Hajra Bibi with her niece Hanifan Bibi in the Kaaba (Photo: Express)
Lahore: A Muslim woman who was separated from her family during the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947 met her Indian family in Makkah after 76 years.
Hajara Bibi, a resident of Faisalabad, is now around 100 years old, she has met her family in Makkah after 76 years, her family is living in Kapurthala, India.
According to Hajra Bibi, she was separated from her family during the riots in 1947. A few years ago, he received a letter through which he came to know that one of his sisters, Majidan Bibi, was alive and living in Indian Punjab.
He tried to contact his sister but was unsuccessful. However, last year ‘Punjabi Lehar’ shared a video of him, after which his family in India was traced a few days later.
While this was a happy news for Hajra Bibi, it was also sad that her sister is no longer in this world but her niece Hanifan Bibi Hayat is alive. Efforts were made to meet the two.
In 1947, Pakistani Nasridhals, who were active in reuniting families who were separated, told The Express Tribune that they tried twice to get the Indian family to reach Gurdwara Darbar Saheb through the Kartarpur Corridor and there with their Hajara Bibi and her family. A meeting could be arranged but the Indian family could not get permission.
According to Nasridhals, Hanifan Bibi and his family also applied for a visa to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi but they could not get a visa. Hajra Bibi was increasingly reluctant to meet her family. But visa was not getting from Pakistan and Indian government.
Nasir Dhillon said that when Paul Singh Gill, a Sikh citizen residing in America, came to know about this, he suggested that the two families should meet on the occasion of Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Since there are still many months left in the Hajj and the huge amount of money was coming, the Umrah of both the families was arranged and all the families of Balakhardun were brought together in front of the Kaaba of Allah.
The happiness of the two families who met after 76 years was to be seen, Hajra Bibi said that she got double happiness, one was to meet her niece and family and the other was to see Allah’s house.
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