Even as Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza are going through a tumultuous phase before their marriage, we take a look at a few other love stories that have bridged the gap.
Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik’s relationship is the talk of the town. It is hard to say what future holds for them. However, there are a lot of other couples whose love dissolved the boundaries between India and Pakistan.
Salman Ansari (name change), a journalist in a leading Pakistani news channel, married an Indian girl 25 years ago. He says back then it was comparatively smooth sailing for him to get his wife a visa to live with him in Pakistan. But now it has become a task for the family to get a visa to visit his wife’s parents in Mumbai.
He says, “The paperwork to get a visa has become stringent. Along with all our documents we also have to submit the attested copies of our host’s ration card, electricity bills and other documents for our visa. It is sad that my wife can meet her family back in India only once in four years and that too for a maximum of 30 days.”
But beyond visas, everything else about the relationship is hunky dory. “People here and there have been exceptionally warm. Her friends and family have accepted me with a lot of warmth and the same goes for my friends and family here. The distance is just political.”
A well-known Pakistani artist, who did not want to be named, is married to another artist in India. And they are married for almost 10 years now. She says, “I mainly operate in Pakistan’s art circuit and my husband in Mumbai. Post 26/11 things have become bitter. I am a Pakistani passport holder and just after the attacks people in India have been a little reluctant to let me stay with them as their guest.” She quickly adds, “But I totally understand. In fact when we first heard about the terrorist attacks I was hoping that Pakistan had nothing to do with it.” But she is glad that these things do not affect her relationship with her husband and ‘both their families have been extremely supportive’.
The situation today seems to have become hostile. But years ago things were easier. Former cricketer Mohshin Khan’s wedding to Indian actor Reena Roy made for big news. Mohshin says, “The best part about our marriage was that I got a very warm acceptance in India and Reena received the same in Pakistan.” He ends saying, “Times have changed and sadly so.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}