How a YouTube channel is blurring Partition lines
PUNJABI LEHAR HELPS REUNITE FAMILIES AND RETHINK PERSPECTIVES
THE co-founder of a YouTube channel that seeks to unite families separated during the 1947 Partition said the stories of compassion and generosity he heard first-hand from survivors are in stark contrast to what is taught in history textbooks.
Nasir Dhillon, 37, jointly runs YouTube channel called Punjabi Lehar with Bhupinder Singh Lovely, 30. Both Pakistani Punjabis from near Faisalabad.
Dhillon and Lovely said they wanted to create a platform dedicated to capturing the stories of those affected by Partition and reuniting them with their villages and families.
Since the start of their channel in 2016, they’ve reunited more than 300 people and their channel boasts nearly 100 million views.
Dhillon told Eastern Eye he grew up hearing stories of Partition within his own family as his family originates from what is now Indian Punjab.
“I used to sit with my grandpa as a kid and he told me stories of our family and friends before Partition. Our family accountant back in the day was Hindu and I’d hear many anecdotes about his life,” Dhillon said.
The more stories he heard, the more questions he had.
“When you study history, India is portrayed as being the enemy of Pakistan, and I often wondered if my elders told the truth when they said Indians used to be good friends of the family,” he said.
Dhillon found similar narratives in modern day news and media. In an attempt to uncover the truth himself, Dhillon began adding people on Facebook from across the subcontinent around 2010 and tried to make friends online. He would also regularly visit Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
He met now Lovely, a Pakistani Sikh, and soon after they began tracking down Partition survivors’ stories and visiting local villages across the country.
Though they have a small team who help with video filming and editing, it’s primarily Dhillon and Lovely who track down the stories and homes of families.
They do so organically, using local street contacts and WhatsApp. Everything is self-funded.
Dhillon said, “On my phone now, I probably have 25-30k contacts. If you were to call me right now and say you were from Delhi, I would save you in my phone as your name, street and city. If someone from across the border later gets in touch with me about a relative who was left behind in a certain area, I find the phone number of someone in that area who could put me in touch with the particular village or family.”
Once the “lost” family members have been traced, they usually have a virtual meeting.
In some instances, people are able to meet in real life using the Kartarpur Corridor which was opened in 2019 and allows visafree passage between two of the holiest Sikh places of worship one in Pakistan and one in India.
Earlier this year, for instance, the co-founders documented a video of the reunion of two brothers separated by Partition and it moved many viewers across the subcontinent to tears.
Saddiq and Sheeka Khan were under than 10 years old when they were separated – the elder lives near Faisalabad, Pakistan, while the younger is in Bathinda, Punjab. They hadn’t seen each other in over 70 years and internet users watched their emotional reunion.
Punjabi Lehar has worked with survivors not only in India and Pakistan but also from the diaspora community, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and more. Dhillon said, “The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor meant that people can meet others from across the border and social media has revolutionised how they keep in touch.”
Ultimately, Punjabi Lehar changes people’s perspective on the events of Partition itself, Dhillon said. “I’ve met over 2,000 eyewitnesses who experienced Partition firsthand and none of their accounts matched what I read about in textbooks where Hindus and Muslims had great animosity. Rather, they described people of the other religion as being kind and compassionate and in some cases even safeguarding them from the ongoing violence.”
He stressed the subcontinent is in “great need of peace and understanding. The way to move forward is to forgive our elders for their mistakes,” Dhillon said and expressed hope people watching their channel gain greater understanding and acceptance.