CHANDIGARH: Although tensions between India and Pakistan show no signs of cooling, love has no boundaries. A Veer Zaara like saga will soon see a happy ending, with a man from Haryana all set to marry a woman from Pakistan's Sialkot over the weekend. The bride's family reached India on Thursday.
Hailing from Peepla village near Ambala, Parvinder Singh, 33, an employee of a private firm, has decided to tie the knot with 27-year-old schoolteacher Sarjeer Kiran of Wan village in Sialkot.
Speaking exclusively to Express, Singh, who is the youngest of three siblings, said, "Our families have known each other for a very long time. Even after Kiran’s family migrated to Pakistan during partition, her parents continued to visit us. We have met them many times in the last few years. Kiran also came twice between 2014 and 2016. This is when we decided to marry each other. They are our relatives so the families also had no objection to our marriage and approved of our decision." Kiran, whose father is a farmer in Pakistan, is the eldest of five siblings, he said.
"Kiran and her family have got a 45-day visa to come to India for the wedding. They arrived in Attari on Thursday by the Samjhauta Express and will reach Delhi. From there, the family will travel to Patiala by road on Friday where the wedding will take place on Saturday. It will be a simple family affair and the ceremonies will be performed as per Hindu rituals," said Chaudhary Maqbool Ahmed of Qadian in Punjab. Ahmed married a Pakistani woman and his wedding was one of the first such instances after the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
"After my marriage, around a dozen marriages took place between men from India and women from Pakistan but they were all of Muslim faith. This is going to be the first-ever Hindu marriage. Also, now the governments have relaxed the visa extension and nationality documentation process which were very tough to process earlier. I will be attending their wedding in Patiala,’’ said Ahmed.
Singh said he would try to get Kiran's visa extended after the marriage so that she can stay for some time with him. Kiran's visa does not permit her to stay in Haryana, so they will stay in Patiala for the time being and try to acquire a visa for Haryana also so that she can visit their native village. He said he would also initiate the process to get Indian nationality for Kiran.