Episode 1 Dangerous Borders: A Journey across India & Pakistan

This is one of the world's most dangerous borders,

holding neighbours India and Pakistan apart.

2,000 miles long, it slices through extraordinary landscapes

and divides millions of people who once lived alongside each other.

I'm Babita Sharma.

70 years ago, my family, as Hindus,

were forced to move into newly-independent India.

Primarily I identify with being British. That's who I am -

I was born and brought up in Britain.

But I'm also really passionate about my culture as an Indian person.

I'm going to be travelling the border from the Indian side.

Wow! It's mind-blowing!

I'm Adnan Sarwar and my parents, who are Muslim,

were born in what is now Pakistan.

I've got to know what it means to be a Pakistani

and what it means to these people here living as Pakistanis

and what it means to my mum and dad to be Pakistanis.

I'm going to be travelling the length of the border

on the Pakistan side.

A country that's just 70 years old.

Have you ever seen water like this? Look at the colour of it.

When Britain gave India its independence,

it split the nation along religious lines,

carving out a new Muslim state.

Since then, there have been frequent conflicts along this border

that, to this day, very few can cross.

You can't know Pakistan unless you know partition.

GUNFIRE

They're just saying, "We want independence.

"Go, India. Go, Pakistan. We just want to be free."

Yet, after two generations apart,

these two countries, with such strong ties to Britain,

still have so much in common and so much to celebrate.

It's fantastic. We're going to have a great night here tonight.

My gosh, I have just found a whole new family

I didn't even know existed.

We're making two journeys with the same goal -

to discover how a line on the map

has altered the destinies of two countries that were once one.

For the next five weeks,

Adnan and I are going to be travelling either side

of the 2,000-mile-long border that divides India and Pakistan

from south to north.

The state of Gujarat marks the start of the border here.

I really just want to find out how India has managed to repair itself,

or has it repaired itself after all this time?

You know, 70 years on, where are we?

What is life like for these people here on the border?

My journey starts in Adipur in the south of Gujarat,

before I head east to the Little Rann of Kutch.

I'll then be heading north towards the border

into the mighty Thar Desert,

covering more than 500 miles on this first leg.

The small town of Adipur is 80 miles from the border.

It's a very special town,

created as a home for the refugees who fled Pakistan at partition,

but it has an even greater significance for India

and the people of Gujarat.

On the right side is the Gandhi Samadhi,

which has the ashes of Gandhi.

This place has the ashes of Gandhi?

That's quite a moment, actually, to pass somewhere

where Gandhiji's ashes are scattered.

Deepika tells me, a son of Gujarat, Gandhi convinced the local Maharaja

to donate land for a refugee camp which became the town of Adipur.

And amazing to think that in 70 years,

what was once a refugee camp has now become a whole town.

We are inside Adipur right now.

What's happening here?

-Shall we go have a look?

-Yeah, let's go and have a look.

What are they doing?

It looks like some kind of Charlie Chaplin convention going on here.

-My name's Babita.

-Hi, I'm Twinkle.

-Twinkle, nice to meet to you.

So what's happening here today?

We are celebrating Charlie Chaplin's birthday.

VOICEOVER: And it was a local Charlie Chaplin fan

who was the brainchild behind this wonderfully bizarre celebration

of his birthday.

There's an even more charming side to this story.

In 1931, Gandhi met Chaplin at his house in London.

It was a meeting between two of the most recognised icons

of the 20th century.

And how fitting it is that this Charlie Chaplin festival,

which has been celebrated here since the 1970s,

is in the resting place of Gandhi's ashes.

You see so many Charlie Chaplins who are in the town,

because Charlie Chaplin taught us to laugh,

even in spite of all our problems.

I don't know what to say.

-The fact you've got a day dedicated to Charlie Chaplin...

-Absolutely.

-The whole town.

-Everybody here...

We have fun, a party, music.

So it's going to just get crazier.

Twinkle tells me they took a British-born Hollywood icon,

added a bit of Bollywood masala

to create a unique festival of their own,

and it's put this former refugee town on the tourist map.

Gandhiji, who is resting just behind me,

may well be smiling down on this parade,

and perhaps he's even proud that his own legacy

lives on in this very unique way.

My God. If I don't come home back to London, Mum and Dad, I love you!

I'm 230 miles west of where Babita is in Adipur.

My journey starts here on the south coast of Pakistan, in Karachi.

