‘Won’t be able to celebrate Bakrid with ailing grandmother in Pakistan’: Student
The 23-year-old Khan said it seemed that his dream to see his grandmother, who turned 80 this year, would remain a dream.
Shazar Khan, a student of Bareilly University, has to shelve his plans to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with his ailing grandmother in Pakistan due to strained relationship between the two nations.
The 23-year-old Khan said it seemed that his dream to see his grandmother, who turned 80 this year, would remain a dream.
“It is not only the bilateral trade which gets affected whenever the two countries (India and Pakistan) lock horns but the people in both the countries are bound to suffer the aftermath of the decision. I have been denied visa due to the growing tensions among the two countries,” said Khan, while expressing his helplessness.
Khan said he had also tried to plan a trip to Pakistan early this year. “But Pulwama attack took place then and again I was denied visa. And now Samjhauta Express stands cancelled,” he added.
Khan said during the Partition, half of his family members got settled in Bareilly while some preferred to stay in Pakistan. “All other family members had visited my grandmother in the past. I am the only one left and my dream is to seek her blessings at least once. This Eid-Ul-Azha, I will pray to Allah to ease out the tension between the two nations so that the families staying in the respective countries won’t get affected,” he added.
The situation is no different for Sajid Khan, a native of Kashmir, who is posted in Kanpur and is working as a guard in a private factory. Khan laments that this would be the first Bakrid when he is not at his hometown. “It’s not only about the two countries, things are equally disturbed in Kashmir, the place to which I belong. I am told by my parents not to return to the valley until the situation turns back to normalcy,” said Khan who works at a shift of 12 hours a day.
Khan said it was poverty that had brought him to Kanpur where he got the job of a guard. “Though it was not easy for me to get the job as people often threw my resume, the moment they came to know that I belonged to Kashmir. But luckily, I got the job five months back as my employer was kind enough,” he added.
Khan said he had big plans for this Bakrid. “I saved money to give some financial help to my Ammi and Abbu and had also purchased gifts for my family members. But at the last moment, Article 370 was nullified and curfew was imposed. For the last five days, I am not in touch with my family as there is no telephone, internet or mobile working in Kashmir. In the last conversation with my family, they had told me not to come to Kashmir this Bakrid,” said Khan with a heavy heart.