Episode 2 Dangerous Borders: A Journey across India & Pakistan

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

dividing two nations - India and Pakistan.

2,000 miles long, it slices through extraordinary landscapes

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

I'm Babita Sharma and I'm a journalist.

My family, as Hindus,

were forced to move into what became 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. I was in the British Army

and now work for The Economist.

My Muslim parents 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 Pakistani 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 has been frequent conflict along this border

that, to this day, very few can cross.

You can't know Pakistan unless you know partition.

GUNSHOT

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 used to be one.

I'm headed for the mighty Punjab,

a state that was split between India and Pakistan at partition.

It's one of huge importance to both countries and to me.

For me now, the journey's getting very personal.

I'm heading into Punjab, which is where my family are from.

My mum was born in Punjab, my father was,

my grandfathers died here and I'm just worried about

whether or not I'm going to feel a connection to this place

and you know that this is Punjab. We're going into Punjab.

Look at it - it's green, it's lush.

I'm coming home!

I'll be travelling almost 200 miles north to Chandigarh,

independent India's city of the future.

Then through Amritsar, spiritual centre for the Sikh community.

I'll end my journey in the north of Punjab at Dera Baba Nanak,

right on the Pakistan border.

From Rajasthan - shoe repairing, shoe polish.

-Shoe polish?

-Yes.

-20.

-20 rupees?

-Yes.

-That's about 10p.

No.

HE SINGS

That is what you call a Punjabi greeting.

I've also crossed into Punjab, but on the Pakistani side of the border.

Like Babita and thousands of Brits, I have roots here that stretch

all the way back to my family home, which, for me, is in Burnley.

This is it. We've just hit the end of Sindh

and the start of the Punjab.

"Welcome to the Punjab."

-How far are we from India?

-About 30 miles from the Indian border.

About 30 miles that way. And then my hometown is in Punjab.

So we're heading north.

I'm going to be travelling with my local producer

and fellow Punjabi, Khalid.

Our journey will take us along the border with India,

visiting the city of Lahore

and then on via Jassar to Kharian,

my parent's hometown,

a total of 500 miles.

When India was divided, Pakistan got the lion's share of Punjab.

80% of it lies on this side of the border

and it's home to over 100 million Pakistanis,

half the country's population.

It's agricultural riches are legendary.

Fed by five rivers,

Punjab's farmland produces 20 million tonnes of wheat every year.

But there's a new chapter beginning here.

Pakistanis have started to harvest another of their natural resources,

one that shows no sign of running out.

Sunshine.

This is the Qaid-e-Azam Solar Park, all ten square miles of it,

and it makes a hell of a statement about where Punjab is heading.

Nearly half of Pakistani households don't have mains electricity

and for those that do, the supply is unreliable.

I remember often being plunged into the dark when I visited as a kid.

Now, the lights should stay on in 100,000 homes and businesses,

just as long as the sun shines.

-VOICEOVER:

-Engineer Jahanzeb has been here from the beginning.

-So there was nothing here three years ago?

-Yeah, there was nothing.

This was all just a piece of wasteland,

just like you came here and the way you saw us.

Just huge sand dunes,

maybe there was a nomad herding their camels or maybe goats.

That's it.

This is just one part of a huge collaboration

between Pakistan and China worth £46 billion of investment.

The forward-thinking Jahanzeb welcomes this with open arms.

So, what language do you speak to the Chinese in?

At times, we had some Chinese translators who could speak Urdu...

-Wow!

-And who could speak English as well.

But when you see a Chinese, you get a look, "OK, he's a foreigner,"

but he does things just like you do,

he thinks like you, and after some time, you feel like,

"We are the same," and in the future, maybe five to ten years,

we might have some mix here - some Chinese culture we are having

and some Pakistani culture they are having.

It's not all this innocent, of course.

China's aims are strategic.

And Pakistan, well, it needs the money.

It's that melting pot where...

So the Chinese are absolutely influencing Pakistan

and Pakistan is absolutely influencing the Chinese.

You're swapping biryanis and tea and language.

What sells well if not technology?

And talking of food, it's midday - time to eat.

And there's further evidence of the Chinese influence here.

Yeah, definitely. Sorry, what's your name?

-My name is Kaka.

-Kaka?

-Yes, yes.

-Kaka, is that Chinese?

