Pakistani woman, separated during Partition, reunites with Indian siblings after 75 years

Agencies | Islamabad   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Seventy-five years after she was separated from her family during the violence at the time of the Partition, a woman born in a Sikh family who was adopted and raised by a Muslim couple met her brothers from India at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to a media report on Wednesday. At the time of the Partition, Mumtaz Bibi, who was born in a Sikh family, was an infant who was lying on the dead body of her mother killed by a violent mob, the Dawn newspaper reported.

A couple named Muhammad Iqbal and Allah Rakhi adopted the baby girl and raised her as their own daughter, naming her Mumtaz Bibi. After the Partition, Iqbal settled at Varika Tian village in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Iqbal and his wife did not tell Mumtaz that she was not their daughter. Two years ago, Iqbal’s health suddenly deteriorated and he told Mumtaz that she was not his real daughter and she belonged to a Sikh family.

After Iqbal’s death, Mumtaz and her son Shahbaz started searching for her family through social media. They knew the name of Mumtaz’s real father and the village (Sidrana) in Patiala district of Punjab (India) where they settled after being forced to leave their native home.

Both the families got connected through social media. Subsequently, Mumtaz’s brothers Gurumeet Singh, Narendra Singh and Amrinder Singh, accompanied by other family members, reached Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur. Mumtaz along with her family members also reached there and met her lost brothers after 75 years, the report said.

The Kartarpur corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab state. The 4 km-long corridor provides visa free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.