the heat of extreme love, young people are taking up such ventures and spending their entire lives in the darkness of prison.