-It's Pakistan...

-Kaka means "baby" in Punjabi.

-I like this name.

-OK.

-VOICEOVER:

-These guys all work together,

but some things just don't mix -

food in the works canteen.

So the chef caters for both Pakistani and Chinese food.

I'm not very good with chopsticks. If you can show me, I'll do it.

I think I've got it.

Oh, look, look.

OK, OK!

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

-OK.

After lunch, Jahanzeb takes me to a place

that's special to him -

the tree that was his shady office

when his plans first came to fruition.

-My good old friend.

-THEY LAUGH

-VOICEOVER:

-He's only 25, but he's already changing people's lives.

On the way here, I saw solar panels on local homes.

I'm imagining that the locals just call in to the centre

-and ask for advice.

-Yes, nearly every day. What should I do?

What appliances should I connect? Is it safe?

That's really, really good, isn't it?

You built this as a pilot project, the knowledge seeped out

into the local area and now everybody's getting solar panels.

-That's it.

-So the energy crisis or whatever it is, the energy problem

that you've got is starting to solve itself because it's harder for you

to do it for 200 million people if they start doing it for themselves.

In a sense, yes.

Skilled people like Jahanzeb now have more reason

not to go abroad to work.

I know it's a bit difficult to stay in Pakistan,

but I think we have more scope here.

We can go to West to do something, like, OK,

-but I think our place is here in Pakistan.

-I believe it.

-I believe you're going to change Pakistan.

-Yes.

Pakistan's unlikely to forge an economic relationship with India

any time soon, so they have to make friends elsewhere.

But with China holding the real power in this special relationship,

I wonder if Pakistan is playing with fire.

300 miles across the border from Adnan,

I've arrived on the Indian side of Punjab.

We've finally got here.

We are in Punjab and it feels so good to be here.

-Puneet!

-Babita!

VOICEOVER: Later, I meet my local guide Puneet, who's going to give me

a tour of this strikingly different city.

-Good to finally see you.

-It feels good to be in Punjab.

-And here you go with your Bad Attitude.

-Oh, this is my one?

Bad Attitude - that says "bad-ass"! You know me already, right?

-You're Punjabi.

-Right, exactly.

Cycling in London can be chaotic,

but here, on these tree-lined boulevards, it's pure joy.

These buildings are incredible.

Yes, so Chandigarh was just designed like that.

It was one of the first planned cities of India

and it had a team of European architects

who worked here with the Indian architects

and tried to blend modern architecture

with traditional materials,

so you have really interesting designs

because that's what they were experimenting with at that time.

-This is all modernist.

-It's beautiful, that is.

Stunning!

When partition split Punjab,

its capital, Lahore, fell on the Pakistani side.

So India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,

decided to create a new capital - a city like no other.

In my head, Punjab's always been about farms and haystacks

and tractors, and then boom!

You've got this, which is modern architecture at its most brilliant.

In 1951, Nehru invited the architect Le Corbusier,

the father of modernism,

to design and build a symbolic city of the future.

Nehru's vision was for an ordered and disciplined city

with modern Western ideals at its heart.

It was designed for half a million people.

Twice as many live here now,

among them, many of the wealthy civil servants and their families.

It has a touch of the Milton Keynes about it, complete with a sculpture

which can be seen as either a welcoming hand or a dove of peace.

Both work for me.

While Babita is still exploring the capital of Indian Punjab,

I'm on my way to the capital of Pakistani Punjab, Lahore.

I've never been on a Pakistani train before.

I've seen them in the films, I've seen them on telly.

I've never been on one before. I'm really excited to get on this.

Oh, whoa!

The railways came to India in the mid-19th century

and are one of the more useful legacies of the British Raj.

They were nationalised at partition

and now carry 65 million passengers every year in Pakistan.

-VOICEOVER:

-It's a four-hour journey so I've plenty of time

to meet a few of my fellow travellers.

Assalaamu Alaikum.

They're on a preaching trip.

So they're preaching to other people?

Seven months, uh-huh.

I have to admire the fact that these guys are happy

to risk being left behind rather than miss their prayers.

The next train to Lahore isn't for 24 hours.

We're off.

Whoa, whoa!

I'm not a strict Muslim, but meeting these guys has made me

think about what it is to be one.

Right now, Muslims are in this very special place in the media

where they're just picked on.

