“I was going home after 71 years”: The emotional ‘homecoming’ of an Indian in Pakistan

[Musalman]

If any one from each side trys to lit the flame of peace. Accept it, world has too much hate already.

 

[El Sidd]

No, you're a person who lacks the ability to see goodness in others, be it from another faith than the one he "claims" to be his own.
How can one be a Muslim and not acknowledge some ones emotions or attachment to their land?

Pakistan is for Pakistanis, be Muslims, Hindu, or whoever. It's a land for Islam and by the very definition of it, it means its for every one.

Telling some one to go back to their "hindu land" is not being a true Pakistani or Muslim, but being some one who carries a sickness of hatred in their heart.


So let me repeat. Your mentality doesn't belong to Pakistan, because if it did then I will call you some one who is a VICTIM of the very propaganda he is talking about. If that propaganda has converted you to some one who hates hindus or indians, and their emotional attachment to their ancestral homes. Then I feel sorry for you mate, you really were to easy to change into what that propaganda was designed to change you into.
Who is your teacher? Your Faith? Your Prophet (S.A.W) or those who you claim to hate?
Do ask yourself.

A Muslim will be better than that.

Why dont you change your avatar to 'Saintly Thunder'?

This happens every year. Its the result of partition and religious Sikh folks. Its just ever since the Fish threw up Jonas on the shore on 25th July 2018, Tunas now swim against the current.

 

[HariPrasad]

“I was going home after 71 years”: The emotional ‘homecoming’ of an Indian in Pakistan

“I am going home… after 71 years.”

I mumbled something along those lines to passengers sitting beside me, while taking a flight from Karachi to Islamabad on Christmas morning.

Late in October, a friend of mine who is like an elder brother and a bitter critic of Indian state policies, asked me for my passport. I quickly took some pictures and sent it over to him. A week later, he sent me an affidavit with an invitation to his daughter’s wedding in Karachi that was to be held in late December.


And that is how my journey of going home began.

It is quiet pertinent to share my family origin, given my ‘unusual’ interest in Pakistan.

I belong to a family with roots in Potohar which is around Pindi. We were uprooted in the upheaval that accompanied the Partition of the subcontinent 71 years ago. Cyril Radcliffe had first separated the people by drawing a line between them and then the affairs of the state made it impossible to maintain a kinship between people who had lived together for thousands of years and shared common heritage.

When it looked like I might actually cross Radcliffe’s line, I began going through a tumult of emotions. It wasn’t overwhelming initially; however, as the day to leave grew closer, I somehow lost the sense of balance and composure. It felt no less than a pilgrimage to me. To visit the land of your ancestors, land of your people and your soil is a sacred concept in ancient beliefs and that is something I identify with. I had essentially grown up with my late grandmother reminiscing about our home in Potohar. The home where she was born, where she spent a large part of her life, where she got married and had kids, these memories and places remained very dear to her.

While others who migrated had reconciled and knew India as their home, my grandmother had not forgotten where she came from and always spoke fondly of that life. Listening to her talk about her memories, I grew close to that home of the past.

On December 21st, I crossed the white line at Wagah for the first time. The first Pakistanis I met were the ones I had already been talking to on social media and on the phone and thus they meant a great deal to me. Over the next many days, I realised that Pakistan had somehow preserved and retained what existed 71 years ago; its culture was more organic and full of feelings.

On the day of my arrival, I spent a good while at the Lahore Airport since my flight to Karachi had been delayed for over six hours. Azeem, a Facebook friend from Lahore who was travelling back home from Karachi, had just landed at the Lahore Airport when he discovered on Facebook that I was around. He called me on Messenger and we were overjoyed at this chance and manner of meeting. It was some coincidence!

After arriving in Karachi, I met many people who I felt a very strong bond and kinship with and something within me spontaneously reciprocated the love, affection and warmth. There were four other visitors from India and they were all received with the same fondness. I had brunch, lunch and dinner invitations the next day and had many visitors lined up. However for me, the most significant leg of this visit was only beginning.

