The Quiet Infiltration: Pakistani Nationals and Their Progeny, a Looming National Security Threat

DEEPAK SHARMA
The gruesome terrorist attack at Baisaran, Pehalgam, which claimed the lives of 25 innocent Hindu pilgrims and a local Kashmiri, has once again exposed the deep-rooted and systematic threat posed by Pakistan-backed terrorism in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. In the wake of this inhuman carnage, the Government of India has rightly acted with urgency by directing a nationwide verification and deportation drive of Pakistani nationals overstaying their visas or residing illegally.
However, this drive has unearthed a far more alarming issue, the quiet, sustained presence of a significant number of Pakistani nationals, especially in Jammu & Kashmir, some of whom have alarmingly succeeded in infiltrating the very fabric of our civil and security institutions.
Pakistani Nationals Residing in J&K: A Trojan Horse?
In the course of the ongoing verification exercise, it has been revealed that several Pakistani nationals are residing in Jammu & Kashmir, some under expired visas, others having entered on student or spousal visas. Reports have emerged of Pakistani women who entered India often on long-term visas (LTVs) for marriage purposes and now living permanently in Jammu & Kashmir, having married Indian citizens and given birth to children on Indian soil. While on the surface, this appears to be a matter of personal liberty and matrimonial union, it cannot be ignored that these arrangements may be exploited as covert tools for long-term strategic infiltration.
Equally disturbing are revelations that some Pakistani nationals residing in J&K have acquired Indian identity documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and even Voter ID cards. Several have allegedly participated in democratic processes, voted in elections, and availed public benefits meant exclusively for Indian citizens. More alarmingly, credible inputs have surfaced showing that a few such individuals have secured employment in sensitive sectors, including police forces and the spouse of one such is in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who amidst this uproar has recently been sacked from services for harbouring a Pakistani national thereby compromising with the security of the State.
Pertinently, many of these individuals entered India through matrimonial alliances as Pakistani women marrying Indian men in J&K, or vice versa. Several such women have given birth to children on Indian soil, raising an unprecedented and legally complex situation involving children with mixed parentage where one is Indian and another Pakistani.
A Generational Threat: When Terrorism Finds Its Way into the Womb
Perhaps the most serious and dangerous dimension of this infiltration crisis is rooted in a specific policy error: the Rehabilitation Policy announced by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir in 1995, 2004 and then in 2010, under which terrorists who had crossed the Line of Control to Pakistan for arms training were allowed to return to India through designated routes alongwith their Pakistani wives and children. What unfolded as a humanitarian and reintegration measure has now transformed into a strategic blunder with irreversible consequences.
Hundreds of such former terrorists returned not alone, but accompanied by their Pakistani wives, many of whom had been married in PoK during their exile. After entering Indian territory, these families settled in Kashmir, received state benefits, and eventually many gave birth to children on Indian soil.
These children born to a Pakistani mother and a father who was formerly a trained terrorist may now hold Indian documents and are growing up in an environment that carries a dangerous blend of cross-border allegiance, jihadi indoctrination, and state-recognized legitimacy. This situation is not just a security lapse, it is, in the true sense of the term, a “sleeper generation.”
These are not merely children of mixed nationality but are, in several cases, children of ideology, raised in households with a past steeped in anti-India sentiment, radical training, and underground networks. The idea that such individualswho are born of Pakistani lineage and directly fathered by men who once wielded arms against the Indian State, could grow up to join government jobs, military institutions, or even enter politics is a perfect recipe for embedded subversion. As per the reports under the policy of 1995 a total of 2200 terrorists came to India, whereas 432 terrorists came to India under 2004 policy and 489 terrorist under 2010 rehabilitation policy for terrorists.
The Citizenship Conundrum: Children of Mixed Parentage
The fraudulent acquisition of Indian documents by Pakistani nationals creates a situation where such children are presumed citizens and may consequently access educational, political, and even security platforms. This is not merely a legal ambiguity but a security time bomb.It raises the uncomfortable but necessary question: What if such individuals, born of Pakistani parentage, rise through the ranks to occupy positions in the armed forces, intelligence agencies, or paramilitary services? What if they contest elections, become MLAs, MPs, Chief Ministers, or even aspire to become the Prime Minister of India?
The danger is no longer speculative but reports suggest that individuals with Pakistani roots have already entered government service, leveraging fraudulently obtained documents and exploiting administrative loopholes.
Security Challenge: An Emerging Internal Front
The threat posed by the unchecked presence of Pakistani nationals and their descendants in J&K is not theoretical but is tangible, systemic, and deeply layered. In modern warfare, the enemy does not always wear a uniform. Strategic infiltration often happens not with guns, but with false documents, forged identities, and embedded agents acting under the cover of legality. This makes internal security a more complex challenge than border protection alone.
From a counter-intelligence standpoint, the risks posed by individuals of Pakistani origin entering sensitive services like police, armed forces, intelligence agencies, or even telecommunications and defence infrastructure are existential. These individuals may be ideologically inclined towards Pakistan, manipulated by cross-border handlers, or simply vulnerable to coercion due to familial ties in the enemy state.
