Mela
Chamliyal - Yet To Become
A Testimonial Of Friendship
By Syed Junaid Hashmi
07 July, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Standing
barely at a distance of 600 yards from the shrine of Baba Chamliyal,
11 year old Shifa Fatima, daughter of an officer of Pakistan Rangers'
wonders, why she cannot visit the shrine of the saint whose martyrdom
signifies irrelevance of boundaries. She questions the building trust
between India and Pakistan saying that if both the countries are trying
to be triumphant over each other's heart, then why she cannot cross
over and interact with children from this side.
Shifa fails to comprehend
the intricacies of International Border (IB). "I am unable to understand
why these lines at a place where Baba Chamliyal lives to bless people
on both the sides, if these could not be redrawn, why they cannot be
meeting points," shared Shifa in a confident mode. Putting her
right hand on the chin, she continued "I think hostility has become
deep rooted, space for love, tranquility and serenity has gone missing,
yet whenever I come to this place from where I feel myself closer to
Baba, I pray to him for change of hearts between the leaders of the
two countries."
Shifa looks at the gate on
the Indian side and all of a sudden, a Pakistani Ranger tells her to
withdraw from that position. Shifa quickly retreats and in a hurry falls
down only to be picked up by a Jawan of Indian Border Security Forces
(BSF). The Jawan tells her that she can watch the people on the other
side (Indian Side) but cannot go there. Perplexed, Shifa returns only
to be told by a Pakistani Ranger not to move out of the tent put on
by the Indian side for the meeting of officers from both sides.
Daughter of Sector Commander
of Pakistani Rangers Zafar Raja, Shifa sits alongside her sister watching
the happenings inside the camp with seriousness. Again when she begins
her interaction with this reporter, she says that she reads in class
4 th at City School in Sialkot and is regarded as one of the most submissive
and intelligent student.
"I have never been punished
in my class nor have I done anything which would annoy my teachers,
so I am innocent, why I am not being allowed to visit the shrine,"
quizzed Shifa. She went on to say that if elders cannot be allowed,
let the children be the messengers of peace and prosperity. "Children
are innocent and are regarded closer to god, it is said that god listens
to them, I pray to Allah Talla to bring the two countries together so
that the dividing lines become irrelevant," entreated Shifa.
Interestingly, Shifa's words
seemed to match expressions of an intellectual possessing acumen of
explaining controversial, inconceivable and significant components of
Indo-Pak relationship. "My Abbu keeps telling me that Peace is
imperative but I ask him, why it is taking time in returning to this
part of the world," said Shifa.
She stressed that a Pakistani
is not allowed to walk distance of 600 yards by the Indian security
forces while an Indian cannot walk the same distance on this side, for
the restrictions imposed by the Pakistani forces.
Shifa's elder sister Qainaat
when asked about Baba Chamliyal gave a detailed description about the
life and times of the great saint. "300-year-old mela is celebrated
at two spots, one on the Indian side and one on our side, the two places
are at a distance of 600 yards from each other, and on Indian side is
Chamliyal where the shrine of Baba is located while as on our side,
Baba's durbar is at Saidawali in Pakistan," informed Qainaat.
Qainaat added that when Chamliyal
mela is celebrated both by India and Pakistan in unison, then why can't
they live like this forever. "This annual mela relates to Baba
Dalip Singh Manhas and yet it is celebrated by one and all, if even
at this place people cannot meet and interact, then where they could
be expected to meet," implored Qainaat.
Like Shifa and Qainaat, Nidhi
Prakash who belongs to Jammu found the place opportune to say that faith
is yet to be restored between the two countries. "Relations have
been restored but faith is yet to be restored, hypocrisy is paramount
but on ground things have not moved even an inch, bus service is running
but the passengers are missing and above all Baba is waiting for his
devotees from the other side but the boundaries are yet to become irrelevant,"
maintained Nidhi.
Impinging little further
into the chemistry of love-hate affair between India and Pakistan, Nidhi
maintained that Baba Chamliyal died while fighting with some criminals
and his body fell at Chamliyal while the head at Saidawali. "Baba's
martyrdom demands maintenance of peace along with unity and integrity
between the two neighbours but who listens to the one sleeping in the
lap of nature," gasped Nidhi.
Like these three children
from India and Pakistan, hundreds of other devotees seemed toying the
same line. "Faith unites us again and again, only to be driven
apart with the next outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan,
for us mela Chamliyal is an occasion to forget the awful dividing wall,
wars and accumulated bitterness between the tow nations, we want our
children to live a completely peaceful life," said Shamsher Singh,
a resident of Hiranagar.
Despite exchanging Chaddar
(which the Pakistani side offers at the Shrine of Baba Chamliyal) and
"shakkar" (sacred earth), "sharbat" (holy water)
which the Indian side offers, mistrust seemed evident with one keeping
a strict vigil over the other. Shifa's incident is merely an indication
of the fact that the two sides are yet to reconcile heart to heart.
"The walls of hatred still exist between the two countries, People
might be comfortable but neither the politicians nor the generals are
interested in listening to them, reconciliation might take some more
doing," said one Sher khan who had traveled all along from Muzaffarabad
in Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK) to pay obeisance at the Baba's
shrine standing at a distance of around 300 yards from it.
He maintained that thousands
of devotees from Pakistan used to visit the shrine on the Indian side
to pay obeisance and carry along with them "shakkar" and "sharbat"
(water). "Our Rangers and the Border Security Force (BSF) used
to stand as guardians of this faith, this practice continued until the
outbreak of the Indo-Pak war in 1965. And, after the war was over, the
devotees from either side of the border were allowed only to come up
to the zero line and not to cross it," informed khan.
He further said that the
practice of stopping the devotees on either side of the border much
before the zero line started after the 1971 Indo-Pak war. "A replica
of the Baba's shrine came at Saidawali, but the exchange of " shakkar-sharbat"
and "chaddar" continues till today," added Sher Khan.
Many in the mela seemed convinced like Qainaat that faith unites people
while war can only destroy traditions built and ties forged through
ages. "This is not just a fair but a strong bond that has kept
people of Pakistan and India emotionally close to each other despite
having a history soaked with blood," he added.
Writer is a Journalist, presently
working with jammu and kashmir's reputed english daily "The Kashmir
Times". He can be reached at [email protected]
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