Prayers for an exiled son

When Nawaz Sharif was packed off to Jeddah, Jatti Umra, a village near Amritsar, wept for its son

When Nawaz Sharif was bundled on to a plane to Jeddah minutes after he arrived in Islamabad, across the border, in an enemy state, a few eyes turned moist. Massa Singh was among those who cried that day. 8220;Ab kee hoyega sadei Nawaz da What will happen to our Nawaz now? He is our son, Jatti Umra8217;s son,8221; the old man said passionately.

It was in this village, 25 km from Amritsar, that Sharif8217;s parents lived before Partition. The family shifted to Raiwind in Pakistan but Jatti Umra keenly followed its fortunes and miseries years after they left.

8220;That used to be Nawaz8217;s house,8221; said 80-year-old Mohinder Kaur as she took us to the village gurdwara. She recalled how Sharif8217;s father and uncle joined her husband and father-in-law at tilling the fields. 8220;Nawaz is the son of our village. On September 10, we were watching TV and were preparing to light up candles to celebrate his arrival in Pakistan. But they sent him back. Now we are praying for his well being,8221; said Kaur.

The older lot in the village has fond memories of the Sharif family. 8220;Nawaz8217;s father Mian Mohammad Sharif was my friend. When he died in Pakistan, we mourned the death of a friend,8221; said Massa. 8220;Though they were rich, the family was generous. I used to work with him and I still remember the day they left for Pakistan in tears.8221;

Massa recalled how Arjun Singh, Bohur Singh and Banta Singh 8212; three friends of Mian Mohammad who are no more 8212; visited Sharif in Pakistan in 1998, when he was premier. 8220;Nawaz received them with warmth,8221; said Massa, who could not make the trip due to a passport glitch.

The village shot to the fame when Sharif became prime minister for the first time in 1990. Sharif, who was born in Lahore in 1949, had been brought up on tales of their ancestral home in Amritsar. The Sharifs were uprooted but held on to their memories. Sharif8217;s private residence in Raiwind near Lahore is called 8216;Jatti Umra8217;.

So the day Sharif was to have come back to Pakistan after several years in exile, villagers began their day in front of their television sets. 8220;We could not hold back tears when Sharif wasn8217;t allowed to stay,8221; said village sarpanch Tarsem Singh, who organised prayers at the gurdwara for Sharif.