Muslims are picked on, you can't deny that, and they're picked on

with things like, you know, the travel ban and stuff like that.

I am who I am. I'm not embarrassed about being Pakistani.

I'm certainly not embarrassed about my parents.

I'm not embarrassed where I come from because that is who I am,

this is what I look like, this is the language I speak,

this is where my parents are from

and I have to find out whether I can love Pakistan

and I have to let it be part of me as well.

It's six o'clock in the evening

and we've finally made it to the beating heart of Punjab.

We're in Lahore. Look - Lahore.

Platform 4.

Assalaamu Alaikum.

-VOICEOVER:

-I am completely unknown in Pakistan,

but suddenly, arriving with a film crew,

I've become a minor celebrity.

This is Mr May and this is Khalid here.

Well, what's...

-Who's this?

-I don't know, I don't know. Just get a picture, it's fine.

We've got the station manager here.

HE ADDRESSES MAN IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

-Special Ticket Examiner.

-Special Ticket Examiner.

It's the next morning

and I want to explore a city I've visited only once before.

Even though it's unfamiliar,

I keep getting reminders of my home in Burnley.

Hookahs.

We used to have one of these in the living room, my dad used to smoke it

all the time and it stank the living room out, so my mum banned it.

"Get out! Get out!"

These ones, yeah, yeah. Oi-oi-oi!

Oi-oi-oi!

These hookah pipes were filled with rough tobacco. It looks like rope.

I can remember the sound as my dad broke it up,

cracking and twisting it.

The smell of it reminds me of him,

though he'd hate it if I started smoking.

Once the capital of the Mughal Empire,

it's now the home of the Pakistani literary scene,

a vibrant film industry and some of the country's top universities.

Before partition, a third of the residents were Hindu and Sikh.

Now, this city of seven million is 94% Muslim,

which tells its own story.

Partition is the reality of this country.

It's the way this country was born. It's in these people.

You can't know Pakistan unless you know partition.

I'm on my way to meet people who experienced it first-hand,

husband and wife Mohammad Yousef and Iqbal Bibi,

whose experiences are typical of many here.

As Muslims, they had to leave their homes in eastern Punjab.

Mohammad was already a young man, but Iqbal Bibi was just 13.

It took them 70 days to walk 100 miles to safety.

Hearing Iqbal Bibi and Mohammad's story makes me realise

that my grandparents were spared simply by chance

because they already lived in what became Pakistani Punjab.

It's estimated that up to two million Muslims,

Sikhs and Hindus died

and over 14 million people were forced to move during partition.

You should know the history of people

to understand where they are now.

Maybe if you don't understand the way Pakistanis and Indians are,

why they're always angry with each other,

why they're always arguing with each other,

just go back a little bit and have a look at partition.

It's the complete desperation of it, you know?

I'm 150 miles from Adnan in Lahore, still in Chandigarh,

the lovely ordered city of the future.

But the future is now the present,

and for many, it's not the utopia that was promised.

I'm meeting Sawan, Punjab's answer to a kind of Banksy.

For the last ten years, he's been creating political art in the city.

So, tell me what Sawanism is - #sawanism.

My name is Sawan and Sawanism is my way of living,

like Hindus and Buddhism,

so it's my own personal thing, the way of my life.

Sawan's work challenges what he sees

as a worrying rise in Indian nationalism.

He's a passionate activist calling for social change.

Wherever there's suppression, there will be art like this.

Graffiti was normally started,

done by those people who want to scream out loud.

-What do Punjabis want to scream out, though?

-A lot of things.

We all are guinea pigs, you know?

We are trained to behave in a certain way

and there are some tools

used by politicians, governments to control us.

For example, we have created that villain

which is so-called Pakistan or Islam,

so we have created the villain

so that people will believe in governments, in army,

and we feel we are patriots, we are nationalists and we feel that,

OK, we are from India or we are from this country, that country,

but that's been designed

so that the business of politics and war keep on happening.

-We are Punjabis.

-We are Punjabis, no?

Feel proud to be Punjabis.

But that's actually the root cause of war.

For me, there's something ironic

that even in a city designed for the future,

India cannot escape its past.

-So, are we done?

-Yes, we are done.

So this middle figure represents the politicians

or the people in power and this poor guy is the common man.

