How does one die a lonely death on the border between two countries that have a quarter of the world’s total population?

Bullets, drones and missiles could not kill him. He survived three wars and numerous curfews, crackdowns, and lockdowns.

Eighty-year-old Abdul Waheed Bhat, a man from Srinagar, in India-administered Kashmir, died on April 30th at the Attari-Wagah border between India and Pakistan.

His life’s story and the heartwrenching death reflect the fissures between nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought multiple wars over the disputed territory.

Bhat died alone, wearing a diaper, unable to speak or express himself, on a bus he was forced to board by Indian authorities, who were pushing Pakistani citizens back to their country as tensions flared following the Pahalgam attack on April 22.

But who was Bhat? Was he a Pakistani or an Indian? Or was he a Kashmiri who symbolised the border that has been drawn in blood?

The misfortune

In 1965, Bhat had travelled to Pakistan-administered Kashmir from the Indian side with his aunt, the Scroll reported.

In those days, Kashmiris divided between India and Pakistan were allowed to travel on a permit issued by local authorities.

But to his misfortune, India and Pakistan fought bitterly in 1965 and 1971, and the border hardened for Kashmiris.

You had to have a passport, either Indian or Pakistani, to travel.

To return to his home in Srinagar, Bhat acquired a Pakistani passport and travelled back to Indian in 1980, the Indian Express reported

A local court in Srinagar allowed Bhat to stay at his home, but he still did not know who he was, an Indian, a Pakistani or a Kashmiri. Pending this, he chose not to marry.

Bundled in a bus

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack on April 22 in India-administered Kashmir, India expelled all Pakistani citizens residing on “its territory”.

Octogenarian Bhat, now ailing and paralysed, was also served an eviction notice by Indian authorities and asked to leave for Pakistan.

Bhat was not able to walk or talk and could hardly breathe, and he had no one in Pakistan.

Yet on April 29, he was bundled onto a bus along with dozens of others to be deported to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border.

The next day, as the officials of two nuclear-armed states made arrangements and exchanged documents to facilitate the passage of deported passengers, Bhat died.

He died on the border. His body was taken back to India-administered Kashmir, where he was buried. A Kashmiri man with a Pakistani passport, forever resting on the grounds claimed by India.

According to a Scroll exclusive story, the officials conceded that the family had approached the administration and police authorities with Bhat’s medical records, but they could not do anything.

Heart of conflict

Kashmir has been at the heart of the conflict between India and Pakistan, with both claiming it in full but ruling it in part.

The recent four-day tit-for-tat strikes between the Indian and Pakistani militaries, in which around 60 people were killed on both sides, raised fears of an all-out war between the arch rivals.

Tensions de-escalated after the United States intervened as Pakistan claimed to have shot down six Indian jets, including the French-made Rafale fighters.

On May 7, India struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles, claiming they were “terrorist camps” from where the deadly April 22 attack on tourists at Pahalgam, in the India-administered Kashmir, was planned.

Islamabad denies any involvement and has called for a joint investigation to establish who was behind the attack.

Pakistan also says that the Indian missile targeted religious institutions, and the dead were civilians.