Old Pak couple back to house where they married after 68 years

AMRITSAR: Aamir Begum was 25 and just married to Mohammad Abdullah when they had to migrate to the newly-created country Pakistan where the couple hosted choora (bridal bangles) ceremony by inviting strangers to bless them. After 68 years, their son Abdul Ghaffar made his parents dream come true and brought them to the same house in Basarke Gill village near Amritsar where Aamir and Abdullah had spent their first night.

"We were married just a month and half before the Partition. Marriage rituals and wedding ceremonies were still going on in the house, I was trying to adapt to an all new atmosphere, but suddenly news of Partition broke. We collected whatever we had and left for the new country but I didn't take off my wedding choora," Aamir Begum, 93, spoke haltingly with faint a smile on her wrinkled face.

She said after two months, the couple organized a small function to take off "choora" as per social customs. "We were not interested but we had to obey the rituals so unwillingly, we invited a few neighbours for the function," she said. Aamir was born in Basarke Gill, the birth place of third Sikh master Guru Amar Das, in 1922 and was married to Mohammad Abdullah, older than her by two years, of nearby Bhusse village. With tears in her eyes, Aamir Begum said their village remained most peaceful during Partition when human insensitivities were at peak and people were butchering each other in the name of religion.

"But the people of our village helped us to reach Gharinda police station from where policemen accompanied us to the newly-demarcated international border," said Mohammad Abdullah, 95, who was a master weaver. "Life was better here, but hatred of few played havoc to lakhs of people on both sides of the border who were uprooted and had to begin our life from scratch," he said, adding that they had settled at Chak 58 GB village in Faislabad district of Pakistan Punjab.

The house in Basarke, which earlier belonged to couple, is now owned by the family of Mehar Singh. "We welcomed them like a newly-wed couple and are giving honour to them like our parents," said Dr Jasbir Singh Gill who had facilitated the stay of Aamir Begum and Abdullah also arranged for a small function to welcome them to their roots.

"Three passports of my parents had expired waiting for a visa to India, which was denied to them due to one or other reason," said Ghaffar. He said their visit was made possible with the help of president of Nankana Sahib Sikh Yatri Jatha, Swaran Singh Gill, who sponsored their tour.

Along with Aamir and Abdullah, Khurshid Khan, who was born in Haryana Bunga village in Hoshiarpur, is also in Indian Punjab after 68 years to visit his village and meet his peer group, if he finds one. "Visa had been a major issue for coming to India. I wish these manmade borders dissolve and we again live in peace and communal harmony," he said.