Indo-Pak couples: Borders disintegrate as they tie the knot

Dubai - Dubai is a common ground for Indians, Pakistanis who marry each other.

Not every household gets a chance to celebrate the independence days of two historically warring nations, Pakistan and India, back-to-back.
But if you are an Indian married to a Pakistani, these celebrations may be lighting up your house each year on August 14 and August 15, when both countries mark their independence days.
Many such couples in the UAE have broken down the barriers to become one and say they are teaching their kids to do the same.
Fouzia Rafat Nasir, an Indian national married Nasir Mahmood from Lahore Pakistan 12 years ago.
"We put up flags of both countries and they are not removed until two days later," she said. "The children dress up in traditional clothes and they are more excited than us."
The couple has four kids, one of whom holds a Pakistani passport while the others have Indian documents. The family also holds competitions and often quiz each other on both countries.
"My elder daughter is 11 and she understands there is a difference ... the kids ask a lot of questions," said Fouzia.
Cricket matches are also a day of friendly bickering and fun in the household.
For Ghazal Usama, the celebrations are held during the night of August 14. "This way we celebrate both the days," said Ghazal who is from India. She and her husband Usama met in the UK while they were students there 13 years ago. "We are now married for the past three and half years," she said.
Usama flew to India for the wedding along with a few relatives. "It took five long months for his visa to come through ... though his relatives managed to get a visa easily from Pakistan, the groom had problems from Dubai," said Ghazal.
The couple, in their 30s, plan to go out with friends to celebrate both the days.
"We have a lot of friends and relatives here so we stay kind of busy during such celebrations," she added.
 

He ventured into Pak territory
His friends call him a tiger because he dared venture into Pakistani territory to claim his bride.
Mohammed Zohaib from India and Fariha Mughal from Pakistan are newly weds and this year the couple, who got married on May 30, will be celebrating both the independence days together.
"His family did not get visas until the last minute except Zohaib. Since our wedding was fixed and my husband had urgent work to finish, we had to go ahead with the wedding," explained Fariha.

The couple, in their 30s, met in Dubai and after convincing both families that they were made for each other, the nikaah was held here. "Such marriages mostly happen in the UAE," said Fariha adding, "because this is where we get a chance to meet and know that it's okay to be friends."
The couple later held a grand wedding in Islamabad but since Fariha's in-laws were not able to attend the wedding in Pakistan, they met her later in Dubai. Both are hoping that travelling to each other's countries will not be tough in the coming days.
"We plan to celebrate with friends and will celebrate on both days," said Fariha. "Since we have common friends from both countries, cricket matches are a riot."
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

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