Partition victims flock to Sadiqi post

Our Correspondent

Fazilka, August 16

Thousands of people thronged the Joint Check Post (JCP), Sadiqi, in Fazilka sector from different parts of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana to have a glimpse of their segregated relatives and to witness the Retreat (flag lowering) ceremony on Independence Day. “About 65,000 residents visited Sadiqi from morning to evening on the International border,” said a BSF official.

Though physical contact is not allowed to people standing on both sides of the Radcliff Line due to security reasons, they express their feelings by waiving hands or shouting from a distance.

“I have come to meet my aunt (my father’s sister) Mumtaz from Sialkot district of Pakistan. We had fixed the meeting on phone,” said Imtiaz Ali of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, who had come with eight members of his family. They could only see each other from a distance due to a huge crowd on the border on both sides.

The BSF officials hard time managing the crowd.

Meanwhile, BSF officials led by Deputy Inspector General Madhusudan Sharma and Commandant MP Singh handed over sweets to the Pakistani Rangers on Independence Day. The officials went few metres inside the Pakistani territory to the JCP, Sulemanki, on the Pakistani side and greeted them there.