AMRITSAR: Kartarpur Sahib is emerging as the latest meeting ground for families separated during the Parition, and the corridor as the bridge across India-Pakistan border.
Over a month after two brothers, separated in 1947, reunited at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, an Ajnala resident has managed to trace his long lost family in Pakistan, and meet them on Friday.
Sonu Masih, a driver by profession, said it all began almost two years ago. “While browsing through the YouTube videos, I happened to see one of Pakistani nationals Iqbal Masih. He was remembering his elder brother Inayat Masih, who had migrated to India during the India-Pakistan Partition. Hearing that, I was stunned, for Inayat Masih was my grandfather,” he said.
“When I spoke about it to my father, he confirmed that he had relatives in Pakistan. Ever since, I started using the internet extensively to trace Iqbal Masih in Pakistan. I was able to find the video shooter and, through him, located Iqbal’s grandson Shahid Masih in Lahore,” he added.
Both Iqbal and Inayat have since died. So has Inayat’s son and Sonu’s father Baksheesh Masih. But that did not stop Sonu from reaching out to the long lost family. On Friday, he took along his mother and other relatives to Kartapur Sahib, to meet Iqbal’s son Rafiq, Shahid and other relatives, who had come from Lahore.
Speaking to TOI while on his way back home after meeting his relatives, Shahid told TOI, “They are our blood. We are very excited and thankful to the Almighty to have us reunited at Kartarpur Sahib. ” He said about 30-40 years ago, Inayat had visited their village Manawal near Nanakana Sahib in Pakistan to meet his brother. “I came to know only this much from my grandfather. But there was no connection with our family in India until Sonu found out,” he added.
Reacting to the reunion, Project Management Unit chief executive officer Muhammad Latif claimed, “Kartarpur corridor is fast emerging as a convenient rendezvous for a reunion of families divided by the Parition. ”
