Hurt in Pak firing, woman gets Rs 5,000 as relief after 17 years
Poonch, June 17
Seventeen years after a woman, Hassan Bi, was wounded in indiscriminate firing by Pakistan soldiers in a border village of Poonch district
Hassan Bi with her husband, Mohammad Sharief, at Kerni village in Poonch.
Photo by writer
(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110618/j&k.htm#2)
Poonch, June 17 Seventeen years after a woman, Hassan Bi, was wounded in indiscriminate firing by Pakistan soldiers in a border village of Poonch district
Hassan Bi with her husband, Mohammad Sharief, at Kerni village in Poonch.
Photo by writer
(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110618/j&k.htm#2)
By Ashutosh Sharma 21 May, 2008 Countercurrents.org JAMMU, May 18: Borders and religions may marginalize human beings but they can not cut apart relations. Despite having an age of 104 years, time could not lessen Ishar Singh’s anguish for his first family, which got separated from him during partition of India-Pakistan in 1947 and later embraced Islam. From first marriage, his two daughters are settled in Pakistan whereas sons are working in US. Ishar presently lives in Digiana near Jammu city with second family but equally concerned about children from the first family. While narrating the incidents of partition and its aftermath, Ishar says that although now he has grown frail yet he has strong desire to see the faces of his daughters in Pakistan before breathing his last. Ishar Singh was enjoying perfect family bliss with wife, Swarn Kour and seven children including four sons and three daughters in village Asniji, in Muzzafrabad, PoK till independence brought trauma of partition along with it. Pakistan came into existence and with triggered migration and massacre in the region. In October 1947 communal clashes broke out in part of Poonch which is under Pakistani control now. During the displacement of minority community from Muslim dominated area, his two brothers were massacred and he along with rest of the family members was held captive at Kharla in Ilaqua Bag by Muslim rioters. Being a Sikh, he had two options-either to embrace Islam or to lose life to people charged with communal frenzy. One day, while he was engaged in some job assigned by his captors, his wife along with children somehow managed to escape from the captivity and got separated from him. On the other hand he too managed to get away and came over to this side of border through Goalta, Uri and after passing some days with Indian Army at Baramulla finally settled in Batote with the assurance that after the passage of dark phase he will rediscover his family and start new life in India. Ishar continued his efforts to establish contact with the family and even mailed several letters to his wife in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) but could not evoke any response as letters never reached his wife who had already left the place of address along with children. Being hopeless and hapless, Swaran after leaving Muzzafrabad went to Lahore in search of livelihood where she managed to get job of a nurse in Mayo Hospital. Circumstances compelled her to convert religion along with children. But, Swaran rediscovered meaning of life in the up bringing and education of her children. During this process, she toiled hard but with dignity and imparted higher education to children at her own without discriminating between daughters and sons. Ishar came to know about it from some refugees settled in Jammu who visited PoK and learned about his family putting up in Lahore. Eventually, Ishar visited Lahore in 1949 but by that time every thing had irrevocably changed. His wife along with children had converted to Islam. She refused to embrace Sikhism again and come to India as by that time she had learnt to live on her own. By that time she had dedicated herself to imparting good education to her children. Ishar came back with a heavy heart in Batote and on the continuous insistence of relatives remarried in 1958 and started a new life. From his second marriage, he fathered five children and later settled in Jammu at Digiana. On the other hand, his elder son from first marriage, Inderjeet Singh, now Mohammad Shafi became a surgeon in New Jersey, US and rest of three sons also established business in US with the help of their elder brother. Having consolidated their position in New Jersy they took their mother along with them and got permanently settled in US. When Shafi had to leave for New Jersy he visited his father in Batote and remained in touch with his father over the years. Later, on the invitation of his first wife and her children, Ishar went to New Jersy in 1975 and stayed with the separated family for a month and came back. According to him, his elder son has married a Christian lady and is doing well there where as other three sons and daughters have married in Muslim religion. His daughters are living in Faislabad, Pakistan and are in teaching profession. Till now he has visited US eleven times and in the meantime also got a green card from the United States. But Ishar decided to live in India for the rest of his life. He holds his first wife, who died a couple of months ago, in high esteem while appreciating her efforts in raising the children gracefully. |
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