Yudhvir Rana,TNN | Dec 31, 2013, TIMES OF INDIA

AMRITSAR: Taking advantage of the Ahmadiyya Muslim annual convention, many couples tied the knot cross-border nuptial knot this time too-strengthening India-Pak people-to-people bonds.

For 23-year-old Pakistani national Tehmida Naeem, India became her second home after she married Umar Abdul Qadir during the convention that concluded at Qadian town of Gurdaspur district on Monday. Meanwhile, two Indian girls too have tied the nuptial knot with Pakistani men and would cross over to their new homes in Pakistan.

“Earlier I was only a daughter of Pakistan, but now I belong to India as well,” Tehmida told TOI.

Married to one of her uncle’s sons, Tehmida, who belongs to Lahore, said she was pleased that her marriage would be a small contribution in the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process and help in bringing people of two nations closer.

An employee of Ahmadiyya Jamat in the department of history, Umar said there were more than two dozen Pakistani brides in Qadian, but most of them don’t have Indian nationality even after 15-20 years of marriage. “I am happy that my wife is from Pakistan, but she won’t be allowed to leave Qadian until she receives Indian citizenship,” he said.

Unlike other newlywed couples going to Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and Mussoorie for their honeymoon, Umar he won’t be able to take his wife to any of these places and would have had to stay in Qadian.

Marriage bureau in charge Sadar Anjuman Ahmadiyya Basharat Ahmad Haider said that Maliha, a resident of Qadian, was married to Walid Ahmad Qureshi of Rabwa in Pakistan while Sadaf, from Shekhupura in Uttar Pradesh, tied the knot with Ruheb Raza Khan from Rabwa during the annual convention.

Qadian resident Maqbool Ahmad who had married Tahira Zahoor of Faislabad in Pakistan in 2003, said his wife had not received the Indian citizenship yet despite completing all required formalities.

Tahira, who is pursuing the case of Pakistani brides in India, said there were a couple of girls whose Pakistani passports and computerized national identity cards were going to expire. “For renewal of passport, the Pakistan High Commission in India demands a valid ID card which can be renewed only in Pakistan. These women don’t want to go back to Pakistan so they have decided to approach the National Human Rights Commission and the United Nation.