One can find an old man standing with a box, filled with ice cream and kept on the back of a cycle rickshaw, at a busy market place in Fatehabad District of northern Indian Province of Haryana. It is difficult to assume by taking a glance at his attire or appearance that the ice cream seller once represented people in the Parliament. He has to run his family by selling ice due to some unavoidable circumstances.

Dabaya Ram (80) was elected unopposed to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Lohiya and Bakhar Districts in 1988 (during the prime ministership of Benazir Bhutto). However, he faced various personal tragedies during his tenure as an MP. One of his female relatives was abducted and forcibly married by the religious extremists. When Ram sought justice in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, his plea was dismissed! Fearing for the safety of his family, he left Pakistan in 2000 and arrived in Rohtak District (of Haryana) on a one-month visa mainly to attend the funeral of a relative before eventually settling in Ratangarh Village.

When the Government of India asked the Pakistani nationals to leave the country after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025, the local Police summoned Ram and his family members for questioning. However, they were allowed to stay in India after the Police conducted a probe. Although six members, including two women, of his family have obtained Indian citizenship, the remaining 28 do not yet have citizenship certificates. They have repeatedly applied for permanent residency in India over a long period of time. The Government of India has assured them that they would not have to leave the country as applications for citizenship (of those 28 members of Ram’s family) are under process.

Dabaya Ram was born in the undivided Punjab Province in 1945, two years before the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent. His ancestors decided to stay in Pakistan in the post-1947, despite religious pressure. Later, his family had to resist forced conversion as the situation became more hostile. Ram has recalled that he was named Deshraj at birth by his parents. When the Pakistani officials visited their residence to make voter cards, they forcibly changed his name to Dabaya Ram. And, his name appears as Allah Dabaya in the 1988 list of members of the Pakistani Parliament! According to the octogenarian, he did not want to leave his homeland in spite of enduring various personal setbacks. However, he left his country at the age of 52 only for the survival of his family.

Even after finding a secure place to live in India, Ram had to work hard to run his family. He has been selling ice cream for the past 25 years. Ram told the press that seven of his children married within their own religious community (Hindu). He has also revealed that his family still has 25 acres of ancestral land in the Panjgirain area of Darya Khan tehsil of Bhakkar District in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. According to Ram, the piece of land actually belonged to his grandfather. He has expressed hope that his children would live a healthy life in India, stating: “My only wish now is for my children to secure government jobs or stable employment.”

Meanwhile, Ram and one of his family members Om Prakash have strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, stating that the Government of India should take stringent action against Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. They have also said that the time has come to eliminate terrorists by targeting them in their hideouts. According to Ram, he is content in India due to the mutual brotherhood and acceptance he feels in this country.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das