After spending some time getting to know Karachi,

I'll be travelling as close to the Indian border as I can...

..and follow it into the Thar Desert, a total of 300 miles.

I want to explore the side of Pakistan that very few people,

including me, ever see.

And Karachi, the largest and most important city in this country,

is its beating heart and the best place to start.

Just bought some, er...Tibet Cream.

It's a cream that my mum used to use a lot

and I think that we've still got this in the house in Burnley.

Wow, smells like childhood.

Oh, yeah, it's fresh like snow.

Karachi did pretty well out of partition.

Almost one million Muslims from all over India came here.

Intellectuals, artists and entrepreneurs arrived,

determined to build a new nation.

And this creative energy

has turned a town of around half a million into this -

a vibrant metropolis of over 20 million people.

This guy's got no petrol in his motorbike.

He's just hitching rides with rickshaws. Brilliant!

Like London, Karachi is diverse

and, even though it's a bit of a bubble,

everything that happens here has a ripple effect

on the rest of the country.

I think one of the best ways to understand a society

is through its cultural expression.

So I'm on my way to Clifton, the upmarket part of town.

Abid Merchant, a former banker, established this public art gallery

three years ago.

-This is, you know, contemporary art from Pakistan.

-Yeah.

It's basically the emerging artists whom we believe have the potential

to make it big in the international market.

Lots of people will see a different side of Pakistan.

-VOICEOVER:

-23-year-old Amina Rahman is one of Abid's rising stars

who is showing her work here.

Oh, wow.

-Would this be seen as controversial in Pakistan?

-To some, yes.

The more you're covered, the more you're playing safe.

-You're acceptable if you're covered?

-Yeah.

Actually, there are other works which are more explicit.

Oh, wow.

Are those pictures on your Instagram?

Um, not on my Instagram cos we can't...

You can't what? You can't...?

Exhibit it very openly.

It's not even safe for me.

So the art you're making is...

It's making the situation unsafe for you?

Yeah.

But you're going to keep doing it?

Till I'm here, yes.

You have to create because, you know, that's how this place is.

-VOICEOVER:

-I reckon Amina's pretty brave

to be taking risks for her art, and she's certainly not alone

in challenging the conservative culture around her.

For the last ten years,

Abid has been supporting artists with a similar rebellious streak,

and I've just talked myself into being invited back to his apartment

to see his private collection.

Come on, Adnan.

-Oh, wow.

-The apartment.

-Wow!

Oh, my God!

This is a lot better than my flat.

Walking in, you'd see just another apartment.

So that's Karachi.

I live in Notting Hill and I've got a flat which is about this size.

OK, you have a studio apartment?

-It's basically a bedroom.

-OK, it's a bedroom.

That means you can't hang art in your apartment.

I've got limited wall space, yeah.

Well, I've got limited wall space also, so that's where you see.

It's huge, mate.

That is REALLY great.

Sexuality and freedom has always been a part of Pakistani art,

right if you go back to the '40s and the '50s.

Maybe five years ago, seven years ago,

the global art market wanted to see Pakistani artists

making violence and terrorism as a subject.

-Because it was easier for them to understand?

-Understand.

-Yeah.

So anything which has a global language

would be easy to understand.

Wow.

I know this one.

This is Liberty Leads To Freedom?

No, the artist has appropriated Liberty into his painting

and he calls it Azadi Ki Devi, The Woman Of Freedom.

That's basically Qandeel Baloch leading the people to freedom.

-VOICEOVER:

-A young woman from a rural town,

Qandeel Baloch became famous

as a controversial social media phenomenon.

She directly challenged prudish attitudes towards women.

She was kind of a Pakistani Kim Kardashian

until her selfies with a religious leader was seen as a step too far...

He's too good. He is too good. Oh, my God.

..and so her brother killed her.

And then we have the famous ulama,

-who took selfies of her on the left, if you see.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It is the power of art, isn't it?

This kind of thing happened and it transmitted this feeling into people

and somebody needed to do this, to put it out there

and then hopefully this will be seen.

By art, you can change the entire community.

And it's not just artists in galleries who are doing it.

This creative expression is spilling out on to the streets...

..and it starts right here on the catwalks of Karachi.

As a Pakistan,

it's all about the media telling bad stuff about the country.

So this is very, very important for us to portray ourself in a way

so people can like us.

The way I'm dressed right now,

-I just won't go anywhere in Karachi dressed like this.