This is the guy who chooses them

and this is the guy who is holding the burden of their weight.

Sawan's highly critical take on India's powerful elite

challenges the status quo.

The fact that he can throw down such a provocative gauntlet

to the powerful, and in such a public way, has to be a good thing.

If Babita is meeting the Indian Banksy,

then I'm greeting Pakistan's answer to Bono...

HE SINGS

..long-time rebel rock star Salman Ahmad.

-So, I started off with a band called Vital Signs.

-Vital Signs!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, we had a hit called Dil Dil Pakistan.

-Dil Dil Pakistan.

-Have you heard it?

Of course I've heard it.

I'll tell you right now, every Pakistani in Burnley knew that song.

# Dil dil Pakistan

# Jan jan Pakistan... #

For almost every Pakistani, the song,

which means "my heart is Pakistan",

became a sort of alternative national anthem.

We're surrounded by kids here.

What's the Pakistan that they've got?

70% of Pakistan is under the age of 20.

70% of Pakistan is under the age of 20?

So more than 100 million people are under the age of 20.

It's a huge, huge youth pulse,

a potential which can either go towards creativity and positivity

or, if it gets frustrated, it can go south, you know?

But they don't trust the leadership.

They know the leadership is corrupt to the core.

In 1996, Salman and his band Junoon

challenged Pakistan's political corruption head on.

So, who was the song aimed at?

At this corrupt status quo

because the ruling elite has plundered this country

so it's a huge anthem which is played at political rallies

and the basic message is the answer to every question is accountability

and it was banned.

They banned us indefinitely, but, in 1999, ironically,

-there was a military coup.

-Yes!

-THEY LAUGH

And it turned out that General Musharraf was a huge fan.

-His kids were huge fans.

-Sorted.

-"You're not bad!"

-A dictator freed you.

-Yes!

-THEY LAUGH

Musharraf is just one of the 13 leaders in Pakistan

who have been forced out of office before completing a full term.

In July 2017, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned

over claims of corruption whilst protesting his innocence.

It was his third resignation.

It's not just Adnan who has his finger on the musical pulse

on our parallel journeys along the border.

PHONE RINGTONE

Sawan?

-Hello?

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

VOICEOVER: Artist Sawan has invited me

to experience Chandigarh's nightlife.

OK, it's a surprise. That sounds interesting.

And if anyone knows how to party, it's us Punjabis.

-How you doing?

-You are here.

-You're looking...

-Cool!

-Very cool! Look at you!

THEY RAP

This is hip-hop Indian-style.

CHEERING

Ten years ago, Navdeep and Harsimran formed Kru172

and they've built a solid fanbase throughout India and beyond.

HE RAPS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

VOICEOVER: Unlike some gangsta rap, Kru172 aren't interested

in glorifying drugs and violence.

They think that hip-hop can offer young people

a different, more positive message.

Yes! Yes, yes, that was wicked!

-Thank you so much.

-I love that!

VOICEOVER: The anti-drug message isn't just a gimmick.

It's a message they live their life by

and encourage their fans to do the same.

So, like, we are the only two guys in the whole family tree

-that are, like, clean.

-Totally clean.

-You don't drink?

-No drinking, no smoking.

-No other drugs.

So, we wanted to tell everybody that you can still be super-cool

when you're clean.

The boys have got a really strong message that they're trying

to get across through their music, through hip-hop,

which has always been associated with drugs and alcohol

and getting high.

They're trying to say that you don't have to do that here in Punjab,

particularly for young Punjabis,

and nobody in there at the gig was drinking

and we all had a wicked night.

I want you all to make some noise...

CHEERING

I was aware there was a drug problem here,

but I didn't know how widespread the issue was.

A lot of heroin from Afghanistan makes its way

through the porous border in Pakistan and then into Punjab.

The state has an estimated four million addicts.

And what I want to work out is why so many people in Punjab take drugs

and what it is that is being done to tackle the problem.

I've been told, to my surprise,

that the fastest growing group of addicts are women.

Dr Bhatia opened this wing at the clinic in 2016.

-Nice to meet you, Dr Bhatia.

-Hello, Babita.

-Thank you so much for having me here.

-Let me see.

It's an incredible building.

This was created about eight, ten years back

and now it's the only female rehab centre.

And is this a fairly new thing?

