Parted in '47, man meets his Pak Muslim sister in Kartarpur

Islamabad, September 10

Jalandhar-based Sikh man Amarjit Singh’s happiness knew no bounds when he met his Muslim sister from Pakistan at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, 75 years after he was separated from his family at the time of Partition. Singh was left out in India along with his sister while his Muslim parents migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition. All eyes went teary as wheelchair-bound Singh had an emotional meeting with his sister Kulsoom Akhtar at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Wednesday.

Singh arrived in Pakistan via the Wagah border with a visa to meet his sister. Kulsoom, 65, could not control her emotions after seeing Singh. Both hugged each other and kept crying. She had travelled from her hometown in Faisalabad along with her son Shahzad Ahmed and other family members to meet her brother.

Kulsoom said her parents migrated to Pakistan from a suburb in Jalandhar in 1947, leaving behind her brother and a sister. However, a few years ago, a friend of her father Sardar Dara Singh came to Pakistan from India and also met her. Her mother told Sardar Dara Singh about her son and the daughter she left behind in India. She also told him the name of their village and the location of their house. Sardar Dara Singh then visited her house in Padawan village and informed her that her son was alive but her daughter was dead. Her son was named Amarjit Singh who was adopted by a Sikh family in 1947. After getting the brother’s information, Kulsoom connected with Singh on WhatsApp and later decided to meet.