Bridging the barriers of borders via social media

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 3

Amid the Kartarpur corridor project which aims at connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, the social media has brought closer Haryanavi people sharing one culture and lifestyle despite having different religious identities.

Even after nearly seven decades, those from Haryana who migrated to Pakistan under the prevailing circumstances are nostalgic about their birthplace and neighbours. Today, when they are settled in various towns and villages in Pakistan, their lifestyle is still Haryanavi. They are known as Rohtaki, Bagri or by the name of their village back in Haryana. They speak Haryanavi dialect and perform ceremonies similar to Haryanavi people here.

Muhammad Alamgir (30), a Multan resident, whose ancestors had migrated from Jewra village in Hisar district, has given a platform to them via the social media to exchange the feelings and get connected to their roots, virtually. Alamgir told The Tribune that he got curious about his roots during his wedding. “We marry our young boys and girls in our communities of Haryanavis only. Despite staying in Multan, I am known by my village, Jewra. My maternal uncle is from Kai village in Panipat district. Similarly, the migrants from Haryana called Muhajirs living in Punjab, Sindh, Multan states and places such as Bhavnagar, Bhawalpur and Okara are identified by villages back in Haryana,” he said.

He has launched a Facebook page ‘Haryanvi Language and Culture Academy of Pakistan’ and uploaded videos of interviews with elderly people who have memories of their roots in Haryana.

Mohammad Munir Bhyan, who currently lives in Chak No 571/EB, Sunariwala, Vehar district in Punjab province, said he was 15-year-old when they migrated from their native Kheri Barki village in Hisar district. “Adjoining villages include Kirori, Bahbalpur, Juglan, Bado, Kirara, Sarsod, Bichpari,Jewra. Hindu Jats and Muslim Jats (Mula jat) residing in Kheri Barki, Sarsod, Bichpari and Jewra belonging to Bhyan gotra were blood relatives as they were said to be offspring of one person. We used to get together on every occasion, happy or sad, and shared common feasts,” recalled Bhyan.

Down memory lane

• Mohammad Munir Bhyan, whose video has been uploaded on YouTube and Facebook by Muhammad Alamgir, said when his grandfather, who was a numbardar and used to visit Hisar daily, came to the village and broke the news that they had to migrate, nobody believed him. “Since he was addicted to opium, everybody rebuffed him saying he had uttered something under the influence of high dose. However, reality dawned upon the villagers soon. We had to move to Nangthala village and from there to Punjab province in Pakistan”, he said.

• Retired Pakistan army man Basir Ahmad, who had participated in the 1971 war, and currently lives in Okara, said, “We have no ill-will against any caste or community. There were 70 houses at Bahal. At the time of the Partition, there was no animosity between us. People from other communities, in fact, accompanied us till Loharu and gave us a warm send-off. We started our journey at night and reached Loharu”, he said.

• Krishan Swaroop Gorakhpuria, a social activist from Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district, said people of several gotras of Jats such as Siwach, Beniwal, Punia, Barala, Ahlawat, Kadian, Panghal and Lohchab are also among Muslim Jats. They were preserving their ancestral and cultural identities till now whether they were in Haryana or in Pakistan. Around 35 per cent to 45 per cent population living in Hisar, Rohtak and Karnal district were Muslims. They migrated to Pakistan after the Partition, but were following the same culture.