Amritsar (Punjab) [India], April 25 (ANI): After the Indian government ordered the closure of the Attari border in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, many Pakistani nationals were seen leaving India and returning to Pakistan.

They were given 48 hours to leave, and several shared their frustration, saying that innocent people should not suffer for the actions of a few.

The Central government announced on Wednesday the closure of Attari ICP, reducing the strength of High Commissions in India and Pakistan to 30 officials each, and suspended the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas.

Speaking to ANI, Pakistani citizen Hanir said, 'I am from Faisalabad (Pakistan). The situation is normal. There is no issue, neither there nor here. I don't know about the attack. We were told that we must leave, so we are going back...'

Another Pakistani citizen on her way back to Pakistan said, 'Whatever happened is not right. I am from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and I am married in Pakistan. My husband is from Pakistan... We were going to return after 4 days, but we reached here as soon as possible when we came to know that we had to leave. Only the perpetrators must be punished. The common people must not be punished... We left our crying parents behind... The terror attack was wrong, no matter who did it. Islam does not teach that. Whoever did this has not read the Quran. They don't know what Islam is...'

She emphasised that only the perpetrators should be punished, not innocent people.

An Indian citizen from Bhognipur, UP, who reached the Atari border to drop his sister off in Pakistan, said, 'I am from Bhognipur. I am here to drop off my sister, who is from Pakistan. The attack is wrong, no matter who did it. My sister had been here for 15 days; she had a 40-day visa. We had to hire a car for her immediate return. We had to bear unnecessary expenses... There should be peace...'

He condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, emphasising that violence is never justified.

A woman on her way back to Pakistan said, 'We are told to leave within 48 hours. How is it possible?... Attari is 900 km from Jodhpur. We were not getting buses. My husband had to bear a loss of Rs 1 lakh for the tickets... We have to reach my husband and children today, anyhow. My passport is Indian but I am half-Pakistani. I feel guilty for the terror attack, but what is the fault of the common people in it? I don't know if they did it for Islam, they are not my cousins. For me, both India and Pakistan are important... God will punish them for whatever they did... Some option should remain open for women who are married across the borders... I request that both governments not harass the common people...,'

A woman, married to a Pakistani national and holding an Indian passport, expressed her distress over being forced to leave India within 48 hours. She condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, emphasising that common people shouldn't be punished for the actions of a few.

The attack, which targeted tourists in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam, claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, leaving several others injured. (ANI)