A family from Bareilly has preserved land documents in Pakistan like heritage for four generations. Waiting for that one day when the situation improves so that they can see the land of their ancestors.
A family living in Rajendra Nagar, Bareilly has a unique heritage. This legacy is the deed of his ancestral land left in Sindh province of Pakistan. This registry is the last link in the family to the memories preserved over four generations. Forget about taking possession of the land, four generations have not even seen that place, because this three bigha land was purchased in Tando Alai on 14 August 1947, just 23 days before partition.
Bareilly’s medicine shopkeeper Durgesh Khatwani tells that his grandfather Devandas Khatwani was a landlord of Sindh province. He owned many acres of land. Despite the discussion of partition, common people then believed that the country would not be divided. With this belief, his grandfather had got the deed of land done 23 days before partition. But when partition happened, the whole family came to India. That piece of land and the landlord Dada left the rest of the land in Pakistan.
Durgesh says, “At the time of Partition, the government supported displaced people like us. Many facilities like shelter, ration and education were provided, due to which we could gradually stand on our feet.”
There are stamps ranging from 50 paise to 50 rupees.
Khatwani explains, “Even today, we have dozens of land registry documents safe. Some of these registry stamps were of only 50 paise, while some had stamps of up to Rs 50. The documents have the seal of Tando Alai. Father used to say that these documents are the last sign of the ancestors’ place. Keep them safely.”
Sadness of not being able to see the land of ancestors
The Khatwani family planned several times to go to Pakistan to see the land, but could not go there due to repeated terrorist activities. Durgesh said, ‘It breaks our hearts that we could not see the land of our ancestors. An unfulfilled wish is associated with us. Keeping in mind the security of the country, we did not take any step forward.
The document is protected as heritage
The family has preserved all the land documents like heritage. Durgesh says- ‘The dream is that one day the situation will improve and we can step on the land of our ancestors. These documents have connected us to our roots. The family is talking about keeping these documents safe for future generations also.