Two Muslim sisters – Ulfat Bibi, Mairaj Bibi – hugged and greeted their Sikh brother Sardar Bayanth Singh whom they had not met after over seven decades.
The family was resident of Paracha village near Dera Baba Nanak Gurdaspur, India before the historic partition. However, in the partition a daughter and son went missing.
The family was migrating to Pakistan when it lost its son and daughter during the violence that marked Partition.
The partition violence separated the two sisters from the brother. The sisters managed to settle with the family in Pakistan, However, their brother Beant Singh wasn’t able to cross the border and remained in India.
The mother, Allah Rakhhi, later contacted one of her former neighbours and found out the whereabouts of her son, Beant.
Since then Beant has been in touch with his sisters through letters and phone calls. But it was only this year that he managed to meet them face to face as part of the Sikh jatha (group) from India.
The siblings hugged in an emotional reunion more then 70 years after being separated.
Ulfat Bibi expressed the desire to be allowed to travel to India where she can meet her sister-in-law and nieces and nephews.
The wonderful reunion was only made possible after both countries decided to open the Kartarpur corridor.
Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak which is is 4 km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine, and is visible from the Indian side.
Sikhs gather in large numbers at Dera Baba Nanak to catch a glimpse of the gurdwara.
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