A police officer from Kashmir has tied the knot with a woman from PoK as crossLoC bonds blossomed at a time when the state Police grappled with pro-Pakistan protests in the Valley.
Owais Geelani, a sub-inspector with Jammu and Kashmir Police, married Faiza Geelani, a resident of Muzaarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK), at a function here, where only the groom’s close relatives and friends were in attendance due to the ongoing unrest. Faiza is a postgraduate from Islambad’s National University of Modern Languages.
The marriage was solemnised in a hotel here at a time when the cops have borne the brunt of protesters’ ire in the Valley that has been rocked by nearly two-monthlong unrest.
The two families are related to each other but were separated during Partition. The nikkah was performed in Muzaarabad in 2014 when Shabir Geelani, father of the groom, had travelled to PoK to visit his divided family on the ‘Karavan-eAman’ (the Peace Caravan) bus service between Srinagar and Muzaarabad. “The wedding ceremony had to be cancelled several times due to the prevailing situation, during which the cross-LoC bus service was suspended for many days. Finally, when the bus service resumed, the bride and her close family members arrived here on Monday for the function,” said Geelani senior, a former SSP with the State police.