Woman separated from Sikh family during Partition reunited at Kartarpur
ISLAMABAD: Seventy-five years after she was separated from her family during the violence at the time of 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 Partition, Mumtaz Bibi, who was born in a Sikh family, was an infant lying on the body of her mother, killed by a 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 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 that 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 connected through social media. Subsequently, Mumtaz’s brothers Gurmeet 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 Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab state. The 4-km corridor provides visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit Darbar Sahib.