This is the other part of the tragic story
Published on June 24, 2004 By yasir rajdeep In Politics
Sheikh yasir:in the summer capital of the jammu and kashmir Srinagar, Jun 23: Tears trickled down Yasmeen’s eyes as she saw and talked to her uncle in Muzaffarabad for the first time since her birth. She went near the television screen and kissed the screen image of her uncle Mohammad Irshad Buchh and her little son Naqeeb, watched in bewilderment. It was a re-union of the divided families via the satellite phone facilitated by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) Urdu service in a local hotel today. Six divided families from the two sides were brought face to face with their beloved ones across the border .The occasion witnessed many emotional scenes as the families broke down while speaking to their relatives in Muzzafarabad. Newsmen and audience broke down too. Mir Nooruddin of Naseembagh, his wife Haleema, daughters Jawahira and Farida and the daughter in law Fatima had a live interaction with their close ones. The brother of Mir Nooruddin Ghulam Rasool is living in Muzaffarabad since 1965. His son Farooq Ahmad has been living in PaK since 1975 after he was married to his cousin. " I wish for one final meeting with you," Haleema told her son Farooq. " I have requested Pakistani government to allow me to visit Srinagar and I hope it would be granted and I would be visiting Kashmir in September. This conversation brought tears into the eyes of audiences including the mediapersons. Fifty year old Fahmida cried when the image of her brother Farooq appeared on the screen, "Come soon, I don’t know how long I will live." Euphoric, Fahmida told her brother to take the first bus as the rumours were in air that Muzaffarabad road was being opened. "Don’t cry...don’t cry...let’s talk," Farooq Bach replied in Muzaffarabad. A similarly touching encounter was when Muhammad Ashraf Jan of Ibrahim Colony, Hyderpora (alongwith his wife and two sisters) talked to his elder brother Irshad Ahmad Jan. The brothers were talking face to face for the first time since 1969 and broke down. The sisters intervened and pacified the sobbing siblings. Hafeeza Begum’s couldn’t control her tears. She smiled too showing her tears meant joy as she saw her 80-year-old mother for the first time in 20 years. In Muzaffarabad she said it was a dream, like a real meeting. She felt short of words to express her happiness. Begum was in her teens when she came to Pak administered Kashmir along with her brother and got married to a cousin in 1980. She went back to Indian Kashmir twice, in 1982 and 1983, to see her mother, but since then has only spoken by telephone or exchanged occasional letters because of travel curbs brought on by tension between the countries. "I could not believe my eyes when I saw my mother, sister, brother and other loved ones," Begum said. "My home is just four hours’ drive from here but I cannot go there, so we pray that the road between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar opens." The divided families prayed for the collapse of "wall" between India and Pakistan and the opening up of Muzaffarabad Road. " If Indian and Pakistani rulers have a human heart they should resolve Kashmir issue and end the suffering of the people on both sides," the divided families said choking with sobs. They said the rulers of both the countries are not sensitive to their pain. "The video conference was organised to give vent to the human sufferings and bring relief to the pain and agony and separation of the divided families. It is a historic moment. I never knew the wounds of separation are so deep," said Altaf Hussain, BBC’s bureau chief for North India, who coordinated the programme with BBC’s Muzaffarabad correspondent Zulfikar Ahmad. Altaf said that BBC wanted to bring the separated families together to give them some relief. "I have seen my brother after decades and couldn’t control my emotions, " said Mohammad Ashraf Buchh whose brother lives in Muzzafarabad. His aged sister suffering from Parkinson’s disease jumped towards the screen as the image of her brother flashed on it even though she is not able to walk without support. " After the cease-fire between two neighbouring countries the families from both sides assembled near the borders and shouted at each other so BBC in the wake of visa restrictions decided to organize the meetings via video conferencing at their respective places," informed the BBC correspondent.
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