FOCUS
Endless wait
LUV PURI
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Almost two years after the LOC was reopened, getting to the other side to meet long-lost family members is still a long-winded affair.
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LIVING ON MEMORIES: Begum Jan.
"I HAVE waited more than 40 years to meet my husband living across the Line of Control and would wait till my death," says 70-year-old Barkat Bi, who lives in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. What magnifies the tragedy is that her husband, Niaz Mohammad, lives just one kilometre away from her in the Hajeera area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
"We had married each other after falling in love. There was no way I could forget him as it was a marriage of love not of convenience. Peace between the two countries is not just a word for us. It is the difference between life and death," says Barkat Bi as she recollects her years of suffering and endless wait since the two separated during the 1965 Indo-Pak War.
Separated lives
Barkat Bi's story is but a small part of the multi-dimensional tragedy of the people living on both sides of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The pain, in many ways, still remains to be healed even though it will soon be two years since the reopening of the Line of Control. The tragedy of separation was mostly borne by the Pahari-speaking belt of Jammu and Kashmir, which is ethnically similar to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Across the Line of Control, the story is no different and in fact the tragedy is even worse. There are people looking for missing relatives in various parts of India. In 1947, 31,619 families had migrated to this part of the State and other parts of the country from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. As it took place amidst communal violence, not everyone, particularly women, could safely migrate across the Line of Control.
The tale of Muzaffarabad-based Muslim brothers, Iftikar (60) and Ijaz (56), residents of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, is part of the same tragedy. Both brothers are looking for their Sikh mother Aatam Kour (if she is alive, considering the time factor) and sister Joginder Kour (50). Aatam Kour, a resident of Muzaffarabad, was a victim of Partition riots as she was separated from her parents in 1947 like many other women of the belt. The parents migrated to India and finding herself alone in POK, Aatam Kour married a local Muslim youth, Ayub Khan. From the wedlock, the couple had two sons, Iftikar and Ijaz. Aatam Kour's story took yet another twist in the year 1955 when as per the India-Pakistan agreement to "recover" the lost women in each other's territory, she was located by her Sikh parents. Her parents brought her back to India from POK, leaving her husband and sons behind.
The only link
At the time she was brought to India, she was pregnant. Because of conservative attitudes and resistance from family members, Aatam Kour never went back. Unable to forget her husband who lived in POK, in 1958 Aatam Kour posted him a letter along with a photo of her with her daughter who was born after she came to India. This photo, which is now in the possession of the brothers, is the only link through which the two brothers hope to find their lost mother and sister. Iftikar Akhtar says, "We have longed since our childhood to see our mother and sister. We would be grateful if any body can pass on any information or clue which can unite our family."
In the multi-ethnic area of Jammu and Kashmir, the problem of Kashmiri-speaking families living in POK are not any the less intense. Besides being away from their relatives, these families feel culturally alienated in POK and long to be back among their own community in the Kashmir valley. Kashmiri-speaking 70-year-old Begum Jan, who was my host in Muzaffarabad, has been waiting for the day she would be able to meet her brothers living in Srinagar and go to her beloved valley. "I, along with my husband, came here in the early 1950s. But I could never adjust here as the people here speak a different language and even the cultural traditions are different," says Jan as she shows me old photographs of her family in the valley.
Complicated process
Why has the opening of the Line of Control failed to benefit the bulk of divided families? Ever since five Line of Control points were opened in November 2005, 1,039 Indian nationals have travelled to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and 1,219 POK nationals were able to visit Jammu and Kashmir in the same period. The actual number of applicants who desire to go across the Line of Control and meet their relatives is much higher. For instance, in the Kotli area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, I was told by the district authorities that more than 3,000 persons are waiting to visit Jammu and Kashmir to meet their relatives.
The surviving photograph of Aatam and Joginder Kaur.
But the movement across the Line of Control is not that easy and a number of verifications are required for the final permission to come in. A senior officer who is monitoring the mechanism informed me that they had to deny permission to a number of people who wanted to meet their wards who had infiltrated to POK for arms training.
Official reasons
The officials also have to make sure that the person who is coming does not come with the intention of settling down here. Recently, four POK nationals who had crossed the Line of Control under the permit document had overstayed in the State. Among those who have overstayed and got a stay from the J&K High Court include centurion Nawab Din, a Pakistan Occupied Kashmir resident of Mirpur area who had come to Rajouri in August last year to meet his son after four decades. The old man had migrated to POK during the 1965 Indo-Pak war though all his family members lived here. The Indian Constitution is quite explicit that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir, as it existed on 1947, is Indian territory and therefore residents of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are legally Indian residents.
And what makes it difficult for the divided families to remain in contact with each other is the lack of telephone link between two parts of the State. The issue of uniting members of the divided families is complex and clearly has many dimensions. It would need sustained effort and a magnanimous attitude on the part of policy makers in India and Pakistan to help bridge the six decades of bloody divide between the two parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
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