On Christmas morning, I was struggling to keep my composure as I had a flight to Islamabad later in the day. Oddly enough, those standard chores ahead of the flight managed to divert my thoughts and attention for some time. However, as I comfortably sat in the flight that Christmas morning, the avalanche of emotions came rushing back with its absolute and final force. Two passengers sitting beside me offered me a tissue and that’s when I told them I was going home after 71 years. Throughout the journey, I kept looking at what appeared to be the landscape of Potohar, starting with the Salt Range.

Upon landing at the Islamabad Airport, I could sense that I was home. I had journeyed to the land that’s my own and as my friend and host in Islamabad put it, the land of my ancestors. There is something about strong roots, roots that go deep. They are often felt for a very long time; they resonate for long or possibly forever. However, fate often dictates a different course for individuals, communities and nations.

Over the past few decades, the Indian state, media and society have cultivated a picture of Pakistan that is far removed from reality. I can say this because I witnessed the reality firsthand during the 11 days of my visit to Karachi, Islamabad and even Lahore, albeit that was only for a few hours due to transit. The experiences I had in Pakistan go beyond words. If I were to venture describing them, I would only say that they defy all negative stereotypes that India and its people have associated with the country. I came across no hostility or negativity during my time here, which is often a misconception ascribed by visitors. With the kind of experience I had in Pakistan during these 11 days, I feel we do a great disservice to our common humanity by putting a premium on politics.

My visit to Pakistan had a very selfish and personal agenda: to touch base with my roots. I wanted to be able to go deeper and farther into the past that I had grown up hearing and feeling so much about. It is probably apt to mention another visitor, a pilgrim who managed to create something enormous out of a very poignantly-felt first visit. This first visit was followed by many more and it gave life to a cause: to rediscover and highlight a heritage lost. Amardeep Singh’s campaign is only gaining strength with each day. His first visit was also made memorable due to his strong feelings and the warmth, love and support he received from several ordinary Pakistanis, who joined him in his campaign with all their passion and all their earnest.

I would also like to thank the many people who made this visit a memorable one: Malik Rashid and Rabi Bashir in Lahore, Tariq Jamil Khan, Dr Yasmin Qazi and Dr Fasih in Karachi, Dr Uzma Anjum, Dr Omar Qureshi, Haroon Mustafa Janjua, Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir and Osama Malik in Islamabad. There were several other individuals who out of love and affection did so much for me that I hope I never forget that feel of Pakistan, one of pure and unbridled joy. It restored my faith in the goodness of humanity.

I went to Lahore from Islamabad on December 31st and returned to India via Wagah on January 1st. Every time someone asks me if I have come back home, I correct them and tell them that I have come back from home.

There was a great bondage between these parts of undivided India. It is not easy for many people who have to left their homes and loved one other side. I am strongly in favor of allowing people to travel on other side of border who have their beloved on other sidie of the border.

 

[Nasr]

Edited

 

[Jinn Baba]

I really don't see how such a positive write up has caused so much anger or hatred in members here

 

[Jugger]

This ceremony bullcrap needs to stop, pointless. It's our turn to bomb the shit out of India - see how much they like it.

Your turn will never come mate.
There is no option of retaliation after 1998 for Pakistan.
With the kind of progress Pakistan is having, it will always be at the receiving end.
Look at other major countries how they treat Pakistan in the diplomatic front.

What is this homecoming Tamasha , this is just useless propaganda.

 

[M. Sarmad]

.... Only blind idiots pander to sentiments.

Indeed, only blind idiots pander to it; hatred being an a priori sentiment.

Nobody is interested in this aman ....

But I thought Islam was the religion of Peace/Aman ... No?

 

[Vapnope]

Seeing all the negative comments from my compatriots makes my head hangs in shame. No wonder world looks at us with disdain.
A bit of history for everyone who is going all bonkers over an article. His family had to leave their homeland (Mandra) because his village was attacked (Take a guess who attacked). His father was in Indian army and refused to attack Pakistani military back in 1971 because, in his own words, he could not kill his own people. His grandmother never accepted India as her country and always told him stories of Pakistan. There are people who were pushed out of their homes without their consent, this is one that unfortunate family. I remember talking to him when he went back to India after this visit and he was all nostalgic and wanted to get back to his "home" forever.

Pakistan and India need more Rahul Sharmas and less or no Zaid Hamids or Arnab Goswamis.

