Poonch, Jammu, April 15-For sixty year old Abdul Majid Durrani, a resident of Hajira, in what is now Pakistan occupied Kashmir and hundreds of revelers at Nangali Sahib gurudwara, this Baisakhi would always remain etched in their minds and souls forever.
Durrani, who is on a visit to meet relatives in Poonch, relived his past when all of a sudden, he started dancing to the beats of Dhol at the holy Nanagali Sahib Gurudwara, where a huge congregation had gathered to celebrate Baisakhi.
The unabashed joy with which the visitor from PoK danced mandated the crowd to join him and thus began a celebration which can be described as nothing else but a salute to spirit of secularism practiced by the people of Poonch and upheld by the Indian nation.
Reliving the old days, a visibly shaken Durrani, said that what he did today reminded him of his childhood days, when visited Nangali Sahib with his friends and danced the entire day on Baisakhi.
With tears in his eyes but smile on his face,
he greatly appreciated the fact that Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims are celebrating Baisakhi together and this he said was the victory of human values.
‘The secularism which is being practiced by the people of Poonch and all the Indians is exemplary and this brotherhood sets an example to the whole world’, add the visitor from PoK.
‘Jo bat Hindustan main hai who wahan nahi. Jis tarha se log aaja mere sath nache aur unhon ne mujhe jo pyar diya who main Kabhi bhula nahi sakta’, said Durrani.

It is only here that one can see people from all religions living together peacefully, he said ruing that this was not the case with PoK or entire Pakistan. In Pakistan people do not enjoy so much religious camaraderie and togetherness, he added.
Telling about himself, Durrani revealed that he left Poonch for Paksitan occupied Kashmir in 1947, when he was just 16-year old.
‘I settled in Hajira and started living there after the partition but there was always an longing to visit Poonch, especially Nangali Sahib, of which I have fond memories’, he added.
Meanwhile, the people, who were present at Nangali Sahib hailed the decision of government in opening the borders as a result of which long lost relatives have been able to cross iron fences.
‘We are a secular citizens of a secular city and a secular country and we live here in peace irrespective of caste, colour and creed’, and people will see that one day Pakistan will also appreciate and emulate our values, is the punch line of young Ranjit Singh, who was among the people dancing with the PoK visitors.