-Yeah, OK.

So, what, you'd cover your arms?

I will cover my arms, yes, which is fine,

because we live in an Islamic state.

Living in an Islamic state, it says to cover yourself, right,

so there's nothing bad in that.

I completely recognise this tensions that Pakistanis feel.

We want to be modern but, at the same time,

we don't want to entirely reject our Muslim heritage.

The fashion industry here is potentially worth billions

and what's interesting is that the biggest market

for Pakistani designer clothes is India.

These young models and designers

have become sort of accidental ambassadors for their country.

How many people have you got on Instagram?

-I think I'm going to beat you here.

-Oh, definitely you would.

-Let's have a look.

-Definitely would.

-OK.

-How many have you got?

-It's 45.8.

-45.8?

-I believe, yes.

-45.8 people?

-K.

-K?

-Yes.

I've got 223.

-VOICEOVER:

-These shows are advertised through social media

and they're hugely popular, but the locations are often kept secret,

for fear of being targeted by extremists.

There are limitations to what they can get away with here,

but they're always finding creative ways around it.

When this society wants to change and the women here want to change,

and the men here want to change, they can take notes from elsewhere,

but that's not in a patronising manner.

It's just like people in the West

are still trying to work out women's rights

and other people's rights.

The inspirational people we've met already

are giving us hints of the future,

of what this country's going to be like in the future,

because they are the people who are going to make this change.

While Adnan delves deeper into the bustling city of Karachi,

I'm still in Adipur, but I'm about to set off on my journey.

It's 6am, very early,

and I have no idea what I'm up to today,

because I met Twinkle last night at the Charlie Chaplin procession

and she's invited me on an adventure and I said yes,

but now I'm thinking, "What on earth have I got myself into?!"

And the only people awake are the cows and me.

No. This isn't for us?

No.

This is slightly strange.

Wow!

It's an all-female bike club!

Yeah!

It's kind of, you know, brotherhood or sisterhood.

Sisterhood.

Why should men have all the fun?

Exactly.

So, so cool.

So awesome.

I mean, I just loved it and as soon as you saw these hot women

take off their helmets, you're like, "Yes!"

This is India. This is India today. I love it. It's amazing.

This is going to be...awesome!

Let's do it.

Ooh!

SHE LAUGHS

I'm going to hitch a ride with Twinkle and her gang

for the next part of my journey.

The plan is to skirt along the border east of Adipur

to the flatlands of the Little Rann of Kutch about 160 miles away.

I think the reason I'm so taken by these bikers

is because they completely go against the stereotype

of oppressed Asian women.

Economically independent,

these women have the freedom to choose this lifestyle.

Ah!

That was amazing.

-Ah, my bum hurts, though.

-I'm so glad.

Hey. That was amazing.

-This is your bike?

-Yeah.

-The dirt track bike?

-Yes.

He's my boyfriend.

-He's your actual boyfriend?

-Yes.

-You live and breathe the bike?

-Yes.

-And how old are you?

-22.

-Wow, so you are young!

-She's the youngest one of us.

-Oh, you're the youngest?

-We're proud of her.

So who's...? So you're the youngest. Who's the oldest?

Pince.

-Pince!

-Yeah, what?

Grandma.

-You're a grandma?

-I've got a four-year-old grandson.

-Two daughters.

-Wow.

-Can I ask you how young you are?

-I'm just 60.

VOICEOVER: Pince has been riding a motorbike for 30 years

and has been a trailblazer for her younger friends.

Everybody bird wants to break free. Nobody wants to be caged.

In India, what happens is the woman is taking care of parents,

then she's taking care of the kids.

-Family, yeah.

-Family.

And then when the children grow up, she's taking care of the grandkids,

so when does she live her own life?

I'll be riding till the day I die.

I think these women are really something.

But this is a patriarchal society,

and domestic abuse and violent sexual crime here

is amongst the highest in the world,

and these women refuse to be seen as just daughters, wives or mothers.

The fact that these women are doing what they're doing, it surprised me,

it's inspired me

and I think that they are setting a trend for what's going to follow

because the youngest is 22 years old,

the eldest is 60 and, as one of them said,

she wants to start a revolution and why wouldn't you?

I feel like I could take on the world now.

What I'd love to see is women in both India and Pakistan

feeling like these bikers, believing that anything is possible.

It's not only the women of India who are fighting back

against the rampant misogyny of the region.

