M A I N   N E W S

Preserving milestone of history, hope
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 7
More than 34 years ago, when septuagenarian Diljit Singh Brar had treasured an abandoned milestone of pre-Partition times, mentioning the distance of Lahore from Ludhiana, he had hoped against all hopes that the road to his cherished city would reopen one day.

Mr Brar, a retired General Manager, Industries Department, who had been preserving it for the past several decades, today cleaned the milestone with renewed gusto as the Karawaan-e-Aman bus began its historical journey from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad.

“I was only hoping all these years. Today I believe that the Delhi-Lahore road via Ludhiana and Ferozepore will soon be opened for public. And then the milestone will prove to be of great help to commuters passing through this road,” said Mr Brar.

“It was in 1971 that we had purchased 2.5 acres of land, five miles away from Ludhiana. I and my children had found the triangular milestone lying abandoned in a pool of water along the roadside. We, with the help of a labourer, managed to remove it from there and then put it outside our house. Since then we are getting the milestone repainted with plastic paint in white and alphabets and numbers in black,” he added.

Mr Brar said he had named his marriage palace Fifth Mile Stone after this historic stone, which declares that Ludhiana is five miles away, Lahore, 120 miles and Delhi is 196 miles from this point.

His daughter, a qualified doctor, Dr Harpreet Kaur, said Lahore was the most loved destination of her father before Partition. “He hated the borders separating the two neighbouring countries. We have always respected his love for it and have tried to maintain the milestone as it mentions the name of his dream city.”

“Insha Allah, if all goes well this route will become a reality and my father will be able to travel to Lahore, where he spent all weekends of his adolescent life when he was settled in Faridkot. This time he will go there with his wife, Ms Harbans Kaur Brar,” said Dr Harpreet.