Pak shelling forces people to shift marriage venues

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Abdullian (RS Pura), Oct 26

For parents, solemnising the marriage of their daughter in a cordial atmosphere and seeing her off from home is the happiest moment of their life. However, a family in Abdullian village had to shift the venue for marriage rituals of their daughter to the house of a relative in RS Pura.

The family had to receive the ‘baaraat’ at their house in Abdullian village near the International Border (IB) on Wednesday, but with escalation in tension and shelling and firing becoming the order of the day, the venue for the marriage was shifted to a safer place.

Suresh Kumar of Abdullian village and his wife and relatives were going towards RS Pura town in his car with important wedding items, quite upset with things unfolding on the IB.

“It is an irony that I am busy shifting important household items to a safer place in RS Pura on the day my daughter is getting married,” Suresh Kumar told The Tribune near Abdullian village while moving out.

“I should have been finalising arrangements for the wedding today. We had to receive the ‘baaraat’ at home this evening, but were forced to shift the venue to some other place owing to heavy shelling and firing from the Pakistani side,” he said.

Villages all along the IB were pounded with shells from the Pakistani side throughout Tuesday night with Border Security Force personnel retaliating in a similar manner. Residents had to migrate to safer places to save their lives as heavy shelling frightened them.

“The ‘baaraat’ is coming from the nearby Chakroi village. All of us in the family were happy for my daughter. All arrangements had been finalised, but we had to relocate things to safety due to the current situation on the border,” Kumar said.

“I shifted my daughter to the house of a relative on Tuesday amid the shelling. The wedding will be held as scheduled. I have to fulfil my responsibility even though the joy of the marriage is missing,” he added.