I'm now on my way to Lyari,

one of the poorer districts of the city, to visit a local club

where they're running a surprising project for women.

This gym was set up a year ago,

with funds from a major Pakistani clothing brand,

to empower girls from this poor community.

Razia was brought up by a single mum.

She's decided to leave her job

and take up a career as a professional boxer.

Scarily, this 19-year-old lass from Lyari

wants to take on this boy from Burnley.

Oh, she's going to kick the crap out of me, isn't she?

-All right, OK.

-HE LAUGHS

Ready? Go.

Come on!

Yeah.

The fear does exist. It's existing right here.

No, it doesn't exist.

It's a universal truth that sport is one of the ways of escaping poverty.

And what do you want to do when... when you stop punching me?

HE CHUCKLES

Ah... Have you got any water?

-That's...

-Do like this...

Do like this.

THEY BREATH DEEPLY

Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-It was... It's interesting.

Do you think the government of Pakistan is supporting women

in this kind of thing?

So I guess, in a way, Razia is fighting for change

not just for herself but for her community.

She's part of a minority of African Pakistanis.

Pakistan is constantly surprising me.

Just look at this sign here.

"Bumbasa Road" is not a traditional name for Pakistan.

It's just quite... It's quite fascinating.

It's just like you've got a lot of people here look clearly Pakistani,

what I think Pakistani is,

and then there are kids who look clearly of African descent.

It's just absolutely fascinating

that there's such a cultural mixing pot here.

This street is named after the coastal town of Mombasa in Kenya,

because most of the people who live here arrived from east Africa.

These African Pakistanis have been in the Indian subcontinent

for hundreds of years,

and at partition, as Muslims, many left Indian Gujarat

and joined the established community here in Karachi.

Islam forbids any form of discrimination,

which is why there's no caste system here,

but the fact is these people face racism.

Yaqoob Qambrani is a community leader and activist.

He's fighting for their African heritage

to be recognised as part of Pakistan.

There is no consensus about how these Africans ended up here -

some say they were slaves,

others that they came as traders and stayed -

but this gives us an idea of how long they've been here,

the tomb of Mangho Pir.

This is the final resting place of their most revered saint,

a Sufi who died in the 13th century.

Here they offer prayers of intercession to Allah

through their saint.

But this shrine is not the only reason people flock here.

Oh, wow.

There's, like, 30 crocodiles down there.

There's 200?

-Yes.

-200?!

MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

It seems these Sufi Muslims believe the crocodiles have magic powers.

Legend has it they fell as lice from the saint's shawl,

and when he stamped his feet, they turned into crocodiles,

so he kept them as pets.

For hundreds of years,

devotees have brought sacrificial meat as offerings.

The keeper of the shrine is specially ordained

and only he can feed them.

It's a tradition that's been in his family for generations.

That is unbelievable.

I've never seen a crocodile in real life,

and there's four just lying over there.

SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE

Over the years, African Pakistanis have integrated...

..married locals, and their vibrant culture

has become part of Pakistani life.

But this performance, sung in both Urdu and Swahili,

shows that, while so much is changing in modern Pakistan,

some traditions are too important to let go.

CHEERING

RHYTHMIC DRUMMING

DRUMMING SPEEDS UP

There's always been a pecking order on both sides of the border.

Here, too, the darker the skin colour, the lower your status,

but India has an even stricter social hierarchy

that keeps people in their place.

The caste system is unique to Hinduism,

and it dictates almost everything in an Indian's life,

from who they can marry to the job they can do.

Although it's illegal to discriminate against people

based on their caste,

it's almost impossible to escape those divisions,

because it's all tied to our names.

What's your surname, Deepika?

Same as yours, Sharma.

-Ah, are you a Sharma?

-Yeah.

We're the same!

-High-five.

-High-five.

-THEY LAUGH

We're of the uppermost caste in Hindus.

-The Brahmin caste?

-The Brahmin caste, yeah.

I know that the Brahmin caste, obviously,

is considered a holy caste.

-It's descendants of the priests.

-Yeah.

My great-grandfather was a priest. My grandfather was a priest.

My entire village is a priest village.

Like, what the hell is that about?

Is that because they're not allowed to be other castes?

Oh, really?

So, yeah, it's literally the priest family.

We have not got a single priest in our family.

We have corner shops!

So nothing holy about that.

Sharmas rule, though.

We're pretty cool, I think.

