Srinagar police officer ties knot with PoK girl.
Srinagar : A young police officer from Kashmir has tied the knot with a girl from PoK. The cross-LoC bonds blossomed at a time when the state police is grappling with pro-Pakistan protests in the Valley.
Owais Geelani, a sub-inspector with Jammu and Kashmir Police, married Faiza Geelani, a resident of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), at a function here where only the groom’s close relatives and friends were in attendance due to the ongoing unrest. The two families are related to each other but were separated during the Partition.
The ‘Nikkah’ was performed in Muzaffarabad in 2014 when Shabir Geelani, father of the groom, had travelled to PoK to visit his divided family on the ‘Karavan-e-Aman’ (the Peace Caravan) bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.
“The wedding ceremony had to be cancelled several times due to the prevailing situation during which the cross-LoC bus service was suspended for many days. Finally, when the bus service resumed, the bride and her close family members arrived here on Monday for the function,” Geelani senior, who himself retired from Police department as SSP in 2014, told PTI.
Owais’ marriage with Faiza, a post-graduate in education, planning and management from National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, was solemnised on Tuesday.
“In 1947, our family got divided and only my father was left on this side while rest of his family were left on the other side. Most of our lands and estate are in Muzaffarabad, ‘’ said the groom’s father.
‘‘When my grandfather died, my father could not attend his funeral as no cross-LoC movement was allowed,’’ Geelani added. PTI
