*This Ludhianvi from Pakistan wants ‘visa-till-death’, Nidhi Singhi, Aman Ki Asha, September 29, 2010

http://www.amankiasha.com/detail_news.asp?id=285

LUDHIANA: Partition saw him move to Pakistan but his heart still lies here in this city. Seventy-five-year-old Shabbir Ahmed Mufti Ludhianvi has a last wish -- to spend the last days of his life in Ludhiana, a city he was born in and where he spent his childhood. And, he wants to find grooms for his daughters in the city.

Shabbir, who has come all the way from Pakistan to meet his sister and friends here, plans to write to the deputy commissioner to take up his request, though a strange one -- to grant him a "visa-till-he-dies" Born in 1935 in Mochpura area of the city, he loves to visit Ludhiana to meet his relatives and friends and feels that the unnecessary trouble created by authorities in issuing visas discourages people from coming to India.

"My sister Rashida Begum got married in Ludhiana in 1956. So, I have a reason to be here. But, still it's difficult to make visits as much as I wish. I last came here in 2006," he says.

"I don't know how much longer I will live. My one last wish is to breathe my last in Ludhiana and be buried here. I also wish I can find grooms for my daughters here," he added.

Recalling those horror days of Partition, Shabbir said he had to leave the city with his parents, his brother and three sisters. "We took a train to Lahore and reached a relief camp. I still shiver when I remember those dreadful scenes. I will never forget them in my life," said Shabbir.

While appealing to both the governments, he said people in both the countries want peace and those creating mischief should help bring peace back. "So that people like me can cross the border whenever our hearts want and live and die wherever we want," he said.