Crossing the LoC: One man’s hope

Karim dreams of visiting his hometown in Indian Kashmir.

NELSON/LANCASHIRE:

Haji Abdul Karim was 14 years old when he migrated in 1947 to Azad Kashmir’s Bhimber district from an Indian held portion. In 1964, he migrated to the United Kingdom for what he hoped was a better future. Many years have passed since then, but Karim’s childhood memories have ensured that he has not forgotten his origins across the Line of Control (LoC).

Passing a retired life in Lancashire’s Nelson in Britain where he worked for over three decades, Karim wants to visit his hometown in Indian Kashmir, but the lack of a possibility of travel across the LoC has prevented him from doing so. “I wish to visit my birth place, Nonayal, which is just a few kilometres away from the LoC. We used to move freely to either side before the line was declared,” Karim recalls.

According to Karim, there were dozens of land routes between the two Kashmirs before 1947 through which people used to travel through trade as well as to meet their families. Now, there are only two entry points across the line. What Karim hopes for is a reopening of the original pre-partition routes so that long-separated families can unite.





Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2011.