Features & Articles

Bloody line that divides blood relations
Article written by Ishfaq-ul-Hassan

Kindred spirits torn apart, lives that are shattered not just by the violence and terrorist strikes but by silent pain and anguish of those who unable to reach their loved ones living in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). In this age of the great thaw which seems to characterize dialogue with Pakistan, it is ironical that Kashmiris separated by this Line of Control continue to suffer incessantly.

For Sakeena, the hour of reckoning came three years ago when her father, Khwaja Ali Mohammad died in Lahore. He had migrated to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), joined the government services in 1947, and then shifted to Lahore, where he established his own business. Sakeena shivers as she recalls that painful moment when she received the news of her fathers death. Her grief was compounded manifold when she was denied permission to travel to Pakistan to have a last glimpse of her dear father. This insensitive move caused her deep anguish, touching her innermost core. An anguish shared by her entire family, yet an anguish which remains the reality of many such divided families in Kashmir.

Hajiras life is another testimony to the painful reality of the valley. There was such a vacuum left in her life when her son, Ali Mohammad Bhatt migrated to PoK in 1947, that she became almost insane with grief. All these long years passed leaving Hajira praying for the day when she could set her eyes on her beloved son. Unfortunately that was not to be. With his name on her lips, her feeble eyes searching for the familiar face, she breathed her last carrying with her the unfulfilled yearning of meeting her prodigal son.

The tragic tale does not end with Hajira but remained a continuing tale of woe for the family. Very recently, the son, Ali Mohamed Bhatt passed away in Karachi leaving behind a wife and daughter. Now they are living in isolation there, cut off from the rest of his family. How they are bearing up with the loss without family support is a question they can only ask Allah. The powers that however are unconcerned with these human frailities, a fall out of their policies. Several attempts by Bhatss relatives to visit Pakistan have been thwarted in endless conditionalities and procedures, which hamper rather than open up travel and interchange.

The chequered history of Sakeenas family too speaks the story of the beautiful and troubled land they inhabit. Sakeena was just a small child when her father migrated to Pakistan. Back in the seventies, they mangaged to meet him and during this phase, the father arranged for his daughters marriage with Mohammad Basher, his nephew.

However this happy phase did not last. Travel to and from Pakistan became increasingly difficult from 1989 onwards, when the situation in Kashmir became turbulent. Getting visa became cumbersome. The restriction on border checkpoints made things even more complicated and intimidating for common people wanting to reunite and bond with their loved ones.

It is ironical that as the world is witnesses to immense technological developments that connect people across the globe, the Kashmiris continue to struggle and live in darkness, being denied vital means of communication.

Mohammad Bashir chafes at the fact that while the world has become a global village, Kashmir is being forced into a primitive age. The authorities have imposed a ban on phones to Pakistan, since the turmoil started, and then the facility was totally withdrawn, completely cutting off the communication between the people. The decision had political motives, in the process oppressing the common people, who are bearing the brunt, says Mohammad Bashir.

These families symbolize the deeper dimensions of the conflict in Kashmir, which destroys the very bonds on which all of society rests and scars human beings, sometimes permanently by denying them the simple joys of life. There is no doubt that an attempt is being made by the various groups in the Valley and at the level of the governments itself to find a mutually satisfactory solution.

Swinging between hope and despair, frustrations and aspirations, the people of Kashmir are avidly watching the developments on the political front and their attention is pinned on the forthcoming high-level summit between Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the General Parvez Musharaf. How these discussions and policy matters will translate into a reality is what remains to be seen. For the divided families across the bloody line known as Loc, the success of the political process between India and Pakistan simply means that their Hajiras or Sakeenas need not suffer anymore and the joy of uniting with their brethren will be theirs in the coming years.

This article is part of series of writings facilitated by Charkha Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace and Development 2003-2004

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CHARKHA FEATURE
LAST UPDATED ON October 2004