Split by Partition, two families reunite at Kartarpur

GS Paul

Amritsar, April 18

After 74 years of the Partition, Sukhpal Singh of Amritsar reunited with a Pakistan-based family, a member of which was saved by his forefathers during the 1947 riots.

The contact was established between the fourth generation of the families — Sukhpal and Lahore-based Shakeel Ahmad — through a source in Abu Dhabi. Shakeel’s great grandfather Siraj Din (in his early 20s then) was rescued by Sukhpal’s forefathers during the Partition. The duo exchanged words telephonically and a day was fixed for meeting at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.

In the backdrop, Sukhpal said during the Partition, his family lived in Saidpur village of Patti tehsil (Tarn Taran). His late great grandfather Hira Singh and grandfather Udham Singh had rescued Muslim families living in their vicinity from the uncontrolled mob that was bent on killing Muslims during the Partition. Siraj was one of them.

“My grandfather hid Muslim families in cattle feed enclosures and sugarcane fields to dodge the mob. After the situation normalised, they were made to cross over to a border village falling under the Pakistan territory,” he said. He said his grandfather used to tell that Siraj stayed back as he was injured.

“In the absence of any medical facility, our family treated him at home. After around a month, a Baluchistan regiment truck arrived and picked him up to the other side of the border. Since then, there was no contact between them,” he added.

Shakeel said barring his great grandfather (Siraj), three other members of their family were killed in the Partition violence. He had requested Sukhpal to bring soil and water of their native village, the birth place of Siraj.

“Though, my great grandfather died two years ago at the age of 97, he always wished to meet the Indian Sikh family who saved his life. We used to meet Indian Sikh jathas that visit Pakistan on Baisakhi and other Gurpurbs with a hope that we may find that Sikh family, but it never happened while my great grandfather was alive,” he said.

“We had langar together, before parting our ways.”

Fourth generation establishes Contact

• Sukhpal Singh of Amritsar reunited with a Pakistan-based family, a member of which was saved by his forefathers during the 1947 riots
• The contact was established between the fourth generation of the families — Sukhpal and Lahore-based Shakeel Ahmad — through a source in Abu Dhabi