92-year-old woman visits ancestral home in Pakistan after 75 years
A 92-year-old Indian woman, Reena Chhibar, reportedly arrived in Pakistan on Saturday to see her ancestral home after 75 years of India's 1947 partition. The Express Tribune reported that the Pakistani High Commission (PHC) awarded the woman a three-month visa as a show of goodwill. The woman traveled via the Wagah-Attari border on Saturday to visit her family house in Prem Niwas, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
She urged both India and Pakistan to work together
She asked the authorities of both nations to "collaborate" to eliminate visa limits to facilitate "coming and going easy for us." As she was taken from the border to Rawalpindi, Reena reflected on the flourishing multicultural community that existed in Pindi prior to the partition. "My siblings had friends who would come over to our house from various communities, including Muslims," she reportedly stated.
Reena recalls her childhood memories in undivided India
Reena recalled several memories of her childhood in undivided India. She also stated that "our housekeepers were also a diverse mix of people." Her family relocated to India after the partition of India in 1947. According to media reports, she was 15 at the time. Reena stated that she "couldn't remove her ancestral home, her neighborhood, and the streets from her heart."
She last visited Pakistan in 1965 to watch cricket
The Express Tribune stated, quoting the old woman, that Reena had filed for a visa to visit Pakistan in 1965 but was unable to obtain authorization owing to tensions arising out of the 1965 war between the two countries. However, she was still able to travel to Lahore to see Pakistan play England since the country had given Indians visas to attend the game.
How did she visit her ancestral home in Pakistan?
Reena stated that she voiced her wish to visit her ancestral house in 2021 on social media, which prompted a Pakistani resident named Sajjad Haider to contact her and provide her with photographs of the house. According to The Express Tribune, she said in a social media video that she filed for a visa to visit her home in 2021, but it was rejected.
Pakistan's foreign minister helped Reena fulfill her wish
She took to social media again to express her wish, this time tagging the new Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar. Reena asserted that Khar contacted the PHC in New Delhi immediately, and she received a visa for 90 days after a meeting with the PHC officials. As Reena crossed the Wagah border into Pakistan on Saturday, her eyes turned moist.
