The Indian father and son who recently arrived in Pakistan from India via Afghanistan said that they would prefer being imprisoned rather then being returned home. However, their journey into a new unknown country was not a sudden decision, but the result of years of disillusionment with the state of Muslims in India.

Muhammad Hasnain and his son, Ishaq Ameer, have also revealed that their decision to leave their settled lives in India did not come about as a sudden decision, but came after years of uncertainty.

The father and son initially thought they would apply for a tourist visa to Pakistan and seek asylum after their arrival. However, the visa could not be issued because they did not have any relatives living in India. It would be two or three years before they found another way into Pakistan.

They learnt that they could fly to Abu Dhabi from India, from where they could get a visa for Afghanistan.

They set off from India on September 5 for Abu Dhabi and got the visa to Asghanistan as per their planned. In Spin Boldak, in the Afghan province of Qandahar, some men told them that they would get them to Chaman in Pakistan in exchange for some cash.

After making it across the border illegally to Chaman, the two found a taxi driver who agreed to take them to Quetta for Rs10,000. Later, they paid the same taxi Rs50,000 to take them to Karachi where they are now.

In Karachi, they could not find a hotel that would provide them with lodging. Out of options, Hasnain and Ameer turned themselved in to the police and explained their shole story. The police took them to the Edhi Home in Ancholi, where two officials keep watch over them.

Although they tell of a life in India that became increasingly more uncertain, they turned to Pakistan. They said it was their only option, because the people spoke a language like theirs and their ancestors had a hand in creating it.

Who are they

Muhammad Hasnain was born in 1957 in the Indian state of Jharkhand. He was briefly married and had two sons, of which only Ishaq Ameer is now alive.

Hasnain lived in Delhi before his departure, where he took out a weekly newspaper named “The Media Profile”. He also described himself as a social and political worker and has contested elections at multiple levels inluding local, provincial and parlaimentary. However, he was never successful in getting elected.

He lived with his son in rented houses in Jafarabad in Delhi and his last known residence was in Gautampuri.

Hasnain also has multiple cases against him, although his lawyer says they are political in nature. He has been accused of making inciteful statement, although no charges have been proven or sentences handed out.

Ameer, who is now 31, has never been formally educated although he did go to the National Institute of Open Schooling to pass 10th and 12th grade. He did go to a madrassa where he memorised the Holy Quran.

Hasnain also ran a coaching centre where he taught students English and helped them prepare to become lawyers.

He wventually received a job offer from a company in Abu Dhabi which promised a salary of AED4,000. The job became the reason they told everyone they were leaving. However, they had other plans.

Why did they leave

Hasnain says there was no immediate event that compelled them to leave India but the matter had been brewing in their minds for sometime.

When asked about his disillusionment he talks generally about the Babri mosque verdict as well as the upcoming elections in India which Narendra Modi’s BJP looks set to win.

However, he mentions that tensions would flare at religious events and matters would go as far as scuffles sometimes. He adds that his son also got into similar trouble two or three times which finally compelled them to leave.

Hasnain says that the fear is constant whether a person goes to work or is commuting. He added that even being looted is not the problem, but slogans which are religious in nature can turn matters to worse in seconds.