Jammu: The wounds of separation inflicted on families in Kashmir by the Partition of India in 1947 have slowly begun to heal. With the Governments in India and Pakistan relaxing travel restrictions for people separated by the Line of Control, people in this militancy ravaged State now hope to forge links with their kin across the border.

Inderjeet Kumari, a Hindu, recently came to know of her Muslim daughter's whereabouts in Kotli district of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The discovery belies myths that people belonging to the two religions are distributed proportionately on either side of the LoC.

The discovery, which comes in the backdrop of improving bilateral relations, was facilitated when the Pakistan Government permitted Yuv Raj Gupta, a retired Central Government employee, to visit his native place in PoK. There, Inderjeet's daughter, Bi Begum, contacted Mr. Gupta and requested him to trace her mother in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr. Gupta traced Inderjeet and passed on the anxious daughter's message, resulting in the first-ever contact between the two families.

Inderjeet's story offers a glimpse into the misery countless women face, separated from their kin by geographical boundaries. Many women who were left behind or abducted on both sides of the border during the Partition were later reunited with their family members.

Like many others, Inderjeet too was separated from her parents, who migrated to Jammu and Kashmir in November 1947.

Left alone in the PoK belt, Inderjeet married a Muslim known to the family.

A year later, she gave birth to a girl. In a new twist, Inderjeet's brother along with several volunteers of the State machinery arrived in PoK in December 1948 and brought her to Jammu as part of an agreement between India and Pakistan to facilitate the return of women to their families. Inderjeet was thus separated from her one-year-old daughter.

With contact re-established now, the two families are anxious for a reunion. Mr. Gupta said: "The daughter, Bi Begum, contacted me and beseeched me to find her mother. I was able to trace her mother, who was equally anxious to meet her daughter living across the LoC."

He said the incident demonstrated the positive fallout of improved bilateral relations and it inspired hope for several families separated from their kin.

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