Lucknow: The sudden death of former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has left the entire nation grieving, but there are a few who would always remember her for changing their lives.
One of them is a couple from Lucknow who had a tough time obtaining a passport after being harassed by an officer for their inter-religion marriage.
The matter soon became the talking point of the nation and right-wing activists stood up in the favour of the passport officer who had misbehaved with the woman.
It was only after she wrote a tweet to the then minister of external affairs that the matter was resolved and the entire MEA along with Swaraj stood by the couple.
The BJP stalwart and her family members were even criticized on social media for their stand on the matter, but Swaraj didn’t bother and gave it back to the trolls in a language that they understood.
Another youth from Lucknow, Naqi Ali Khan, who was supposed to get married to a girl, Sabahat Fatima, from Pakistan, and was facing visa restrictions, had received help from Swaraj after bringing the matter to her notice.
The marriage was solemnised by the vice-president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq. The groom, an engineer, was a resident of old Lucknow, while Fatima hailed from Karachi. Their families were known to each other but were separated during Partition.
A similar case taken up by Swaraj was when a 25-year-old resident of Karachi, Sadia, was unable to secure visa and get married to Syed Shariq Hashmi (28) from Lucknow. After the then MEA intervened, Sadia was able to travel to India and enter matrimony.
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