Click to play videoAnantnag: In the hostile divide between India and Pakistan, people who suffer most are perhaps the Pakistani refuges who crossed borders in 1947 and now crave for a quiet deathbed in their native country.
Mohammad Sarwar Khan of Manshera walked into Kashmir along with his teacher as a 12-year old, 60 years ago as Partition took shape. The 72-year-old chokes with emotion now as he speaks of his home and relatives in Pakistan. “I want to go back to Manshera. Please allow me go there. I want to die there,” he says.
Khan's hopes were raised when India and Pakistan, as part of a diplomatic initiative, decided to run a fortnightly bus on the Uri-Muzzafarabad route. He completed travel formalities three times over but could not board the bus each time.
Khan has endeared himself to the villagers who fondly call him Sarwar Bab, which means `fatherly figure’ in Kashmiri. The villagers have also tried approaching top officials for help but have not recieved a positive response.
“I request the authorities in India and Pakistan to let him die peacefully in Pakistan,” says Khalida, village resident. Khan’s acquaintances in the village say they'll celebrate if their Sarwar bab gets to go home.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
