PATIALA: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi looking back at Partition and saying India will not take back Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan after the 1971 war, residents of Nabha are now demanding a policy whereby people with ancestral homes in Pakistan will be allowed to visit their ancestral homeland once. At a recent meeting with Indian National Congress Patiala Lok Sabha candidate Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, residents shared their demands. Harbans Lal (89), who had to leave his home in Pakistan at the age of 12 when Partition happened, reminisced about the brotherhood that existed between Hindus and Muslims. “We thought this partition was temporary and we would come back soon. We left our gold ornaments and other valuables in an earthen pot and buried them near our house. “I wish I had a chance to revisit my homeland there,” he said. Harbans, who survived Partition, is one of many residents of Bhatindiya Wala Mohalla in Nabha who have ancestral homes in Pakistan. These residents are now calling for a policy that would allow people living in India, especially in the Indian part of Punjab, to embark on a journey to see in person their ancestral homes that stand as living testimonies of their lineage in Pakistani Punjab. Sunny Raheja (40) from Nabha said his father Yashpal Raheja (79) was two years old at the time of Partition. “My father always wanted to visit the ancestral home of my grandfather Lal Chand Raheja in Dajjal, Punjab, southwest Pakistan. This request transcends nostalgia. “It is a testament to the enduring ties that bind us together, regardless of the borders drawn on maps,” he said. He added that such a policy would allow individuals to reconnect with their ancestral homelands, paving the way for a future where understanding and empathy prevail.
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