Professional Documents
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INTERNATIONAL
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
On October 12, on Malik Saabs 71st birthday, I contacted my friend Raajan in Amritsar and asked him to get a special gift delivered to Malik Saab in Amritsar
That was just the beginning of a long
struggle. However with great perseverance Ajit Kumar Malik fought on. Growing up, he joined the local government
while also continuing his education.
On November 22, 1971 he got married to Shobha Malik, but while they
were in Shimla on their honeymoon, war
broke out between India and Pakistan
and the newlyweds had to cut short their
trip.
Ajit Kumar Malik and his wife
Shobhas three daughters post graduated with distinction and learned true
human values from their parents tolerance, love and compassion for all of
humanity.
After an illustrious career during
which he also did his Masters in town
planning, Malik Saab retired as Additional Commissioner Development &
Town Planning. Today he lives peacefully in Amritsar, and has everything he
needs. But there was one thing he did
not have. And I thought I should somehow deliver it to him.
On October 12, on Malik Saabs 71st
birthday, at 3 pm I contacted my dear
friend Raajan in Amritsar and asked him
to get it delivered to Malik Saab at his
house in Amritsar.
I also requested all my friends on
Facebook to wish him on his daughters
facebook page, while my friend Yadvendra Mehra delivered a birthday cake to
Malik Saab on my behalf on very short
notice.
At 3.45 pm, someone rang the doorbell at Malik Saabs house. As he opened
the door, something wrapped in paper
was delivered to him. He was informed
that it was a gift for him.
Malik Saab was a bit surprised and as
he opened the wrapping paper what
he saw was a white kite with the words:
from Multan.
By Waseem Altaf
y friend, Neelu Malik
Gauri from Amritsar
had told me that on
Partition, her father
Ajit Kumar Malik,
along with the entire
family had to migrate from Multan (now
Pakistan). Her father would often remember his childhood days spent in that
city.
Ajit Kumar Malik was born seventyone years ago in Multan Cantt, where
his father was controller of Multan railway station. The ancestral house was located inside Hannu ka Chhaja, a part of
the old city where the families of all
brothers (Ajit Kumars uncles) lived together. One of Ajit Kumars uncles
namely Ghanshayam Das Malik was Superintendent at Deputy Commissioners
office in Pakpattan.
Though Neelu never asked, I thought
it would be a unique experience for her
father to see photographs of his ancestral house and the streets as they stand
today, a place where he spent his childhood and flew kites - something he was
very fond of doing.
I asked Neelu to send me some clues
about the location of the house where
her father would fly kites and play with
his peers - Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs,
all living together in harmony.
She told me that the house, belonging to her grandfather Jagan Nath Malik,
was located in the middle of the street
near a mandir. After receiving the relevant information about the landmarks, I
contacted my friend Zeeshan Habib
Chaudhary in Multan. The following day,
Zeeshan went to the location along with
a professional photographer and took
The old gate to the Hannu ka Chhaja locality in Multan, where the Malik familys
ancestral house is located.
Ajit Kumar Maliks fathers house: windows. Photos: Zeeshan Habib, Multan. Neelu Malik
Gauri adds: While dad was going through the pictures with extreme excitement and moist eyes... I saw
that he stopped at this picture (with windows) and held it for a little longer than the others. I asked him the
reason and he didnt reply and kept on staring at it as if trying to find some thing in the pic. I asked again..
he looked up at me, tears rolling down his face. He touched these blue windows and with a choked throat
said that these were the windows he and his friends would hang out from, that gave them the best view
of the sky, full of his favourite kites... and this window is still there, holding my dads beautiful childhood...
B R I E F S
oday, Oct 15, is the last day for Pakistani teams to register for the
First Aman ki Asha Indo Pak Peace Debate to be held at NUST, Lahore. Formal Invitations have already been sent to selected universities. Any other interested universities or educational institutes, please
contact VOICE, the debating arm of NUST by this evening. Meanwhile,
since clearance has been obtained for Indian participants, teams from
across the border have started applying for visas and its all systems go
for what promises to be an exciting, ground-breaking event.
CONTACT:
Email voice@lhr.nu.edu.pk with queries, or: Uzair Ghumman, Convenor - tel.
+92-3004-128-369; email umg88@hotmail.com; Muhammad Wasee, VOICE
president, tel. +92-3218-495-699; email: wasee09@hotmail.com. Registered
Indian participants - please contact Abhijeet Singh Narwal with concerns and
queries at tel. +91-9595-404-560 or email abhijeetsinghnarwal@gmail.com
Destination Peace: A commitment by the Jang Group, Geo and The Times of India Group to
create an enabling environment that brings the people of Pakistan and India closer together,
contributing to genuine and durable peace with honour between our countries.