Further, sleeper cells, long dormant, can be activated at strategic moments. The presence of individuals with access to arms, government files, security plans, or official networks makes such infiltration a national emergency. Revelations of Pakistani spouse of CRPF personnel and jobholders in security departments underscore how deeply the roots of this problem run.
A Coordinated Infiltration or Coincidence?
The sheer number of Pakistani nationals acquiring documents, entering into marriages of convenience, securing government jobs, and voting in elections points not to a random set of coincidences, but a pattern. This pattern raises a sinister question: Is this part of a long-term sleeper cell strategy orchestrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies?
The possibility cannot be dismissed lightly. The strategic demographic and institutional infiltration of a border-sensitive region like J&K would enable our adversaries to gather intelligence, influence policy decisions, radicalize vulnerable populations, and compromise counter-insurgency operations from within.
The infiltration by Pakistani nationals, many of whom have married Indian citizens (predominantly in border districts of Jammu), is not accidental. It mirrors a long-term strategy of internal demographic aggression, wherein marital alliances are used to gain residency, documents, and eventually, access to India’s civic, electoral, and security infrastructure.
Such individuals have illegally acquired Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, voter IDs, and even government jobs in sensitive sectors like the police. One is spouse of personnel in uniformed services. This is not just administrative lapse; it is a national vulnerability. Children born to such unions technically having one Pakistani parent are increasingly occupying civilian spaces with questionable allegiance, posing the future risk of them contesting elections, rising to high constitutional offices, or joining the armed forces.
Demographic Reengineering: A Strategic Infiltration?
The most disturbing implication of this trend is a calculated demographic alteration in the border state of J&K. The settlement of Pakistani women, births of their children on Indian soil, and issuance of domicile certificates to such individuals-all cumulatively amount to a systematic effort to alter the demographic and political character of the region.
This is not a new strategy. History bears witness to Pakistan’s consistent attempts to wage demographic jihad in border regions. The unregulated presence of Pakistani nationals, their offspring gaining citizenship status, and participation in elections or institutional structures reflects a dangerous dimension of soft infiltration, the creation of sleeper assets within India’s political, social, and security frameworks.
The Hypocrisy of Silence: Selective Outrage Exposed
What is equally appalling is the hypocrisy of political and activist groups who vociferously opposed the lawful grant of domicile certificates to Indian citizens post-abrogation of Article 370, branding it as an attempt to “change Kashmir’s demography.” These very groups are now conspicuously silent when Pakistani nationals, Rohingyas, and Bangladeshis, all foreign nationals, are being illegally settled, gained access to government jobs, are marrying locals, have become voters, and are altering the demographic and communal balance of the region in a far more serious and subversive way.
This selective silence reveals a dangerous ideological bias and exposes how certain vested interests are complicit in compromising national security under the pretense of social activism, human rights or refugee protection.
The nefarious design vis-à-vis Legal Framework
India’s legal structure does provide mechanisms to deal with illegal immigrants and foreign nationals engaging in illegal activities. However, the enforcement has been patchy, and gaps remain in identifying and preventing long-term residency abuse, especially via marriage.
The crucial among the legal framework is The Citizenship Act, 1955. Section 3(1) clearly disqualifies a child born in India from acquiring citizenship by birth if either parent is an illegal migrant. The issue arises when the Pakistani parent, having fraudulently acquired identity documents, escapes detection and thereby infiltrates the system through marriage or domicile status.
This provision is crucial in the current context. A Pakistani national overstaying in India or residing without proper legal sanction is categorically an illegal migrant. Consequently, children born to such individuals are not entitled to Indian citizenship by birth. However, if such individuals have fraudulently acquired Indian documents, their children may also illegally claim benefits, education, or even positions of influence, all while their allegiance potentially lies elsewhere.
Section 5(1)(c) allows citizenship by registration to a person who is married to an Indian citizen and residing in India for at least seven years before making the application for registration. This is the most common trend observed as the Pakistani national marries an Indian national, enters India on Long-Term Visas (LTVs) resides here for seven years, LTVs being renewed periodically, and then apply for the registration of citizenship of India. The same if granted without proper scrutiny may result in a major challenge to internal security.
A Nation Under Threat Must Not Be a Nation in Denial
The Indian State stands today at a historical crossroads. The enemy is not just at the gates but has entered homes, secured documents, settled within borders, and is reproducing its presence through unchecked demographic manipulation. The presence of Pakistani nationals, Rohingyas, and Bangladeshis, acquiring Indian identity, altering electoral dynamics, and threatening the sanctity of institutions, must be met with unyielding constitutional, legal, and administrative action.
The integrity of the Republic cannot be compromised on the altar of political convenience or globalist ideals. National security is not just a policy but the very foundation of the Indian Union.
(The author is Advocate J&K High Court and Convener, Research and Advocacy Group)