 

[Nasr]

Indeed, only blind idiots pander to it; hatred being an a priori sentiment.

Hatred? You're kidding me right? Who the hell said anything about hatred?

There is a defining difference between hatred and seeing reality. To see what hindustanis truly think about Pakistan. That they see us not as an independent nation, a Muslim nation. Use words such as partition, and home to run their sentiments on us. That's not what Pakistanis see when they look at india. The two nation status was envisaged by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. We are the people of that status, a country for Muslims, where we can live free to practice our faith. Upholding that basis and defending who we are is not hatred, it's called being a realist. And as a realist, peace with all our neighbors is every Pakistanis duty. Because when Pakistan has a peaceful neighborhood, we benefit from it and so do our neighbors. But peace doesn't come at the price of becoming a total yuppie and getting all sentimental to some idiot who still holds on to some home that no longer is his, he hasn't lived in for almost a century and doesn't have any link to it other than the reminder that he is indian, not Pakistani.

Hatred is for fools who live in an alternate universe, the same as those idiots who pander to the "Maha Bharat" yuppies that cry about what was 70 years ago. Realist want peace, so that we fix OUR country, educate OUR people, help OUR helpless and become united as ONE NATION before ALLAH. And we are truly Muslim, then we ought to be more concerned about the unity of the Ummah, than chasing after pagan dreams.

Talking about hatred, huh ... you don't know what hatred really is. Ask the Muslims in Gujrat who were massacred in broad daylight by hindu fascists. Ask the Muslims in Myanmar who have been persecuted and slaughtered. Ask the Muslims of Syria who have been murdered by Western funded swine-terrorists. Go get yourself checked by a head-shrink before you come yapping about hatred.

 

[M. Sarmad]

Hatred? You're kidding me right? Who the hell said anything about hatred?

There is a defining difference between hatred and seeing reality. To see what hindustanis truly think about Pakistan. That they see us not as an independent nation, a Muslim nation. Use words such as partition, and home to run their sentiments on us. That's not what Pakistanis see when they look at india. The two nation status was envisaged by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. We are the people of that status, a country for Muslims, where we can live free to practice our faith. Upholding that basis and defending who we are is not hatred, it's called being a realist. And as a realist, peace with all our neighbors is every Pakistanis duty. Because when Pakistan has a peaceful neighborhood, we benefit from it and so do our neighbors. But peace doesn't come at the price of becoming a total yuppie and getting all sentimental to some idiot who still holds on to some home that no longer is his, he hasn't lived in for almost a century and doesn't have any link to it other than the reminder that he is indian, not Pakistani.

Hatred is for fools who live in an alternate universe, the same as those idiots who pander to the "Maha Bharat" yuppies that cry about what was 70 years ago. Realist want peace, so that we fix OUR country, educate OUR people, help OUR helpless and become united as ONE NATION before ALLAH. And we are truly Muslim, then we ought to be more concerned about the unity of the Ummah, than chasing after pagan dreams.

Talking about hatred, huh ... you don't know what hatred really is. Ask the Muslims in Gujrat who were massacred in broad daylight by hindu fascists. Ask the Muslims in Myanmar who have been persecuted and slaughtered. Ask the Muslims of Syria who have been murdered by Western funded swine-terrorists. Go get yourself checked by a head-shrink before you come yapping about hatred.

Well, your posts reek of bigotry, hatred for Indians, and abhorrence of Hindus/-ism.
And then you say Hatred is for Fools only!!

India is, and hitherto has been, an enemy state to Pakistan. We, however, don't have to be eternal enemies.
Humanity is above all nations and religions. May sanity prevail, on both sides of the border of course.

As for those western funded swine terrorists (sic) in Syria, you have conveniently ignored the fact that they too, just like you, are Muslims who try to justify their hatred of Non-Muslims claiming that 'Islam' is the reason behind that hatred.

Also, there are as many Muslims (if not more) in India as in Pakistan. Are they lesser Muslims, according to you?

 

[Nasr]

As for those western funded swine terrorists (sic) in Syria, you have conveniently ignored the fact that they too, just like you, are Muslims who try to justify their hatred of Non-Muslims claiming that 'Islam' is the reason behind that hatred.

