Gopal, Bashir reunite at Kartarpur after 74 years

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 2 Years ago
Muhammad Bashir (in center) and Gopal Singh (right in blue turban) at Kartarpur Gurdwara (Twitter))
Muhammad Bashir (in center) and Gopal Singh (right in blue turban) at Kartarpur Gurdwara (Twitter))

 

New Delhi
 
In a real-life situation copying the Google advertisement about an emotional reunion of two childhood friends who were separated at the time of India’s partition, two friends in their nineties have met at Kartarpur Gurudwara in Narowal, Pakistan, after 74 years.

Sardar Gopal Singh, 94, from India, and Muhammad Bashir, 91, a local, met after 1947 when the former’s family had relocated to India in the wake of the partition of the country.They became emotional as they hugged each other and their eyes were moist.
 
Gopal Singh had come to Kartarpur after obtaining a permit from the government of Pakistan for saying prayers at the Gurdwara where Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak Dev had lived till the end of his life.According to Dawn newspaper, Gopal Singh and Bashir met accidentally; the latter was a casual visitor to the gurudwara. It’s not clear how exactly they bumped into each other.
 
Seeing them hug each other and break down, the Indian pilgrims and Pakistani visitors to the gurdwara clapped and expressed their happiness at their reunion.
 
Both chatted for a long time and remembered old days when they would visit the Gurudwara and sit and talk for hours.
 
The pictures of this reunion were posted by Harjinder Kakreja, an enterpreneur, on Twitter and has since gone viral:  
They sat for a tea session and also had their meals together.
 
Gopal Singh said that before Pakistan was born, both of them were in their early youth. 
 
Bashir said that even before the Partition, both the friends used to visit Baba Guru Nanak’s Gurdwara. They sat together at the lunch, ate food, and had tea.
 
Gopal Singh appreciated the reopening of the Kartarpur corridor and said the project would create many more such reunions.