CHANDIGARH: "Coming here today reminds us of our families,” said Farzana Hafeez a Kashmiri student who was among the 125 students from various universities of Punjab who attended the Eid lunch hosted by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
It was an Eid celebration away from home for the students who could not go to Kashmir due to restrictions imposed in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370.
The invitation from Amarinder for lunch at Punjab Bhavan made it an occasion to cherish and feel at home for the students.
Kashmiri students from Chandigarh University, Gharuan; CGC Jhanjheri and Landran, Chitkara University, SVIET University Banur, CT University Ludhiana, Lovely University and SWIFT College Rajpura attended the lunch.
The students said they considered Punjab their second home, where they had always felt safe, even after the Pulwama attack. “We have seen that Punjabis have a big heart,” quipped a student, Faiq Salem.
Another student admitted that till they received the invitation, they had been feeling very lonely.
Showing their gratitude, the students presented Amarinder a portrait sketched by Abdul Azad, a Fine Arts Kashmiri student from Chandigarh University.
He also distributed sweets among the students to celebrate the occasion. Assuring them that he was confident things would improve soon in Kashmir, Amarinder
greeted the youngsters with best wishes for normalcy soon. “We cannot replace your families but I hope you consider us as your family too,” he said.
Though he had not been to Kashmir for a long time due to his busy political schedule, Amarinder said that for him the beautiful Valley is his second home.