Separated at Partition, Families of Two Brothers Meet Thanks to Social Media

Social media brought together two families that were separated during the Partition in 1947. The families of the two brothers who were separated met at Kartarpur Corridor for an emotional reunion. The older brother passed away a few years ago but his family managed to find the younger brother through social media.

Gurdev Singh and Daya Singh used to live in Gomla village in Mahendragarh district, Haryana, before the partition, with their late father’s friend Karim Bakhsh. At the time of partition, Bakhsh moved to Pakistan with the older brother Gurdev Singh and left the younger brother Daya Singh in Haryana.

Bakhsh reached Pakistan and moved to Jhang district of Punjab province which is about 200 kms from Lahore. He gave Singh a new Muslim name, Ghulam Muhammad. A few years ago, Ghulam Muhammad passed away, but his son Muhammad Sharif used social media to locate his uncle, Daya Singh. Six months ago, he was successful.

Both families decided to meet at Kartarpur Sahib and visit their family home in Haryana. He requested the Indian government to give him and his family Visas to travel to Haryana. Muhammad Sharif told the media that before his father passed away, he tried to find the location of his brother by writing letters to the Indian government.

The two families were ecstatic to meet each other and they sang songs as they showered each other with flowers.

The Kartarpur Corridor is a 4 km-long corridor that provides Visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.

Vineet Washington