Get Iqra & Mulayam together again, GoI

Big boys make big gestures – because they can. As G20 host, here’s something India – the government, the PM, or whoever wants to be seen making the big gesture – can do to not just garner the ‘wow’ factor but also the ‘aww’ one. It’s a simple story of a young man and a young woman meeting regularly online to play Ludo three years ago during the pandemic and falling in love.

Last year, the two got married in a simple Hindu ceremony in Nepal. But here’s the snafu in the pyaari love story: Iqra Jeewani, newly-wed wife to Mulayam Singh Yadav (no relation to the most famous wrestler-turned politician from Etawah), is a Pakistani citizen who entered India and lives with her husband in Bengaluru without valid documentation. In fact, Jeewani has been deported to Pakistan last week and Yadav is in jail for fraud, forgery and providing shelter to a foreign national without proper documents.

Right, this isn’t Veer-Zaara, but real life. But whichever way you look at it, it’s a simple, touching, genuine love story – even the authorities in Bengaluru admit that, citing the ‘But what to do, rules are rules?’ line. Dear GoI, forget ‘Atithi devo bhava’ and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam‘ for a moment. Just let Iqra and Mulayam be together again – the Yadavs, too, want their bahu back. It’ll be a big gesture, giving a lovely twist to the notion of big brother.