Separated at India-Pak Partition, 92-year-old Punjab man to reunite with his nephew in Pakistan
Jalandhar, August 8
A 92-year-old man hailing from Punjab will reunite with his nephew from Pakistan on Monday, 75 years after they were separated at the time of Partition, and many of their relatives were killed in the communal violence.
Nonagenarian Sarwan Singh will be meeting his brother’s son Mohan Singh at the historic Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak Dev, in Pakistan.
“Nana ji (Sarwan Singh) was quite happy today when he was going to meet his nephew at Kartarpur Sahib,” Parvinder told PTI over the phone.
At the time of Partition, Mohan Singh, who now has a new identity, having a Muslim name, after being raised by a Muslim family in Pakistan, was about six years old, said Parvinder.
Two YouTubers from India and Pakistan played a role in helping the two relatives reconnect after 75 years.
A Jandiala-based YouTuber had documented several Partition stories and a few months ago he met Sarwan Singh and posted a video of his life story on his YouTube channel.
Across the border, a Pakistani YouTuber narrated the story of Mohan Singh who was separated from his family at the time of Partition.
Incidentally, a Punjab-origin man based in Australia saw the two videos and helped the relatives connect.
In one of the videos, Sarwan mentioned the identity marks of his missing nephew, saying he had two thumbs on one hand and a prominent mole on one of his thighs. On the other hand, in the video posted by the Pakistani YouTuber similar things were shared about Mohan, said Parvinder.
Later, the Australia-based man managed to get in touch with both families on either side of the border.
The grandfather identified Mohan with his identity marks, said Parvinder.
Sarwan’s family used to live in village Chak 37, now in Pakistan, and 22 members of his extended family were killed in communal violence at the time of Partition.
Sarwan and other family members managed to cross over to India but Mohan Singh, who escaped the violence, was later raised by a Muslim family in Pakistan.
Sarwan, who was living in Canada with his son, has been staying at village Sandhman near Jalandhar at his daughter’s home since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Parvinder said his mother Rachhpal Kaur is accompanying Sarwan who will meet his nephew at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
Separated at India-Pak Partition, 92-year-old Punjab man to reunite with his nephew in Pakistan