There is the latest thing that what men can do, women can do.

The working women who are earning

and the girlfriends who are trying to be showing

that they are independent has brought up about

a new revolution of people who are into drugs

and most of them are women

and they are trying to show that they are modern.

If you can drink, I can drink with you.

If you can take heroin, I can also take heroin.

Trying to show that you have an identity.

Come with me.

VOICEOVER: There's little help available for people struggling

with addiction, but, for a small number,

this clinic can offer hope.

How old are you?

-I'm 21.

-What were you addicted to?

I was addicted to weed, hash and brown sugar and heroin.

And how often were you taking the heroin?

Sometimes, it was 10-12 lines per day.

I was so much addicted to drugs on that time

that I left going to the college, also.

They were really shocked that I was into drugs.

It is a big problem in Punjab right now.

-So, it is not difficult to get heroin?

-Not at all.

By staying here, I got so much positivity.

It's all about life lessons,

that how we should manage our life without drugs.

This help is only available privately

and it's said that the stigma of having a female relative

with a drug addiction means that families often refuse

to get the women the help that they need.

There's a woman over there, she's probably about my mum's age,

and she's just been admitted.

It's her first day here and she's with her family at the moment,

but she's here because she's addicted to prescription drugs.

And not that you can ever tell what an addict looks like,

but this is a traditional Punjabi woman wearing a suit

and she's got a serious problem.

That's not the India I was expecting to see.

It's not the Punjab that I thought I would discover.

Pakistan shares many of India's problems,

but whilst India has the seventh largest economy in the world,

Pakistan ranks only 39th.

With almost 60% of the population illiterate

and 40% living below the poverty line,

it's hard to know how the situation can get better any time soon,

but I'm going to meet some people

who might be able to make a difference.

An industrialist and his wife have invited me

to an exclusive party at their luxury home

to meet some of the financial movers and shakers of Lahore.

Sorry, what do you do?

Well, we run the largest transport network in Pakistan,

passenger and cargo.

I run, like, multiple offices.

I have offices in LA, China, Bangkok, Australia, the UK.

For the past 20 years, Pakistan has suffered from an increasing number

of people going to work abroad, now an estimated six million.

If things are going to improve here,

there has to be a reason for people to stay.

Pakistan's got a bad, bad press in Britain, definitely,

and it's got a fairly bad press around the world.

How do you feel about Pakistan? Are you optimistic about Pakistan?

-Of course.

-Yeah, I'm optimistic.

If somebody who visited Pakistan ten years ago

and somebody who has visited Pakistan now, like you,

and you see all around you, you will not recognise anything.

I mean, our infrastructure is better,

our electricity situation is better, our public transport is better.

We have metro trains, we have public transportation systems.

Our telecommunication is better. The schooling system is better.

Our security systems are better.

So, I mean, we are moving in the right direction.

The change I've seen, it's phenomenal. It's just unbelievable.

-Like what?

-In, like, lifestyle. The people, they're so much fashionable.

They're exposed to so many different things in life

and it's getting better.

As an entrepreneur, I think it's a gold mine.

I think, if anyone missed out on India,

then they need to invest in Pakistan today.

We're ten years behind, but we're going to be big.

The young entrepreneurs I've met tonight have got the vision

and belief to drive the economy forward.

They make no apology about being here to make big money.

They could be working anywhere in the world making a fortune,

but they choose to remain in Pakistan and that's got to be good.

It's time to leave Chandigarh behind

and head off in search of my family and the house my mum grew up in.

We're going to go and visit the family home,

which is still within the family so we'll get to see, I'm hoping,

the room that she was born in.

My mum hasn't been back there for over 20-odd years.

I've never been there, my sisters have never been there,

but we've always heard about this place.

My uncle has told me to head to the small village called Banga.

-Banga?

-Banga, Banga.

-Banga?

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

MAN SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

That's hilarious because he just said, "It's straight ahead,"

and that's exactly what my uncle said to me in England

when I asked him, "When I get to Banga, Mum's village,

"how am I going to find out where the family home is?"

And he said, "You just go there and then you kind of find it."

Nice to see a corner shop cos we, Mum and Dad,

our family have corner shops, so that's quite reassuring.

I feel a little bit at home seeing that.

A few streets away, we finally find Mum's old house,

where some of my family still live.

