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Thousands of families like the Baqai brothers' remain divided
three-quarters of a century after their countries were formed in
the rupture of independence from British-ruled India in 1947.
"I felt that I can't touch them," younger brother Syed Abid told
Reuters in New Delhi. It was good to see Ali Hasan in Karachi,
but it was nothing like "a hug, a touch, shaking hands or
talking to them" in person.
Muslim-majority Pakistan marks independence on Sunday,
majority-Hindu archrival India on Monday.
The Baqai families last met eight years ago when the older
brother travelled to New Delhi. Repeated subsequent attempts for
visas by the two families have been rejected from both sides,
the brothers said.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence,
two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they
both claim in full. Tensions peaked in 2019 when each sent
combat fighters into the other's airspace.
Britain's carving out new nations by splitting the two, as its
empire ebbed after World War Two, triggered mass sectarian
migration in both directions, marred by bloodshed and violence
on both sides.
About 15 million people changed countries, mainly based on
religion, and more than a million were killed in religious riots
in the 1947 partition, according to independent estimates.
Among the divided, the Baqais have not been able to share each
other's happiest or saddest moments. Ali Hasan, the older
brother, was not allowed to attend the Indian funerals of his
two sisters and mother in New Delhi.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Asif Shahzad)
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