Connect with us

Pakistan

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

Published

on

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.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Ahsan says all available resources should be used to eradicate smog at the air pollution meeting.

Published

on

By

According to Ahsan Iqbal, the country’s minister of planning and development, a non-traditional approach is required to address the pollution problem, and every available resource would be used to eradicate this grave issue.

Children are disproportionately affected by pollution, the Planning Minister stated during a special meeting on smog and air pollution in Islamabad.

He claimed that cooperation between the federal government and the provinces is urgently needed to address the various problems that climate change has caused in Pakistan.

Smog is interfering with everyday activities, the Minister added, and it has grown to be a serious threat to our future.

Burning crop residue is the cause of smog, he claimed.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Deputy Prime Minister Speaks at COP-29 Summit: Pakistan Needs $348 Billion to Become Climate Resilient by 2030

Published

on

By

According to Muhammad Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, the current international finance system is biased against climate-responsive investment in developing nations.

Pakistan, according to Dar, continues to rank in the top ten nations most affected by climate change. The catastrophic floods of 2022 caused losses and damages of more over USD 30 billion, and they reduced Pakistan’s GDP by 4%. It took USD 348 billion for Pakistan to become climate resilient by 2030.

Dar stated Pakistan’s continued commitment to working with the international community to address climate change.

“We allocate 20% of our annual public sector program to climate-responsive public investments, which include climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and integrated flood response,” he added. The goal of Pakistan’s national climate finance plan is to use climate finance to meet our demands for adaptation as well as mitigation,” he added.

Dar praised the forum’s dedication to establishing innovative climate finance tools that will unlock accessible, affordable, and available climate funding for developing nations.

Continue Reading

Latest News

KP Police Apprehend Key Terrorist: Primary Perpetrator of 2023 Policelines Explosion Detained: IG KP

Published

on

By

Inspector General of Police Khayber Pakhtunkhwa, Akhtar Hayat Khan, announces the apprehension of the primary perpetrator of the 2023 police line explosion, along with the arrest of the facilitator of the police line suicide assault in Peshawar.

During a news conference, the Inspector General stated that the apprehended individual is a constable of the Peshawar district police and was affiliated with the proscribed organization Jamaat Al-Ahrar, a faction of Fitnah Al-Khawarij.

Personnel from the Counter Terrorism Department apprehended the suspect Muhammad Wali, also known as Umar, near Ring Road, Jameel Chowk, Peshawar following a successful operation.

He stated that Wali confessed to having visited many Jamaat Al-Ahrar bases in Afghanistan as a member of the group, where he received funding and training for terrorist operations in Pakistan.

Continue Reading

Trending