I'm going to cry! Sorry!

Oh, they're doing a ceremony.

This is for blessing cos it's the first time

I'm coming to cross the threshold.

You look so different!

These are my cousins and the last time I saw them

was about 20 years ago.

I didn't even recognise you.

This is my mum's sister.

Dr Sadhu Ram Parasher, that's my mum's father there.

And I did meet him last time I was in India 20-odd years ago.

This is the room my mum was born in.

-The interior was the same, yes.

-Same?

-No changes are there.

SHE ADDRESSES WOMAN IN HER OWN LANGUAGE

I'm like, "Why have you not decorated for 70 years?"

My family say the house is still the way it was when Mum was here.

Walking into the house and seeing everyone,

their faces and the love and the big hugs was just a priceless moment.

It feels so strange, but it also feels quite comforting.

It actually feels quite... It just feels right to be here.

This is my favourite dish.

This is one that I grew up on that Mum always used to make for us

on a Sunday for the family lunch and it's traditional Punjabi cuisine.

Karhi, not curry that we know.

It's basically gram flour mixed in with yoghurt

and coriander seeds and onions, turmeric,

cumin seeds stirred very carefully for hours and hours and hours.

Add a pinch of love to it

and you get the most incredible Indian food.

I could just keep eating it, the whole bowl.

I'm spending another night in Punjab's capital.

I want to find out more about a branch of Islam

that has its enemies here.

I'm particularly interested

because it's a form of religion that my eldest brother follows.

I'm in Lahore, it's Thursday night

and I've heard about these Sufi gatherings that happen.

Usually, they are massive, massive events,

but there's been some attacks on them

so they've got some private events.

We've been invited to one tonight and I can just hear it over there.

We need to get in there and see what it's about. Let's go and join them.

SINGING AND RHYTHMIC DRUMMING

Sufism is rejected by conservative Muslims,

but it's existed alongside Islam for over 1,000 years

and it's steeped in the soul of Pakistani culture.

Thursday is the start of the weekend and the place to be at is a dhamaal,

a Sufi kind of rave, but here, they sing praise to Allah.

By entering a trance-like state,

Sufis believe that it's possible to get closer to God.

Ultra-conservative Muslims, like the Taliban

and so-called Islamic State, have labelled them as heretics.

They've carried out a number of attacks on Sufi shrines,

most recently murdering 88 worshippers

and injuring hundreds in February 2017.

Pappu Sain is the internationally known star of the show.

He's a drummer and a Sufi mystic.

He's a sort of Ringo Starr crossed with a maharishi.

He's an odd one, isn't he? He is an odd one.

Pappu Sain looks intimidating, but his message was about peace

and acceptance and spreading that.

Sufis have been attacked, but they're carrying on

and there was a crowd out there

who, even though they've been attacked,

that community has been attacked,

they still turn out on Thursday night.

HE EXCLAIMS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE

Pakistan was created to protect a religious minority

so it's sad now that the Sufis are facing discrimination.

Even the violence isn't going to tell them to go away.

The violence isn't going to stop them, they're going to carry on.

I really like that about them, really like that about them,

and they just, um...

They're brave. They're living bravely in, er...

in dangerous times.

DRUMBEAT

CHEERING

30 miles from Adnan, I'm following the border north to Amritsar,

the heart of Punjab's Sikh community.

Nationally, they are the minority, like the Sufis of Pakistan,

but in India-Punjab, they are the largest religious group.

I want to find out more about Sikhism -

and where better to start than their most spiritual site,

the Golden Temple?

I feel like I dressed appropriately.

Everyone's wearing orange!

LAUGHTER

The temple complex has over five million visitors every year.

I think we're going to go in. INDISTINCT SPEECH

It's so beautiful.

It's so calm.

Work on the complex began at the end of the 16th century,

with this pool, Amrit Sarovar, which gave the city its name.

It translates rather beautifully

as the pool of the nectar of immortality.

The temple was deliberately built

at a lower level than the surrounding land

to show equality and humility,

while the doors on all four sides

are a sign that everyone is welcome, whatever their social class.

Everywhere you go round the Golden Temple, you see this,

which are plaques commemorating the people that...

have served their country.

Surjit Singh, Jodh Singh, Darshan Singh,

Sampuran Singh, Chanan Singh, Ajit Singh, Hari Singh.

