The Hindu : National : Unsuccessful bids by relatives

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Thursday, Nov 10, 2005

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National

Unsuccessful bids by relatives

Shujaat Bukhari

Two close relatives make unsuccessful attempts to hug each other

KAMAN POST: On Wednesday, two close relatives on either side of the Line of Control (LoC) made unsuccessful attempts to hug each other at a distance of 10 metres. It was yet another grim reminder of how thousands of families on either side were desperate to meet each other.

Zulfiqar Ali, the Muzaffarabad-based correspondent of BBC and Maqsood Ahmed, a broadcast journalist with Radio Kashmir, had come to cover the opening of the LoC at Chakothi. Soon they became the centre of attraction for a battery of reporters as they were anxious to be reunited with each other. "So near, yet so far," said Mr. Ali, who pleaded with Major Nadeem of the Pakistan Army to allow him to see his first cousin, Mr. Ahmed. At a distance, they talked briefly and inquired about the welfare of their families. "This line is preventing us from even hugging each other," he said.

Mr. Ahmed broke down as he failed to have a reunion with Mr. Ali after 16 years. "It was very painful as I left without meeting him," he told The Hindu . Mr. Ahmed had even forgotten what Mr. Ali looked like. He had got married in Muzaffarabad and had two sons, one of whom was seriously injured in the October 8 quake.

Another relative of his, Sajjad Shafi, was also emotional. "I was happy to see him but very much disappointed as I could not hug him," said Dr. Sajjad. Mr. Ali's parents, three brothers and two sisters live in Uri but have not seen each other for years.

Two other journalists, Tariq Naqash (Dawn) and Roshan Mughal (AFP), tried to meet their friends from this side. "They are known to us and we wanted to know how they have suffered in the quake," said a Srinagar-based journalist.

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