Separated during the turbulence of Partition, women in PoK now look forward to seeking out their families. - This Post

SEPARATED shortly after she was born, 60-year-old Ruksana Begum was able to locate her mother last month. Her mother, a Hindu named Inderjeet, lives in Kashmir. Ruksana Begum has lived in the Kotli area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as long as she can remember.

Separation

The story of their separation involves another separation. Ruksana Begum's mother was separated from her family during the riots that followed Partition. A young woman then, Inderjeet was married to a Muslim youth and the couple shortly had a baby: Ruksana.

Inderjeet's family, who had fled to India, wanted her back. Following an agreement in 1947 between India and Pakistan on missing women, Inderjeet's family was able to bring her to India. Inderjeet was reunited with her family but left little Ruksana behind, as her family would not accept her daughter. Given the prevailing social climate and the attitude of her family, Inderjeet had very little control of her own life. She chose to remain silent about the little girl she left behind in PoK.

The matter would have rested there if it wasn't for an accidental visit. Under the more relaxed regulations that allow Kashmiris to visit the other side of the Line of Control, an Indian resident came calling at Kotli, once the native place of his family. Here, he bumped into Ruksana, who had a request: "Can you trace my mother who lives on your side of Kashmir?"

He could and what's more he did. Inderjeet, now over 80 years old, was traced in Jammu city and Ruksana has applied for permission to meet her. It is likely to be granted shortly. "I am excited," she says, her eyes misting over. "It is true I do not know her at all. But then, she is still my mother."

The story of Ruksana Begum and Inderjeet may sound unusual. But it is one of the many heart-rending stories of women who were caught in the turbulence that attended the Partition of the country. It is at once a story of vulnerability and strength — a story that remains largely untold and undocumented even six decades after the trauma of Partition.

Waiting in hope

Like Ruksana Begum, there are a number of women in the interiors of PoK who long to meet their relatives in India. Take Rabia Bibi for instance. A resident of Bhimber, a town that nestles in the plains of an otherwise hilly PoK, she was separated from her Sikh family in 1947, when they fled to India. Rabia, who has since converted to Islam, is waiting to meet her brothers, who live in Jalandhar in Punjab. "One of my sisters who was also left behind like me, died without meeting any of our relatives in India," says the 60-year old. "I don't want that to happen to me."

There are similar stories on this side of the LoC. In the by lanes of Jammu city, Harvinder Kour, yearns to be reunited with her sister Itfa Bi. The siblings have never met, as Harvinder was born after her sister and parents were separated. "I grew up hearing about the sister who lived across the Line of Control. Luckily I have been able to locate her and, God willing, should meet her," says Harvinder optimistically. She has applied for a permit to visit her sister in Muzaffarabad.

The introduction of the permit, intended to facilitate the movement of people of J&K on either side of Line of Control, has given people the hope of meeting their relatives.

Conservative attitudes, resistance from family members and the fear of raking up memories that are best forgotten are some of the reasons that prevent women on either side of the LoC from reuniting with their families. Take the case of the Muslim woman in PoK who requested me to contact her 82-year-old Sikh mother in Jammu. Having managed to trace her mother, I found myself having to deal with less-than-friendly family who did not want any reference to the elderly Sikh lady's "unsavoury" past. I could sense that the old lady wanted news of her daughter. But her family didn't want to hear anything about it.

The tragedy can be traced back to the horrors of Partition. As in most savage conflicts, women were used as weapons to inflict humiliation on the other side. Partition tales of riots are contested on both sides.

In PoK, some locals admit that some Hindu and Sikh women were abducted during the communal riots of 1947; a few blame this on the Pathans from the North West Frontier Province. Says Riaz Inqualibi, a 65-year-old lawyer in Mirpur: "Events have to be seen objectively. The relations between Muslims and Hindus of the belt remained cordial till the end. The tribal raid did cause havoc and the principal sufferers were women. But the involvement of the local Muslims was minimal." In fact, there are numerous stories of local Muslims sheltering Hindu and Sikh women when they were separated from their families.

The India-Pakistan agreement to `recover' the lost women in each other's territory facilitated the return of many women to their original families. Efforts by activists such as Mridula Sarabhai (in India) and Fatima Jinnah (sister of Md. Ali Jinnah, in Pakistan) helped in the process of restoration. Red Cross workers on both sides fanned out to remote areas to recover missing women and hand them over to their original families.

However, many women who chose to remain in PoK became cut off from their original families. Gulzari Begum, born in a Hindu family of Kotli, has not met her parental family after she decided to stay with her Muslim husband — though she knows their whereabouts.

Similarly, 76-year-old Lekh Raj Sharma, living in Mendhar tehsil, on the Indian side of J&K, has not met his sister Leelo Devi, now Leelo Begum. Lekh Raj was forced to flee from Pamoch village in November 1947 and was separated from his sister. Leelo married a local Rajput Muslim landlord, Raja Gulbar Khan. The two families have never met. Leelo Begum lost her parents long ago and her brother Sita Ram died last year. "My last wish is to see my sister. I have not seen her for six decades," says Lekh Raj, his voice trembling.

Says 93-year-old freedom fighter Sant Singh Teg: "It is time the leadership of the two countries shows the will to lessen the pain of the women on either side of the LoC by facilitating the reunion of blood relations." Singh, himself a migrant from Muzaffarabad (PoK), witnessed the pain and suffering of women during the 1947 riots. He points out that it is time that people shed their conservatism and accept what had happened in the past.

"It is the only way to reduce the pain of women on either side of the LoC," he says.

Courtesy: The Hindu