I don't know. We're pretty hated as well, so...

Hated by who?

By all of the other castes in the country, obviously.

We're horrible people in that sense, because we have so much power.

No? Don't you think so?

We're the oppressors.

Oh, Deepika...

We are!

OK, now I'm thinking about my family background as the oppressors.

I'm going to break the tradition. I'm going to marry a Muslim boy.

-That's quite a big deal. If they've never had...

-It's a very big deal.

It's not like all our families are like,

"Oh, wow! You found this girl!"

Or, "You found this boy!"

They're just like, "Oh, shit."

So it's a big problem.

I've never given a second thought to what caste my family come from.

Being born and brought up in Britain,

it's something I've never had to think about.

After travelling north, I've arrived at the Little Rann of Kutch,

70 miles from the border.

HORSE SNORTS

Gosh, we really are in the middle of nowhere.

It's an incredibly hostile environment,

but somehow people manage to carve out a living here.

This landscape is really harsh,

but, on the odd occasion, you see this,

which are these huge mountains of pure white.

Thousands of farmers make a living from this landscape,

and what they farm is salt.

This is part of one of the largest salt deserts in the world.

The region contributes 20% of the nation's most-used seasoning.

It's like we're walking on, like, a slush.

-Can I touch it?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

LAUGHING: Sorry...

That is so strong!

That's definitely salt.

That's not snow - that's salt.

Wow.

Yeah, yeah.

SHE RETCHES

Yeah, that's really... That's really salty.

Oh, my gosh.

There's 100,000 people working on the salt farms.

The majority are known locally as Agariyas,

part of the low-caste Kolis.

They've been doing this job for centuries, and the cost is high -

they risk blindness, skin lesions and tuberculosis

as they each move up to 17 tonnes of salt a day

into piles ready for collection.

Devjee's saying that you have to put this on to balance it on your head,

but, for me, I think the biggest thing

-is just trying to lift it off the ground!

-Yeah.

-Can you take a little bit out of it?

-Yeah, yeah.

Oh, my God. OK.

STRAINING: Oh, my God...

THEY LAUGH

OK, that didn't go... That didn't go so well.

Let's see if I can... OK. MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Oh, my God.

I... I mean, I'm laughing, but this is seriously backbreaking work.

Usually each pan would weigh 20kg,

but I'm struggling with just half of that.

SHE LAUGHS

MAN LAUGHS

They're starting work early to avoid the heat and glare

of the afternoon sun.

It's fierce.

Temperatures here can hit 45 degrees.

For all of this backbreaking work,

they'll earn just over £2 per tonne,

and, of course, it's the age-old story -

once it's processed and sent across India,

this salt will fetch ten times more.

It's a seasonal industry,

and so, for seven months of the year,

Mr Chuturbhai and his family live here.

One of Mr Chuturbhai's many tasks on the farm is to rake the salt

to ensure the water is evenly evaporated.

It's so sharp.

This salt, it's almost like glass on the soles of your feet.

Oh!

SHE GRUNTS

It looks so beautiful,

but the reality is that it hurts a lot.

-Yeah.

-That's just after a few minutes.

Can you see how red it's gone?

CHILD BABBLES HAPPILY

I mean, I don't know how you do that every single day.

Yeah.

CHILD SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

"The job has to be done," he said, because if he doesn't do it,

then the kids aren't going to get fed.

That's the reality.

I find it pretty shocking that in the country with the fourth-largest

number of billionaires in the world,

there are people here like Mr Chuturbhai and his family

who are bound by their caste to this life of hardship

with little chance of escape.

The grandfather did it, the father did it, the son does it.

The girls will also do the same work,

because every six months they have to come here into the desert

with their mum and dad,

and that means that they don't go to school.

Because they don't go to school, this is what they'll be born into.

It's a never-ending cycle.

There's no other choice.

This is one part of the border where change is nowhere in sight.

I've barely scratched the surface of Karachi,

but for me and my local producer, Khalid,

there's a long journey ahead.

Next stop, the Thar Desert.

-I think I've got, like, so much to tell to your mum.

-About what?

-About what? What? There's nothing to know.

-About everything.

What's the... What's the hidden secrets of Adnan?

Outside the city limits, Sindh province is mostly barren.

There's no reason to stop here.

-Khalid, I've got something very important to ask you.

-What's that?

Where the hell are we?

