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Despite the indefinite closure of the Attari-Wagah border between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives on April 22, movement of people has continued under special circumstances, contrary to initial expectations of a complete shutdown.
An official estimate indicates that since the closure, approximately 1,000 people, primarily from Pakistani Hindu families, have crossed from India into Pakistan via the land route. At the same time, 150 people, mostly Kashmiri students, have returned to India from Pakistan.
Senior Medical Officer Lopoke Dr Parminder Singh said, “Our teams administer the polio drops to anyone who comes to India or goes to Pakistan. Our teams are permanently stationed at the border. Passengers and trucks have used the land route with special permission after the border was closed following a terror attack.”
Punjab Health Department teams are permanently stationed at the Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP) to administer oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops to all passengers crossing the India-Pakistan border as a mandatory measure to prevent poliovirus transmission, as Pakistan is not a polio-free country.
According to data from the Health Department, around 1,000 people who crossed over to Pakistan received polio drops, while 150 people returning from Pakistan were given the drops after the border closure following the Pahalgam terror attack.
An unnamed official familiar with border operations explained that many of those travelling from India to Pakistan are Pakistani Hindus who initially entered India but overstayed their visas amid the escalating tensions; with diminishing benefits to remaining in India and pressure from families back home, these groups are now opting to return.
“The people who have been going from India to Pakistan are the Pakistani Hindus who had come to India and, however, didn’t return when the border was closed,” the official stated, adding that some families had “jumped their visas” and see no advantage in prolonged stays.
On the inbound side, the majority are Kashmiri students who studied in Pakistani colleges and are repatriating post-graduation, alongside Muslim families with marital ties to Pakistan returning to their homes in India. Not all movements rely solely on the Attari-Wagah crossing, as some travellers are rerouting via Dubai to bypass restrictions.
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