Jaati Umra, a non-descript village near Amritsar, where Nawaz Sharif’s father and grandfather had lived before Partition, resounded in celebration on Sunday when the residents heard that the PML-N president won a landslide victory in the historic general elections in Pakistan.
The villagers who had already been offering prayers since Saturday, danced to the tune of Bhangra and sent their best wishes to their “son”. A gurdwara is being built on the land where Nawaz’s family house stood and the villagers gathered there for celebrations and greetings. “Son of our village is going to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan again. We are proud of this”, said Swaran Singh, an elder.
Every household was glued to television and elated to see Nawaz on the way to the prime ministership for the second time, after a gap of 14 years. The mood was a surprise given the unease in Indo-Pak ties in the wake of the deaths of Indian prisoner Sarbjit Singh and Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay in the other country’s jails. The village in Tarn Taran district has about 200 farmer households. Village elders still remember Nawaz’s father Mohammad Sharif and his grandfather Ramzan Sharif.
Even when the Sharifs were going through tough times, the village prayed for them. Even a group of elders had gone to Pakistan and they took a pot full of soil from the village, which Nawaz accepted and kept at his home,” said Swaran.
“We will like to invite him to visit his ancestral village. When he comes to India on becoming the premier he should come here,” he said. Reports say Nawaz loves this village so much that he has named one village in Pakistan Jaati Umra.