Date:02/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030252541000.htm

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Family reunion across Line of Control after nearly 60 years

Luv Puri

Ari (J&K): Softening of the Line of Control (LoC) in this belt of Jammu and Kashmir has finally paid dividends for a Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Muslim family.

It was able to meet its Hindu relatives living on this side of the Line of Control after nearly 60 years.

The Partition of the State in 1947 had led to separation of several women and children from the male members of the family, many of whom were still to be traced.

One such woman was Leelo Devi who was separated from her family in Bamoch area of PoK in November 1947.

While the rest of the family migrated to Ari village of Poonch district on this side of LoC, Leelo Devi remained in PoK and married a local Rajput Muslim landlord, Raja Gulbar Khan.

Contacts lost

She changed her name to Leelo Begum. Due to the animosity between India and Pakistan there was simply no communication between Leelo and her Hindu relatives living in Poonch district.

A ray of hope came when her grandson, Tanveer Ahmed, took an initiative to unite her with her relatives. In 2005, Tanveer managed to contact the family of 77-year-old Lekh Raj Sharma, brother of Leelo Begum living in this remote village, on the phone.

The vitality of soft borders to heal past wounds was demonstrated when Tanveer Ahmed got the permit document to come this side of the LoC and meet his grandmother’s Hindu relatives.

Tanveer Ahmed, who came this week from Kotli area of PoK to Ari area of Poonch district through the Chakan-Da-Bagh LoC point told The Hindu that he was delighted to be with his grandmother’s relatives after trying so hard.

Resistance

“Now my dream is to bring my grandmother here so that she could meet her blood relations,” he adds.

Tanveer Ahmed had to face stiff resistance from his own Muslim relatives.

“This has been a difficult period for me as many family members have opposed my initiative. My relatives were afraid of the reunion because they feared that my grandmother may not return to this side. But I have been able to convince them. Society has to demonstrate maturity to solve the decades-old humanitarian crisis afflicting the divided families,” Tanveer said.

A number of women still remain untraced despite the best efforts of social activists and relief organisations.