Indian woman arrives in Pakistan to pay visit to her ancestral home after 75 years

Reena Chhibar, a 92-year-old Indian woman, reached Pakistan on Saturday to visit her ancestral home, according to local media.

As part of a goodwill gesture, the Pakistani High Commission has issued a three-month visa to the woman, The Express Tribune reported.

The woman on Saturday made her way through the Wagah-Attari border to see her ancestral home located in Prem Niwas in Pakistan's Rawalpindi. She urged the governments of both the countries to "work together" to ease visa restrictions to make "coming and going easy for us".

Reena reminisced of a multi-cultural diverse community that was thriving in Pindi before the partition as she was driven from the border to Rawalpindi.

"My siblings had friends who would come over to our house from various communities, including Muslims," she said, according to The Express Tribune. She also remembered that "our house-help was also a diverse mix of people".

In 1947, after the partition, her family moved to India. She was 15 years old at that time, according to the media report.

Reena said that she "could not remove her ancestral home, her neighbourhood and the streets from her heart".

Quoting the Indian woman, The Express Tribune reported that Reena had applied for a visa in 1965 to visit Pakistan but she could not acquire permission amid high tensions due to the war between the two neighbours.

( With inputs from ANI )