-Have you got a map with you?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Mate, I was in the Army, mate. Come on.

-OK.

Right, OK, so this is Karachi.

-We've just left Karachi.

-Yeah.

-Where's the Indian border?

-This is the...

-This green line is...

-This is the Indian border here?

That's the international border. We are about 30km east of Umerkot.

-Wow. We're about 45 miles from the Indian border.

-Yeah.

I mean, we'd do that in less than an hour, wouldn't we?

-We'd just be there.

-Yeah, we can, but we can't.

So, like, it's... You can say it's a hostile border.

It's not a friendly border at all.

It's weird, cos Babita is just over there, about, I don't know,

a couple of hours over there, three hours or whatever she is, you know?

It's crazy, isn't it? Are we going to keep going that way?

Are we going to keep trying to get...?

Let's try that, with how far we can go and...

Let's go and see the border.

-Get as close to it as possible.

-OK. Cool.

So we're going to divert to Zero Point,

one of the crossing points on the border.

I mean, oh, yeah, you will need travel documents here now.

There's only three places on the entire border

between India and Pakistan where you can cross.

This is going to be one of my only chances

to stand on the border or even get close to it.

THEY SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Security's getting tighter as we get closer.

-Hello, Captain.

-ADNAN SPEAKS ANOTHER LANGUAGE

I'm told it's much to do with the fear of local terrorists

as cross-border attacks by Indian forces.

SIREN WAILS

The police are taking us up to the next checkpoint.

That's about as big a ticket as you need, you know. We don't...

We don't need a visa.

We can just roll in with these guys and then just see what happens.

Let's try and get there.

So we're going to try and carry on.

At the moment, we have got the permission to go as close as...

-..five miles short of the Indian border...

-Yeah.

..and if we are lucky, and if the permission comes through,

we might be able to transit.

Ha.

Khalid is doing his best to get us permission to keep on going.

Less than ten miles from the border, he's just playing music, you know.

It's brilliant.

It's quiet and peaceful here.

It doesn't feel dangerous,

but, in 2016 alone, 28 civilians and soldiers were killed

in border attacks between these two countries.

Some fear one serious incident could trigger an all-out war

between south Asia's rival states.

We are getting closer to Khokhrapar, the last town before the border.

Twice a week, a train runs between the two countries,

but only Indians and Pakistanis can use those trains,

and they need visas which can take months to get.

So we are inching on and on and on towards India.

A foreigner like me has got zero chance of getting past Zero Point...

..but I'm really keen to see the actual border up close for myself.

So we're about to enter Khokhrapar,

so it means that we're about 7km to 9km inside...

close to Indian border.

Five miles to India.

-Are we going to try and get on the train?

-We are not allowed to.

I just... I want to see it. I want to see India. Why can't I see India?

Well, it's... It's not, sort of, that sort of border that...

where you can go for sightseeing.

Do you think we'll spend time in an Indian prison?

Not in an Indian prison but in a Pakistani prison.

Yeah, the Pakistani nick. All right, nice one.

This is the last security post.

Oh! Rangers, Rangers, Rangers...

It's controlled by the Pakistani Rangers,

and we've been ordered to stop filming.

What's that?

Disappointing.

I hope to see the border on my journey,

but, miles from anywhere, there's no chance of a hotel here.

Morning.

Good sleep?

Oh, really good sleep.

It was beautiful because you could lie here and look at the stars,

but I'm sad today because we're actually leaving Gujarat.

But we've got to move on.

It's about, what, 100 miles from the India-Pakistan border?

-100, 120 miles.

-Wow.

So we are so close to the border where we are now,

and the landscape is completely changing yet again.

We're hugging the border and travelling 400 miles north

through Rajasthan and the Thar Desert,

just across the border from where Adnan is.

Unable to get to Zero Point,

I've moved over 100 miles north into the Thar Desert

that straddles the border between Pakistan and India.

In a remote part of this strange landscape,

I'm meeting the Bhil tribe, who have lived here for hundreds of years.

They're Hindus and, while many left at the time of partition,

around 450,000 of them are still here.

What I find fascinating is the reason why they stayed.

The fact is, these Hindus feel they face less discrimination here,

because in India they're amongst the lowest caste.

It's like a different world.

It's a completely different world, but it's still...

It's Pakistan, you know?

There's so many Pakistans and this is one of them.

It may look idyllic, but life here is a struggle.

They get very little support or attention from anyone.

