8th August 2023, Mumbai: The calm at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan was broken by a whisper: “Hai Rabba!” They were the first words that an emotionally overwhelmed Sakina Bibi could utter before hugging Gurmail Singh for the first time ever in her life. Both could not hold back their tears.
“Don’t cry. It is a day to celebrate,” said Gurmail as he held on to Sakina. As India and Pakistan mark their 76th Independence Day, the Sikh shrine was witness to yet another emotional reunion of siblings separated by the Partition.
Heartwarming and emotional event
In a poignant and heartwarming event, a Pakistani woman and her Indian brother were tearfully reunited after an agonizing 74-year separation at the Kartarpur corridor. This corridor, a symbolic 4km passage connecting the two nations, has emerged as a conduit of love, hope, and unbreakable kinship.
Sakina Bi, a resilient 74-year-old resident of Gurdas village in Pakistan’s Sheikhupura, had embarked on a lifelong quest to find her brother, Gurmail Singh Grewal. Her journey began when she stumbled upon a letter he had written to their mother back In 1961. This heartfelt reunion was made possible by Nasir Dhillon, a Pakistani YouTuber who aimed to bridge the gap between individuals separated by the Partition through his innovative Punjabi Lehar project.
Even as the gurdwara has become easily accessible to devotees in India after the construction of the Kartapur Corridor in 2019, it took an year for both Sakina and Gurmail to reach at the shrine and meet each other in person.
Back story during Partition.
Sakina was born four years after the Partition, in Shekhupura of West Punjab, now in Pakistan. Incidentally, she was aware that she had a brother, but Gurmail had no Idea about her.
“I knew the story of how my mother was taken to Pakistan, but I had no knowledge about my sister. She told me that she was born in Pakistan four years after the Partition,” said Gurmail.
What could have been better in my life than meeting my own brother?
I have been searching for him since I came to know about him from my father,” said Sakina after meeting her brother. Both had started talking over the phone around a year ago. Gurmail was born to Karmate Bibi.
During partition, his father reached Pakistan but Karmate was left behind in India. In 1949, the newly created governments of India and Pakistan agreed to exchange the kidnapped and left-behind women in their respective countries during the Partition.
Sakina’s mother was taken to Pakistan under this agreement. However, Gurmail was left behind. “Sakina’s father was brought to India by police. According to villagers, Gurmail was playing at some other home in the village when police came to take his mother to Pakistan. She was spotted in the street by her husband, who was accompanying police, and she was picked up from there. She pleaded that her child should be taken along with her.
But maybe police were in a hurry to avoid any opposition from villagers. Gurmail was left behind,” said Gurdarshan Singh Sandhu, a social media journalist, who played an Important role in looking for Gurmail on the initiative of Pakistan-based Youtuber Nassir Dhillon.
Both Nassir Dhillon and Gurdarshan Singh had also worked together to arrange the meeting of separated brothers Sikka Khan and Sadiq Khan after 75 years of the Partition.“Police returned my mother to Pakistan without my brother. Two years later, I was born in Pakistan. After two more years, my mother passed away. I learned about my family history from my father. There was a letter that I received along with a picture of my brother in 1961. Since then, I wanted to meet him,” said Sakina in the video that Nassir Dhillon recorded to start the search for Gurmail.
ASC Priya