Sarwan Singh, 92, a resident of Bahaudinpur village in Jalandhar district, got emotional as he reunited with his nephew who was lost to partition riots, after 75 years at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, in Pakistan.
Six-year-old Mohan Singh was separated from his family during the Partition riots of 1947, in which 22 members of his family were slaughtered in the communal violence unleashed in his village, Chak 37, in Pakistan.
Sarwan went to the last resting place of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak along with his daughter Rachhpal Kaur. After seven and half decades, they spent time together in the gurdwara premises. Mohan Singh who is now Afzal Khaliq, brought home made ladoos for his uncle. Both were short of words to express their pleasure. Their eyes got teary when they hugged.
On returning from the Pakistan side, Sarwan said, “I cannot believe that I found my nephew. We had no hope. God blessed me long age to meet him”.
“I wish he comes to India if the governments of both the countries allow him,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“I wish he comes to India if the governments of both the countries allow him,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}While the rioters killed the men, and women of the house jumped into a well with their children to save their honour, Mohan managed to escape. Seventy-five years on, Mohan Singh, who was raised by a Muslim family in Pakistan.
The family did not know what became of the six-year-old until a Punjab-origin man, who was based in Australia, Gurdev Singh, helped the two families unite after separately coming across the Partition accounts of India-based Sarwan Singh and Pakistan-based Mohan Singh.
Gurdev Singh watched a documentary, in which Sarwan Singh mentioned the identifying marks of the missing child. The man had also seen the interview of one Pakistan-based man, who had revealed similar things about himself. He managed to get the contact numbers of both the families and got them together over the phone.