-Sit close to it.

-Yeah, and then pull like that.

Ah, OK, OK, OK.

This has meant that they've continued to live much the same way

as they did before partition,

side-by-side with Muslims from the region.

They live and work together, and even intermarry.

I'm quite proud of that, actually. There's quite a lot there, I think.

Is that enough?

I thought I'd done all right.

He's got loads. Where has he got that from?

-He got it - one goat.

-One goat?

-Yeah.

-Right, nice one.

Hasu is the matriarch of this family and lives with her son, Ganji,

his wife and their eight children.

-Ram-ram.

-Ram-ram.

LAUGHTER

Ram-ram, Babu.

How old is Babu?

THEY SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Three. Three years.

-He's three years old?

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-So he'll be five when he can touch his ears.

-Uh-huh.

-Yeah.

Babu, how old am I?

THEY LAUGH

ADNAN EXHALES, THEY LAUGH

This is five, then this...

-Six. Seven.

-Six. Seven.

Bhil children are formally promised in marriage at a young age,

but the wedding doesn't happen until the girl reaches puberty.

Women showed their marital status by the number of bangles on their arms.

A full arm means a wife, a bare arm, a widow,

and half an arm for a respected elder.

I've been invited by Ganji's mother into the women's hut.

This is a rare privilege for a nonfamily bloke.

Traditionally, Bhil women aren't allowed to mix with men.

They even eat separately from their husbands.

Hasu, er...

HE SPEAKS THEIR LANGUAGE

Has your marriage been successful?

My...my mum's been trying to get me married for a long time,

and I'm going to be 39 this year,

and I just need some advice about getting married.

Am I respectable in my area?

I'm big in Burnley.

BHIL MUSIC PLAYS

Maybe my luck's in.

My mum will be so pleased.

I may just have found that special someone.

I'm also heading to the Thar Desert, but on the Indian side.

We can't meet up because of the fence that's in place

due to the fear and suspicion the two countries' governments

have of each other.

The only way to travel on from here is on the back of a camel.

-Namaste.

-Namaste.

Moti Singh has lived here for over 20 years,

and he's going to be my guide.

That's Babloo and that's...

CAMEL GROANS

I think I should go for Babloo, not Pintu.

Pintu doesn't sound too happy.

Yeah, Pintu is a little unhappy with the morning.

Sounds like me.

Yeah, and that's the front. Yeah, that's it.

-OK.

-All up.

-OK.

-That's pretty high up.

-That is pretty high up.

-Yeah.

Please don't run away, Babloo.

At 120,000 square miles,

the Thar Desert spans four Indian and two Pakistani states.

This is so beautiful.

And even here, the border is a reality.

And so here we can see, you said, the Pakistan border...

-Yes. Yes.

-..from this side.

Well, there's a whole lot of border security and the army now.

There has been a tension for almost now 10, 15, 20 years.

It's really hard to think about that tension

-when it's so calm and peaceful here.

-Yes. Yeah, yeah.

-Is it a different atmosphere there?

-No, it's the same.

Same desert landscape, same people, same language...

When there is no war, it's the same.

Everybody just doing their work in all the villages,

just going around doing their bit.

The only thing that separates India and Pakistan in this region...

..is the fence.

Since the British left 70 years ago,

the Thar border has seen many skirmishes and military stand-offs.

Fearing Pakistani infiltration,

in the 1990s, the Indians put a fence on the border.

It must have destroyed lives.

It did. That's what happens when you have a partition

and we have two different nations,

and these are things which will happen.

I mean, the first statement of Churchill, I think,

after when India got independent in 1947,

the first statement of Churchill was

that this country's not going to survive,

because there's nothing which unifies this country.

-Which, India?

-Yeah.

You've got Hindus, you've got Muslims,

you've got Christians, you've got Sikhs...

You've got everybody here.

But the partition could have been avoided.

A normal common man does not get affected,

but then, when the security of the nation comes in,

when there is the element of...the matter of Kashmir,

then everybody wants to...

wants his country to...

I mean, nationalism is there in every Indian.

Moti's pride in his identity has

made me question my own country's part in creating the border.

Knowing that Britain was the orchestrator, I suppose,

the mastermind of what happened between these two countries...

-Yes, yes.

-..and I am a product of that...

-Yes, yes.

-..I'm still trying to settle it in my head.

I've met a lot of British who come here,

they ask me the same question,

"Do you feel that we were responsible for this?"

