These reunions include families not only in Punjab, but also in Kashmir, Rajasthan-Sindh, as well as UP/Bihar/Madhya Pradesh and other Indian states.
Mainstream media is usually mired in political events, often with social media users highlighting such meetings, prompting the big media houses to take note.
A YouTube initiative launched in 2013 known as Punjabi Lehar has done a wonderful job collecting the stories of survivors of Partition. Co-founded by two Pakistanis, Nasir Dhillon of Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur) and Bhupinder Singh of Nankana Sahib, the channel has helped reunite hundreds of families torn apart by Partition and members of old friends.
visa free Kartarpur The corridor, which reopened in November 2021 after being closed for more than a year and a half, has helped catalyze several recent meetings.
In January, this avenue enabled the reunion of two brothers who had been separated for 74 years. the story of sika khan His elder brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, in the Bathinda district of Punjab, India, and in Dhillon’s hometown of Faisalabad, have garnered much media attention since their historic meeting, 10 January 2022. Videos of the reunion went viral on social media, triggering emotional reactions all around. Globe.
After 74 years Bhai Milay Kartarpur Sahib Mai || 1947 Partition The True Story and Punjabi Wave
The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi issued a visa to Sika Khan in the same month. However, due to the special permissions required due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to cross only in March 2022.
In another instance of close family members reuniting, cousins on either side of the partition met at Nankana Sahib Gurdwara
For the first time since 1947 — Baldev Singh, 75 of Rattok village, district Sangrur, Punjab, India and his cousin Sajda Begum, about 80, from Faizabad, Punjab, Pakistan. Baldev Singh has no memory, as he was only a few months old at the time of Partition, but Sajda has hazy memories of playing with him.
The meeting was enabled by a 10-day religious tourism visa, April 11-21, allowing Baldev Singh to attend Vaisakhi The festival is celebrated in many Gurdwaras of Pakistan including Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Dera Sahib Lahore and Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.
No matter how strained relations between the two countries are, they must maintain a humanitarian approach, allowing a separate category of visas for persons over a certain age who wish to reunite their families. Huh.
Before moving to Pakistan in March 2022, Sika Khan, speaking to reporters in Punjabi, said that he was happy to be in Pakistan with his estranged family. He said that even after getting the visa he had to wait for a long time and expressed his pain for “those who fail to get visa to visit their loved ones”.
He urged governments to take a “flexible approach” in granting visas and allowing disparate families to visit again and again.
In 2012, India and Pakistan signed an agreement allowing visa on arrival for senior citizens with roots in both countries. However, it has not been implemented due to bilateral tensions.
The Kartarpur Corridor was built to allow devotees from Punjab, India to pay obeisance at the Darbar Sahib, the founder’s resting place. Sikh Faith Guru Nanak Dev. On another level, it has helped reconnect families, friends and even peace activists.
Since the reopening, at least two groups of Rotarians from India and Pakistan have held meetings in Kartarpur aimed at making peace, enabled by the visa-free corridor.
When strategic analysts dismiss the usefulness of people-to-people contacts, they forget the role of such relationships in blunting the narrative of combating misconceptions and hatred.
Today, in the 75th year of independence, the two countries must honor their 2012 agreement and at least allow the elderly to visit their relatives. They must do this before it is too late.
tridivesh Singh Maini OP is Policy Analyst and Visiting Faculty at Jindal Global University, Sonepat (India). He is the author of South Asian Cooperation and the Role of Punjab (Siddharth Prakashan, 2007). Twitter @tridiveshsingh. This is a dream news syndicated feature @southasiapeace.