The exciting reunion of two brothers after 75 years without seeing each other, due to the partition of India and Pakistan. AFP photo.
Tears of joy streaked his wrinkled face as Indian Sika Khan first reunited with his older brother, Pakistani Sadi. 75 years oldfrom the tragic partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Sika was only six months old when he and his brother, then ten years old, they were separated from the British division of the subcontinent to the end of its colonial power. This year marks the 75th anniversary of that Partition, during which it is estimated that more than a million people have died sectarian violence and entire families were torn apart by the emergence of two new nations.
Sika’s father and sister were killed in massacres, but Sadiq managed to escape to Pakistan. “My mother could not endure the trauma, jumped into a river and committed suicide,” explained Sika from her humble brick house in Bhatinda, a district in the western Indian state of Punjab, which was the epicenter. violence.
Since their meeting, they have been in constant communication via cell phone; one from Pakistan and one from India. AFP photo.
“I was left at the mercy of the villagers and some relatives who raised me”, he added in dialogue with the news agency. AFP.
Since childhood, Sika he wanted to know something about his brother, the only surviving member of his family. But he couldn’t find any clues until a neighborhood doctor offered help three years ago.
After numerous calls and the assistance of a Pakistani YouTuber, Nasir Dhillon, Sika was able to find Sadiq. they finally gathered in January in the Kartarpur corridora rare visa-free passage that allows Sikh pilgrims from India to visit a temple in Pakistan.
Sika Khan shows old photos of her family, before the partition of India and Pakistan. AFP photo.
The corridor, inaugurated in 2019, has become a symbol of unity and reconciliation for families separated by partition, despite the persistent hostility between the two nations.
“I am from India and he is from Pakistan, but we love each other so much,” Sika said, clutching a faded, framed photograph of the separated family.
“We hugged and cried a lot when we first met. Countries can keep fighting. We are not worried about the India-Pakistan policy, “she added.
The help of a youtuber who has already brought together more than 300 families
Pakistani farmer and real estate agent Dhillon, a 38-year-old Muslim, said he helped brings together around 300 families through its YouTube channel together with his friend Bhupinder Singh, a Pakistani Sikh.
Pakistani youtuber, Nasir Dhillon, was instrumental in making the brothers reunite after 75 years. AFP photo.
“This is not my source of income. This is my inner love and passion,” Dhillon explained. He continued: “I feel these stories are my stories or my grandparents ‘stories, so helping these older people makes me feel like I am fulfilling my grandparents’ wishes.”
He was deeply moved by the case of the Khan brothers, so he decided to do everything to ensure their reunion. “When they met again in Kartarpur, not just me, but 600 people in all cried so much watching the brothers get together‘he recalled.
With information from AFP.
Source: Clarin