I said, "Yes." You...

When you were ruling in this place, and if you left...

If you leave a country which is divided,

the ruler has to take the onus on.

You cannot say that "We were not responsible." You were.

Do you think you will ever see a day where there will be no fence,

no security forces, no army patrolling the region?

I don't see it.

They are both countries which have moved into different directions.

-The fence will never come down?

-Yeah, it'll never come down.

There are dangers on both sides of the fence,

but, for the Bhils, the biggest threat is water -

or a lack of it.

The elders are using traditional methods to predict the rains.

It's not an exact science, but it's what they've always done,

and it's all they've got to rely on.

The circle in the middle is to predict how much crops

they will get, depending on which month the rains will come,

and I think the first month's winning at the moment,

so it looks like the first month's going to rain,

because it's just leaking out.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

BELLS CHIME

They are desperate to stay on their ancestral land,

but climate change and scarcity of water

is threatening their way of life.

It's really sad.

I think Pakistan would just be a lesser place

if this unique culture died out.

Like the Hindu Bhils in Pakistan, this Muslim shepherd

has found himself on the wrong side of the border.

Ghafoor is one of the 200 million Muslims who've carried on

living in India just as they've done for centuries.

200.

Wow.

For generations, his family have been shepherds.

This is a whole family business. Everyone's involved.

Until partition, their flock grazed freely without borders.

Now the family is split in two.

SHEEP BLEAT

His mother is from Pakistan.

But his father told him that, "There are two countries now,

"and the country where your mother is from,

"now that's a different country,

"and neither can you go there, nor can your mother go there."

He's not even been there even once.

He doesn't consider himself Pakistani whatsoever.

You are 100% Indian.

Proud Indian!

Proud Indian.

Like him! He's saying, "We are the same."

We are the same.

-He's so happy.

-Yeah.

I would hope that I have the same positivity for life as he does.

He says...

SHE SPEAKS HIS LANGUAGE

Thank you.

Sorry for keeping you from the sheep.

Yes, well, I got to meet you, too.

That's so nice. Thank you. That's made me feel emotional.

-This is a very interesting place. Very interesting.

-Thank you.

It's really nice to meet you too.

-Can I hug you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Thank you. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Talking to him, Ghafoor, was amazing, because he...

He just said towards the end,

"Your grandfather was from Pakistan and your dad was from Pakistan,

"and it was fate that you would go to England and then finally

"do the whole circle and come back here."

And it's the first time I've felt this way that

it is like a full-circle journey.

There's me from Reading in Berkshire,

coming here into this desert in Rajasthan,

and meeting a man like that,

who is just a few years younger than my dad.

They were both born at the time of partition, and...

yet he is saying to me that,

"We're welcoming you here with open arms, and we are the same."

Which is really lovely.

Just like the Bhils in Pakistan,

Ghafoor believes this is his ancestral homeland.

And for both, land is central to their identity.

Neither of them have a reason to leave it,

just because 70 years ago a border was drawn through their country.

Pakistan is so diverse.

These beautiful, beautiful, cool people who are just teaching me more

about what it is to be human and how to just get on when things are hard.

Look at him.

That's Ganji, whose family I stayed with last night.

Ganji's family have shown me love,

and I keep thinking about when I grew up and we used to have

this division between Hindus and Muslims, or Indians and Pakistanis.

I'm not supposed to get on with him, but last night we were sharing

food and chai and chaat and music and everything, and it was just...

It was everything.

I'd stay here, you know? I'd just stay here for a bit.

But the journey's not over -

I'm going to go over to the Punjab now, which is my home,

with a different view of...of who I am.

Pakistani.

Next time...

-HORN HONKS

-Welcome to the Punjab.

..we both enter the mighty Punjab.

I'm coming home!

From this spectacular modern solar farm...

I've never been on a Pakistani train before.

..we head to the Sufis in Lahore...

..and meet my mum in my family home of Kharian.

I travel from the futuristic state capital of Chandigarh...

In my head, Punjab has always been about farms and haystacks.

..meet women in the grip of addiction...

I was addicted to weed, hash and brown sugar.

..ending on the Pakistan border.

My first glimpse of Pakistan from the India border,

but I don't think this is a place that either of us have been.

Would you like to find out more about why India was partitioned

and Pakistan created?

Delve deeper into the history and psychology

with our academic experts at...

..and follow the links to the Open University.