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FRIENDS, NOT FOES

Our forefathers erred in 1947 to have fallen in the divisive traps laid down by the political leaders, the stooges of the British Empire, who cared less about humanity and more about their business of becoming the power wielders. Thereafter, for seven decades, the new leaders have built their fiefdom on a weak foundation of hate, conditioning the common man on either side of the border to be entrapped in a belief that the other is the most evil!

On the contrary, the most compassionate humans I have encountered are in the lands of Pakistan. Their simplicity is their asset and they are an embodiment of love. In their willingness to embrace me in every nook and corner, to make my quest their own mission, they have time and again immersed themselves in my pursuit. The expansive field research on the Sikh legacy across 126 cities and villages has required a lot of energies to come into play. What matters most is that without the genuine feeling of friendship displayed by so many Pakistanis, I would have been struggling.

It takes one to make a friend.
It takes a crowd to make foes.

The simple action of Faizan Naqvi in this picture speaks volumes. The act of clearing with hands, seven decades of dust gathered on the floor of this abandoned gurdwara, proves that we are humans first and can embrace the pain of others.

Photographed in Jan 2017, during the research for the book “THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”

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