Summary The Pakistani family of around five members arrived in Mumbai to visit Haji Ali dargah.
(Web Desk) - A Pakistani family cut short its Mumbai trip after being refused accommodation by several hotels in the city following which they spent the night on a pavement.
The Pakistani family of around five members arrived in Mumbai to visit the Haji Ali shrine.
"After being with our relatives in Jodhpur for over a week, we decided to visit the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai for ziyarat (prayers). We arrived in Mumbai on October 14 morning, went to the shrine and returned from there after prayers," said Noor Banu, who had come to India with her brother Inayat Ali (55), nephew Shakeel Ahmed, two other women and a seven-year-old boy.
Their ordeal began soon as they were refused accommodation by several lodges and hotels which they approached in South Mumbai.
"The only reason for refusal by lodges and hotels was that they (hotels) didn t want to complete the formality of filling Form-C , which is to be submitted to a government department if people from outside the country come to the city on visa and stay in their lodges and hotels," said RPF sub-inspector Mahesh Chauhan, who helped the family in their time of distress.
"They also said that the owners of the lodges and hotels told them that they were very small establishments and have no manpower to do the extra work of filling and submitting the Form-C," he said.
After checking and verifying the family s documents, Chauhan took them to a cabin at Mumbai Central Police Station, located just outside the railway station, and told them to rest for sometime, besides offering them tea and snacks.
The family stayed near the police cabin till around 1-1.30 AM yesterday, Chauhan said.
They spent rest of the time sitting on a pavement outside the railway station before heading back to Jodhpur.
Due to their experience in the city, the family cut short its trip and left yesterday.
"We are going from Mumbai, but do not want to go with bitter memories. However, one will think about the treatment given to him or her on foreign soil," said Banu.
PAK-INDIA RELATIONS
Relations between India and Pakistan nosedived after 2008 Mumbai attacks and have not fully recovered.
The ties between the two countries worsened further since 2014, with a number of shelling and firing incidents across the border.
Earlier in September, a meeting between the Indian and Pakistani national security advisers in New Delhi was called off at the last minute due to a dispute about whether the agenda should include Kashmir.
Pakistan and India both control part of Kashmir but claim the whole of the territory and have fought two of their three wars over it since independence from Britain in 1947.
