Dad died in Kargil, Gurmehar wants to make peace

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Jalandhar, May 1

Jalandhar teenager Gurmehar Kaur was just two when she lost her father, Captain Mandeep Singh, who made the supreme sacrifice during the 1999 Kargil war. Now, she is telling her story through a four-minute video on YouTube, but without uttering a word. 

She simply holds up a succession of placards revealing her experiences and conveying her powerful message for peace between India and Pakistan.

The video has been produced and shared by Ram Subramanian, the Mumbai-based founder of #ProfileForPeace, a hashtag campaign that has gone viral on social media.

In a style reminiscent of silent movies, Gurmehar recalls "how much I hated Pakistan and Pakistanis because they killed my dad. I used to hate Muslims too, because I thought that all Muslims are Pakistanis".

She remembers, "When I was six, I tried to stab a lady in a burqa because for some strange reason I thought she was responsible for my father's death. My mother (posted as an ETO) held me back and made me understand that Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him. It took me a while to know, but today I do, I have learnt to let go of my hate."

Gurmehar goes on to boldly question "the calibre of the leadership of both nations".

"We cannot dream of becoming a first-world country with a third-world leadership. Please pull your socks up, talk to each other and get the job done," she asserts in a no-nonsense way. The 19-year-old signs off with a wish to live in a world where there are no Gurmehar Kaurs who miss their dads. While Gurmehar, who is a tennis player, is pursuing Plus Two in Commerce, her sister Bani, who was just five months old at the time of Capt Mandeep's martyrdom, is 17. 

Lovingly called Gulgul at home, Gurmehar, says her uncle Prof Davinderdeep Singh, who teaches English literature at Nakodar's DAV College, “is among the rare creed of children who are mature beyond years”.

As Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti put it, if Iran and the US can learn to live in peace, why not India and Pakistan? Gurmehar would agree.