Kerala HC seeks Centre's response on Nimisha Fathima's repatriation petition

The Kerala High Court has on Monday asked the Central government to 'react' to a petition filed by the mother of Nimisha Fathima, a Keralite woman who landed in jail in Afghanistan following the killing of her Islamic State (IS) fighter husband in an attack in the country.

High court seeks centre's attention

A single Bench of Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar while considering the writ plea filed by Fathima's mother Bindu K sought the response from the centre in this regard.  Fathima's mother has demanded repatriation of her daughter and four-year-old granddaughter, the High Court said.

As per news reports, the woman from Kerala had reportedly reached Afghanistan where her husband, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with whom she allegedly fled from India in 2016, was working as a fighter at the ISIS bases. Al-Baghdadi was killed during the US airstrikes in 2019 by the United States Armed Forces and a group of 10 women and 21 children had subsequently surrendered to the Afghanistan police. Nimisha Fathima, the daughter of the petitioner was among the group and has been detained in prison since then along with her 4-year-old daughter. The mother of Nimisha, Bindu K had been moving from pillar to post in regards to the repatriation of her daughter.

Petitions rue violation of the fundamental right to life, education

The petition filed by Nimisha's mother Bindu K alleged, "Not repatriating Nimisha and her child amounts to a violation of the fundamental right to life and denial of the right to education to the kid. The petitioner has been running from pillar to post but has failed to receive any support from the central and state governments. None of the media reports which say they have been detained in the prison has been denounced or countered by the Indian authorities. The return of them shall not pose a threat to the security and sovereignty of India since after the repatriation they can be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society under watchful eyes of human rights organisations."

Claiming that the Afghanistan government wanted to deport Nimisha, her minor child along with other Indians detained in an Afghanistan jail, Bindu K said, "The Indian government has refused to bring them back. It was the responsibility of the Centre to bring back its citizens. The Centre had neither confirmed nor dismissed these media reports," said the petitioner. 

Earlier, this month the High Court had refused to entertain a Habeas Corpus plea of Bindu seeking repatriation of Nimisha Fathima citing technical issues.