Separated for 25 yrs, fate brings father & son together in Handwara

In a heartwarming tale of fate and perseverance, Mohammad Tufail was reunited with his family in Batagund village, Mawar, North Kashmir, after being separated from his father for 25 years. The emotional reunion, which took place just a day after Eid, brought immense joy to his father, Ghulam Mohammad Malla, and left the entire village in awe.
Locals believe Tufail’s unexpected return was nothing short of a miracle. Ghulam Mohammad, now 60, had faced decades of sorrow after being separated from his son in the late 1990s. Recalling the painful chapter of his life, Ghulam Mohammad shared that he had married a woman in Kolkata, West Bengal, where Tufail was born. However, tragedy struck shortly after the birth, when his wife passed away. Alone with his infant son, Ghulam Mohammad was unable to bring the child back to Kashmir and had to return home without him, enduring years of uncertainty and heartache.
Over time, all means of contacting his son were lost, and Ghulam Mohammad resigned himself to the painful thought that he may never see Tufail again. But fate had other plans. While studying in Kolkata, Tufail met a group of Kashmiri students from Kupwara.
Although Tufail knew his father hailed from Kashmir, he was unaware of the specific village or location.
Determined to reunite Tufail with his family, his friends from Kupwara reached out to Nazir Ahmed Gujar, an international leader of the Gujar Mahasabha, who played a crucial role in facilitating the reunion. Nazir’s efforts were instrumental in reconnecting the long-lost father and son, bringing closure to a chapter that had been marked by years of separation.
Ghulam Mohammad expressed his overwhelming gratitude, saying that his life had changed for the better since Tufail’s return. The villagers of Batagund celebrated the emotional homecoming with great enthusiasm, giving Tufail a warm welcome as he stepped back into the embrace of his roots.