Islamabad: Indian doctor Divya Dayandan, facing deportation after the Government in Islamabad refused to grant her citizenship despite her marriage to a Pakistani, today (July 19, 2004) said she feared reprisals from religious extremists in the country. Divya, now Dr Hafsa after converting to Islam after her marriage to Pakistani Dr Aman Khan, celebrated her first marriage anniversary yesterday by cutting a cake along with her husband and in-laws at their residence in Mardan in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "Earlier we were concerned about possible reprisals from Hindu extremists in India, if we go there but now we are worried about the likely threats to our lives from the Islamic extremists here," Dr Divya, who hails from Kayankulam in Kerala, told over phone from Mardan.

The two doctors fell in love while studying medicine in Lovo Medical School in Ukraine. Her husband has also expressed fears about their safety.

"I am deeply concerned why Pakistan Government has not granted citizenship to my wife even though it was granted routinely in the past as law says the spouse of Pakistani citizen is entitled for citizenship. Now I am told that living in Pakistan is very dangerous since I married a Hindu girl," he said.