“When we (Two individuals, One Indian One Pakistani) started this page, we planned that we will share only 16 partition stories and after that, we’ll use this page as any other photo story sharing page. But after sharing 16 stories in last 8 weeks and getting 5000+ followers, we realized that this is not just another FB page and these are not just stories. This is our common shared history which is awful and full of bloodshed but yet it needs to be shared and preserved; so that our generation and the upcoming generations will always remember that who we are and from where we’ve come, as someone said ‘If you don’t know where you’ve come from, how will you appreciate where you’re going,'” says Sandeep Dutt, an information technology student from Ludhiana, and a journalism student Faisal Hayat (19) from Pakistan’s Rawalpindi as they plan to fill a bit of love in the current times when one’s nationality is decided by one’s “I hate Pakistan” mentality.
But if you are not the one who belongs to this Pakistan-hating class, then brace yourself for being termed as an anti-national. Also, if you really believe that your patriotism and loyalty towards your country doesn’t lie in hating any other country, then you need to check out this Facebook page called Bolti Khidki- The Speaking Window, which is neither driven by media propaganda nor by the current jingoistic stories.
“We don’t know whether it’s the right time or not but we know one thing that this is the only time we get to do this. We will keep collecting these stories and keep sharing with the people as long as we can. We will do anything to keep it going on,” they added.
This page talks about the heart-rending stories of the partition of 1947 and it gives a chance to people from both the countries to talk about their experience and allows them to talk and bond with each other.
Here are a few stories from the page which is sure to move you to tears:
This is the story of 79-year-old Fatimah Noreen, from Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
94-year-old Surinder Singh, from Patiala, Punjab, India shares his experience
Muhammed Shafique(77), from Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan tells his story
And here’s the story of 78-year-old Noor Muhammed from Pakistan
Aren’t these stories wonderful and way too amazing? No wonder, this page which was launched just two months back has already more than 6500 followers and the numbers are every day. While along with “criticsm” finding partition survivors and convincing them to tell their traumatic experience was an ardent task, this duo didn’t give up and are teaching us what exactly being “neighbours” mean.
Hats off to them!
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