Wrong again, trying to be a smarta$$, aren't ya. Those who claim to be ISIS, HTS and ten thousand other utterly senseless, haywired groups fighting in Syria, aren't true representatives of Islam. If they were, they would have been engaging with Shias on an intellectual level and extending a hand of brotherhood as in the spirit of the Ummah. Not killing Shias, branding them as kafirs and slaughtering Christians and raping their women. That is not Islam, rather the cult practices of Wahhabi-Salafi indoctrinated idiots.

Standing for our identity and defending that we are Pakistan, is NOT hatred. Playing around with words and trying a psychological ploy though, is classical buffoonery that people like you are in the habit of spinning. Give it a rest, your antics are useless here.

Also, there are as many Muslims (if not more) in India as in Pakistan. Are they lesser Muslims, according to you?

That quote right there, proves my point that you're nothing more than a parrot. Because if you were one who actually possessed human intellect, then you would've read in my previous posts, the carnage Muslims in Gujrat have suffered at the hands of hindu fascists and how Babri Masjid was demolished. The plight of Muslims in india is a constant reminder to Pakistanis of what it would have been like, to live under hindu rule. Muslims in india are our brothers and sisters in Islam. Their mistreatment in your country india, is for the world to see. Of course you're blind as a bat, who couldn't see past your own snout.

 

[M. Sarmad]

Wrong again, trying to be a smarta$$, aren't ya. Those who claim to be ISIS, HTS and ten thousand other utterly senseless, haywired groups fighting in Syria, aren't true representatives of Islam. If they were, they would have been engaging with Shias on an intellectual level and extending a hand of brotherhood as in the spirit of the Ummah. Not killing Shias, branding them as kafirs and slaughtering Christians and raping their women. That is not Islam, rather the cult practices of Wahhabi-Salafi indoctrinated idiots.

You may believe/claim that they are not true representatives of Islam. And they may believe that the rest are misguided... That's entirely besides the point.

The FACT remains that they too, just like you, claim to be Muslims who try to justify their hatred of Non-Muslims claiming that 'Islam' is the reason behind that hatred.

Playing around with words and trying a psychological ploy though, is classical buffoonery that people like you are in the habit of spinning. Give it a rest, your antics are useless here.

Of course you're blind as a bat, who couldn't see past your snout.

^^Such statements only prove that you have no arguments/counter-arguments. Try harder

That quote right there, proves my point that you're nothing more than a parrot. Because if you were one who actually possessed human intellect, then you would've read in my previous posts, the carnage Muslims in Gujrat have suffered at the hands of hindu fascists and how Babri Masjid was demolished. The plight of Muslims in india is a constant reminder to Pakistanis of what it would have been like, to live under hindu rule. Muslims in india are our brothers and sisters in Islam. Their mistreatment in your country india, is for the world to see.

That quote only proves that your 'assumptions' are wrong and your ideology is flawed.
Why being so evasive? I asked a very simple question, let me repeat myself:

Also, there are as many Muslims (if not more) in India as in Pakistan. Are they lesser Muslims, according to you?

 

[VCheng]

Also, there are as many Muslims (if not more) in India as in Pakistan. Are they lesser Muslims, according to you?

Can we ask the related question if India regards its own Muslims as lesser citizens because of their religion? Or equally fairly, does Pakistan regard its own Hindus as lesser citizens because of their religion?

 

[M. Sarmad]

Can we ask the related question if India regards its own Muslims as lesser citizens because of their religion? Or equally fairly, does Pakistan regard its own Hindus as lesser citizens because of their religion?

While the Indian Constitution and IPC regard Indian Muslims as equal citizens, Pakistan Constitution and PPC discriminate against Pakistani Hindus. However, the Indian Muslims (too) do face some forms of discrimination, at least on the social level.

 

[VCheng]

While the Indian Constitution and IPC regard Indian Muslims as equal citizens, Pakistan Constitution and PPC discriminate against Pakistani Hindus.

That admission alone would cast a critical light on the subject matter in this thread.

However, the Indian Muslims (too) do face some forms of discrimination, at least on the social level.

You added this line later. Would it be fair to say that the social discrimination is probably the same on both sides, but the legal discrimination is not?