Jaipur, Rajasthan
Three families in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan decided to forge a bond of matrimony with families in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The weddings took place, but the situation arising out of the Pulwama attack and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the brides from coming across to India for two years. Two of them have now reached India, while a third is still waiting in Pakistan.
The western edge of these districts touches the International Border with Pakistan and shares boundaries with the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab. Rajput families living on both sides of the border often forge matrimonial links, but the conflict between the two countries often notoriously interferes, and couples wait, across the border, waiting to be with their better halves.
In January 2019, Mahendra Singh crossed his village Khejad Ka Paar in Barmer to reach Sinoi village in Umerkot district of Pakistan’s Sindh province, and got married to a girl from the village on April 16.
Nepal Singh from Jaisalmer’s Baiya village travelled to Sinoi to marry Kailash Kanwar on January 22, 2019. Nepal’s cousin Vikram Singh married Nirmala Bai from the same Pakistani village on January 25, 2019.
The three grooms returned to their homes in India in April after failed attempts to bring back their wives home.
For the next two years, they made a series of efforts to bring their spouses back to India, all of which failed. The families told Gaon Connection that they applied for a visa thrice, but it was rejected owing to the sour relations between the neighbouring countries.
Finally, on March 8 this year, Nepal Singh and Mahendra Singh’s wives were able to come to the Indian side through Punjab’s Wagah border. But due to some technical issues, Vikram Singh’s wife’s passport has been blacklisted by authorities.
However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs allowed Vikram’s toddler son and his in-laws to travel to India.
Nepal Singh is overjoyed. “My wait of two years has finally ended. I am happy that my wife will live with me now. I was married on January 22, 2019. But, cross-border movement became impossible after the Pulwama bomb blast on February 14. I had to stay back in Pakistan till April,” he told Gaon Connection.
Manoj Chaudhary, a social activist from Barmer, told Gaon Connection that Sodha Rajput families live in Rajasthan and Pakistan’s Sindh province. “These families have been living here for centuries. They are the descendants of the Paramaras Rajput dynasty, which ruled the Malwa region from the ninth century CE. Following Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji’s attack on Malwa in the 13th century CE, their rule came to an end,” he said.
The three marriages were talked about in the Indian villages, and the local media also launched a campaign to bring the brides to India.
