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PUBG love story: Pakistani woman, Indian lover say only ‘death will do them part’

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RABPURA, INDIA: A Pakistani mom of four and her young Indian lover, who fell in love playing PUBG, a free-to-play battle royale video game, has said their bond was beyond international rivalries and they had no fears of any religious backlash and only ‘death would do them part’.

The love-struck couple from arch-rivals met in 2020 while playing the online shooting game PUBG during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We became friends and our friendship turned to love and our chats became longer — every morning and night — before we finally decided to meet,” said 27-year-old Seema Haider, who is a married Pakistani and a Muslim. 

The mother of four spoke to AFP from the cramped courtyard of a two-room house of her new husband, Sachin Meena, 22, an unmarried Indian shopkeeping assistant and a Hindu,

Seema, who left Pakistan and her husband with her four children by smuggling herself into India via Nepal in May — for which the couple were arrested then bailed out last week — said she has since married Sachin and taken his name.

“I’d rather die than return or leave Sachin,” she said, sitting next to Sachin in the village of Rabupura, where she now lives.

While the couple has found each other, the history of their respective nations is bitter.

Pakistan and India, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent in 1947.

Each expelled the other’s high commissioner in 2019, and limited bilateral diplomatic, cultural, business and sporting links to almost zero.

Indian police insist that Seema’s long-term stay will be impossible.

“I request the Indian government to grant me citizenship”, Seema pleaded, a red headscarf covering her hair and her four young children playing nearby.

‘Destined’

Seema’s proclamation of “undying love” for Sachin and a promise to only return to Pakistan “as a dead woman” when they featured on a raucous Indian TV debate this week.

Seema said she had been first attracted by Sachin’s gaming skills.

Three years later, the couple met in person in March in Nepal.

She became sure about leaving her “abusive” Pakistani husband —charges he denies — after the first meeting.

The couple said it took months of meticulous planning with help from YouTube videos on how to enter India via Nepal. In May, she succeeded.

“It was very difficult to travel from Pakistan to India,” she said. “I believe that with God’s love, we were destined to meet”.

Sachin’s family only learned of her existence when he rented a nearby apartment with her.

“There was some resistance, but my father and everyone accepted us. They are happy for us,” said Sachin. “I will do everything for them.”

Indian police found out after they tried to get married at a local court.

‘Still my family’

Seema’s estranged husband, Ghulam Haider, left his job as a labourer and rickshaw driver to earn more money for his family in Saudi Arabia.

Haider, who said he had not heard of PUBG, wants his family back.

“I earnestly appeal to Indian and Pakistani authorities to bring my wife and children back to me,” Ghulam Haider told AFP by phone from Saudi Arabia.

Haider said the couple, from different Baloch tribes, have a defiant love story of their own.

Forbidden by their families from marrying, they ran away to get hitched — a taboo in Pakistan that can sometimes lead to so-called honour killings.

“Later, a jirga (council of elders) was summoned to settle the matter and a fine of one million rupees (around $3,640) was slapped on me,” he said.

“I am far from my home, from my family, and it is very agonising for me because we married out of love.”

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According to Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, accusations made against Pakistan by Bushra Bibi, the spouse of the PTI founder, are vile and disgusting because Pakistan has historical relations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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The defense minister stated at a press conference in Islamabad that the Kingdom should not be involved in politics for selfish reasons because of our historical, religious, and economic ties with Saudi Arabia.

2.8 million Pakistanis work in Saudi Arabia and send millions of dollars in remittances, he added, adding that making unfounded accusations against the country will hurt Pakistan’s economy.

According to him, Saudi Arabia has always stood by Pakistan throughout its most trying moments, and Pakistanis have a deep affection and connection to the Kingdom.

There is a breach among PTI ranks and files, and Khawaja Asif stated that we have never witnessed such a low point in politics.

Given the gravity of the accusation, the Minister said, former Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa should respond right away.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should fight terrorism rather than target the city, he said, adding that the PTI’s demand for a demonstration on November 24 is the third strike on the federal capital.

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The Interior Ministry prohibits KP from using government machinery for PTI protests.

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not allowed to use the resources of the Provincial Government for a party protest, according to the Interior Ministry.

On November 24, the PTI has scheduled a protest, and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur has declared his intention to participate.

The Federal Government arrested a number of Provincial Government officials who were ordered to participate in the violent protest in Islamabad by the PTI, and confiscated vehicles used by the KP Government against the state during the previous protest in October.

However, the Jinnah Supermarket Traders Union has petitioned the Islamabad High Court to halt the PTI demonstration in the capital and deem it unlawful.

In the petition, the head of the Traders Union has asked the court to rule that the PTI protest violates fundamental human rights by preventing companies from operating and removing the public’s ability to visit stores for necessities.

The petition asked the high court to protect the capital’s workers and PTI founder from unlawful protests.

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Planning Minister: The Nation Is Back on Track for Development

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Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development, asserts that the country’s youth are its future and that Pakistan has made great strides over the past 77 years, becoming the sixth nuclear state in the world today.

Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal stated that inconsistent policies have an impact on the development process.

According to Ahsan Iqbal, the CPEC got Pakistan on its path to growth, and the government is currently moving on with phase two of the project.

The country was in danger of defaulting, but the government has put it back on course, he said.

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