33-yr wait for husband taken away by Pak rangers

Laxmi Kanwar looked at the framed photo of her husband through the sieve as she marked the 33rd Karva Chauth festival after her husband disappeared from the India-Pakistan border.

As an ochre moon brought an end to the fasting period on Thursday night, Laxmi, with her decorated ‘thali’, narrated her story.

It has been over three decades since her husband Bhagu Singh accidentally crossed the India-Pakistan border in Barmer district of Rajasthan in 1983 while grazing goats. Laxmi, now 66-year old, is still hopeful of his return.

She has no clue of Singh. But celebrates every Karva Chauth with austerity, praying for the long life of her husband. Laxmi has two sons and a daughter. The family doesn’t know whether Singh, who is believed to have been taken by Pakistani rangers, is jailed or living elsewhere in Pakistan.

“I have an inner belief that he will return one day, I keep praying for his healthy and long life. I raised my three children single handedly but his presence was missed on every single occasion,” she said.

Whenever news of releasing of the Indian prisoners in Pakistan reachers the family, they become hopeful that Singh might be one of them.

Singh’s sons said they have made numerous efforts to know his whereabouts but they were ignored by the authorities.  Younger son Arjun Singh (33), who was just three when his father was detained, told DH: “We have learnt that on the fateful evening, our father was grazing goats in our farmland close to the border. We have approached the External Affairs Ministry, the Home Ministry and the PMO in the past three decades. But there is no affirmative response. The state government has also failed to help.”