After former fighter Syed Bashir Bukhari gave up the rebellion against Indian rule in his home territory of Kashmir, he faced trouble. His family was denied Indian citizenship after returning from the Pakistan-controlled side of the disputed Himalayan territory. His teenage son was refused school admission, and his Pakistan-Kashmiri wife and five daughters felt ostracized. After two years of struggle, he'd had enough. On a hot summer day in 2014, Bukhari set himself on fire in the main square of the western village of Kreeri and died the next day in a hospital, according to his wife, Safeena Bashir. "We were cheated," Safeena said about the family's decision to accept an Indian deal promising citizenship and reintegration in exchange for giving up the fight against Indian rule. Though her son, now 21, is supporting the family as a coppersmith and her daughters are now in school, Safeena wants to return to the Pakistani side where she felt welcome. Bukhari was among tens of thousands of young Kashmiris who in 1989 rose up against Indian rule and launched a bloody rebellion, demanding Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. Many crossed over to the Pakistan-controlled side, training in guerrilla tactics and launching cross-border attacks. Thousands of the militants were killed in clashes with Indian troops or in the Indian crackdown, or were arrested during raids. In 2010, after the rebellion had largely been crushed, India rolled out a rehabilitation program inviting former fighters home, provided they renounce militancy. Some 377 men did, bringing another 864 family members with them, according to state records. But the former fighters were never granted any promised benefits and their families were denied Indian citizenship. They cannot get travel documents or hold government jobs. Admission to school is not guaranteed, as it is for documented Kashmiris. They can't open a bank account or legally apply for a cooking gas connection. Buying property is out of the question. The one document they can get without a problem is an ID that allows them to vote in Indian elections. "For us, everything here happens by ‘jugaad,'" said former fighter Shabir Ahmed Dar, using the colloquial Indian term for a cheap and improvised fix. The Indian government says the former fighters forfeited their rights by re-entering the country through Nepal or Bangladesh — and not through three designated points along the India-Pakistan border or through the international airport in New Delhi. Officials would not explain why they needed the returnees to go through one of the four border points. — Agencies Some former militants said Indian soldiers had blocked them at those designated border points. Others said that because Pakistan was never on board with the rehabilitation deal, the Pakistanis did not facilitate crossings. They now accuse India of being dishonest. "This is plain cheating," Ahmed Dar said. "If we came back via non-approved routes, why didn't they stop us or repatriate us" back to Pakistan? Authorities acknowledge their hardship, but say their hands are tied. "There are issues, but we can only execute the government orders," said S.P. Vaid, Kashmir's director-general of police.
