March 3, 2019:

Majority of the Hindu families in Pakistan marry off their daughters to India.

The ongoing tension between India & Pakistan has also come to affect the people-to-people interactions. A recent case stands testimony to this predicament, wherein a marriage scheduled to be held in Pakistan had to be postponed in the wake of strained relations between the two nations in the aftermath of Pulwama attack & the IAF strike that followed.

The ‘baraat’ (marriage procession) from Barmer district was to go to Pakistan by Thar Express for the wedding. Looking to the present conditions, the groom was concerned that ‘baraat’ might get stuck in Pakistan.

The marriage was to be held on March 8 in Pakistan.

People in the border villages in Jaisalmer & Barmer districts have their relatives in Amarkot state in Pakistan, & even today, ‘baraats’ come from Pakistan to India & vice-versa.

Majority of the Hindu families in Pakistan marry off their daughters to India. Likewise, marriages of people from India are solemnized in Pakistan as well. It is to be mentioned that there was initially a huge decline in passengers going to Pakistan by the Thar Express. Only 256 passengers went to Pakistan on Friday, of which 176 are Hindus residing in Pakistan. Till Friday morning, only 45 passengers had booked their tickets.

However, after Pakistan released wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday night, & the number of passengers going to Pakistan increased. Mahendra Singh Rathore is a resident of Khejad ka paar. His barat was to go to Sanau village in Pakistan, but at the last moment, Mahendra, looking to tensions between the two nations, postponed the marriage.

They cancelled their programme of going to Pakistan by the Thar Express from Jodhpur & the preparations of the marriage came to a standstill. His relatives & family were disappointed. Mahendra was to marry the daughter of one Ran Singh Sodha at Sanau village in Pakistan on March 8  &the baraat was to leave on Friday by the Thar Express from Jodhpur. All baraatis (groom’s family) had obtained a visa as well. Mahendra plans to get married once peace is restored between the two countries.

As per sources, for the first time, a baraat from Pakistan came to India by the Thar Express, in 2014. Karni Singh, son of Hameer Singh Sodha, resident of Amarkot in Pakistan, married Thakur Man Singh’s daughter in Jaipur in 2014.

After the Thar Express began services, Hindu families from Pakistan come to Barmer & Jaisalmer to get their daughters married. As a result, more than over 60,000 Pak displaced Hindus are residing in the district. Every year, many Hindu families come here by the Thar Express to get their daughters married & after staying here for a few days, they return to Pakistan.

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