Hyderabad/ Indo-Pak alliances

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Indo-Pak alliances no rarity in Hyderabad

The Times of India

Sudipta Sengupta | TNN

Hyderabad: Sania-Shoaib’s Indo-Pak alliance might have grabbed millions of eyeballs and led to numerous debates across the country, but it did not surprise Hyderabadis. For them, such cross border alliances have never been a rarity, especially with the city being the former abode of several Pakistani families.

City old timers say that if the Sania-Shoaib alliance is different, that’s only because the two celebs come from culturally different families, with one being a quintessential Hyderabadi family and the other a ‘theth’ Punjabi. In most cases, marriages are fixed within families that share a similar cultural background. The geographical borders don’t count, they say.

Take for instance Aliya Shehzad, a Pakistani by birth who has been married to a Hyderabadi for 29 years. While her’s was a love marriage that faced initial hiccups from both families, Shehzad says she had little trouble in adjusting to the ‘alien’ land which she now calls home. Her family’s Hyderabad connection made that possible, she says.

‘‘My father worked as a chartered accountant in Hyderabad until 1959 when he moved to Karachi. I also had several other relatives who moved to Pakistan at a later stage,’’ Shehzad said.

Says social activist Kulsum Reddy, a Muslim by birth who married a Hindu, ‘‘My nephew married a Pakistani girl 20 years ago. They have been living in Hyderabad ever since. Geographical barriers have never been a cause for concern in our family.’’

City historians say it is primarily the urge to reconnect with one’s roots that lead to such alliances. ‘‘Post 1948, when the Nizam was deposed, many families from here moved to Pakistan, UK and the US. Most of them have relations here and feel the need to keep the connections alive,’’ says Sajjad Shahid, an expert on Hyderabad’s history. Shahid adds that it is mostly Pakistani women who opt for alliances in the city.

Some members of the Muslim community here feel that parents are still sceptical about sending their daughters to Pakistan, owing to unrest in the country. Also, the logistics are more complicated that way, they say. ‘‘It is more difficult for a girl to visit her parents in India,” said a community member.