Barmer: As young Jagdish Singh donned the groom's attire on his wedding day on Sunday, the usual happiness and enthusiasm were missing.
“Without grandfather, this wedding seems incomplete,” Jagdish said as he dearly missed his grandfather, Bhagu Singh, who remains imprisoned in a jail in Pakistan after he inadvertently crossed the border 38 years ago.
Singh, who hails from Dhanau village in Barmer district of Rajasthan, had accidentally crossed the border while grazing cattle in 1986, and remains imprisoned in Pakistan ever since. His wife Laxmi Kanwar and the entire family are still waiting to get a glimpse of him.
Bhagu Singh's son, Arjun Singh said that his father accidentally crossed the border while grazing cattle in the border village Gohad Ka Tala in the year 1986, after which he never returned home.
“We got the news that my father was captured by Pakistani Rangers and put in jail. We tried every possible way to bring him back, appealed to the government, but the pleas were not heard anywhere,” he said.
A Shadow Of Gloom Grips The Wedding
The wedding of Bhagu Singh's grandson on Sunday was a bittersweet affair as the head of the family remained missing for strange reasons amid the wedding celebrations.
"The absence of father makes every happiness incomplete. We wish that he was also with us, he would have attended the wedding of his grandson, but fate has left us with this pain," Bhagu Singh;s son, Arjun Singh said.
Bhagu Singh's wife Laxmi Kanwar said that every day brings a new hope for them, “but then we have to face the same wait and the same disappointment”.
President of the displaced persons, Narpat Singh Dhara said that Bhagu Singh's story was a reflection of the pain of many families who have lost their loved ones or have been waiting for them for years.
“It is the responsibility of the government to find out about their condition and take concrete steps to bring them back.”
The family has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Government to bring Bhagu Singh back.
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