An emotional homecoming for Pak national

{image-pak boopadam_07072008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Rupnagar, Jul 7: It was an emotional home coming for eighty years old Mohammad Yusuf of Pakistan, who visited his native village Kamalpur near here along with his son Arshad.

Yusuf, was 18-19 years old when he and his family left India during partition, 61 years ago for Pakistan. On their arrival on Sunday, July 6 they were honoured by the villagers during a function held in the village Gurudwara along with Yusuf's childhood friends Ram Sarup and Jagu Ram. Overwhelmed by the repsonse he received, Yusuf said that they had 150 bighas of land in the village when thye left for Pakistan.

However, they were not allotted any land in Pakistan.

His family earned their livelihood by doing labour and digging up canals for twenty years after which they were allotted 25 acres of land in Chak 481 in Pakistan.

Recalling his old days, Yusuf said that he attended school in Jhallian village and often used to take a bath in the Sirhind canal passing near the village. He said at the time of partition there was large scale violence all around and his family was also looted near village Rangilpur after they left Kamalpur.

Yusuf said that his family had never forgotten their native village and he had always longed to visit the village. He said that it was only due to the efforts of his son, who is a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) that his desire had been fulfilled after 61 long years.

He said that a lot had been changed in the village since 1947 and the surroundings seemed to be less beautiful as it was 61 years ago.

During his visit Yusuf visited the site, where his house was once situated and also his school in Jhallian village. He also went to the spot where he used to take in the Sirhind canal.

It was also a pleasant reunion between old friends. His childhood friends Ram Sarup, who lives in Kurukshetra and Jagu Ram, who lives in Kharar were the first to meet him when Yusuf arrived in India.

UNI