At partition, Sikhs were a minority in Punjab.

When the state was divided, some wanted their own homeland,

called Khalistan, but that was ignored.

A separatist movement emerged,

which the government tried to repress.

A violent siege at this temple in 1984

ultimately led to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination

by her Sikh bodyguards.

3,000 Sikhs were killed in the terrible reprisals

that swiftly followed.

Today, I've got the rare chance to meet a Sikh separatist leader,

branded a terrorist by the authorities.

Wassan Singh Zaffarwal still believes in the original dream

of an independent Punjab called Khalistan.

There's already been a border created that caused

so much heartache and problems - the India-Pakistan border.

If Khalistan became a reality, there would be another border.

Haven't Punjabis seen enough...

of this, borders and separation and fighting?

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

The Sikh community are not alone in believing

that they were treated unfairly by partition.

But the separatists' dream of an independent Sikh Punjab

seems a very long way from becoming a reality.

CAR HORN

The map's getting wrecked. Yeah, it's getting wrecked.

Today, it's time for me to leave the city.

I'm heading closer towards the Indian border, to Jassar,

where Babita's father was born.

And I've got a promise to keep.

She can't get across the border, but we're this side of the border,

so we're going to go there and just try and find out

if people remember her family, take some pictures,

get some memories for her while we're here.

And...

that's my family home. Kharian.

We're not far from each other, are we?

It's crazy, isn't it?

Babita's dad was only five

when he and his family decided to leave Jassar.

It was a year before partition, but the writing was on the wall.

They foresaw the violence and the bloodshed,

so they left and moved east to Delhi.

His childhood memories are very sketchy,

so finding the family house is going to be tricky.

This is a Hindu temple, you know, this is definitely not a mosque.

Oh, here we go.

As part of the minority community of Hindus in Jassar,

it's likely that Babita's family lived in this area.

They would've lived alongside their Muslim neighbours.

-This is the right street?

-This is the right street.

Look at this house.

-Oh, wow.

-That's a small wraith.

HE MUMBLES

-That's a Hindu architecture.

-Yeah.

We can't be sure that this was Babita's house,

but we can't be sure that it wasn't Babita's house.

-But it was Babita's neighbourhood.

-Yeah, definitely.

-With all those Hindu houses.

-Yeah.

Let me get this.

BELL RINGS IN BACKGROUND

Babita... She wanted something from the house.

She said, "Can you get me some sand from around the house?"

And her dad wanted some, as well.

I mean, this is where her family's from

and this is the dirt and the dust of history.

PHONE RINGS

'Adnan.'

-Babita...

-'Hello?'

-Babita, hello.

-'Hey, how are you?'

-I'm all right. Can you hear me?

'I can hear you.'

-I'm...I'm on the street in...

-INDISTINCT SPEECH

I'm on the street in Jassar,

where your family, er, where your family lived.

-'Are you on the street now?'

-I'm in one of the houses.

-'Whose house?'

-I don't know, it might be your house.

GASPS

'And also, the guy here reached past the new bricks

'and reached inside the old bricks'

and pulled out some of the dirt and some of the sand,

so we've got you some of that.

'Thank you so much.'

You don't know how happy that's made me.

INDISTINCT SPEECH Bye.

It's, um...

Oh, I wish I was there!

I wish I could just cross the border and go over there.

It feels very special and I know it's going to mean

so much to my dad that he's been able to do that.

Mission accomplished for Babita.

I'm now going to head 100 miles north to Kharian,

where my own mum's waiting for me.

We're on the road to Kharian now,

which is my home village, this is where I'm from,

and my mum's in town, which is great,

so I'm going to go and see her.

My mum comes quite regularly and I think this is going to be...

This is going to be great, just to see my mum in Pakistan,

in her home village and me coming back to Pakistan,

having understood it a lot more than I did previously.

This garrison town with a population of 80,000

is less than 40 miles from the Indian border.

I was last here over ten years ago

and I'm not so sure that I can find our house.

-That's not it. That's not it.

-Right...

-That's not it.

I'm not being helped by the fact that there's just been a power cut.

Is this the street to my house?

-VOICEOVER:

-Those Chinese solar panels

have clearly not reached my mum's hometown.

Is this it?

Yeah, this is it, this is it, this is it, this is it. This is it. So...

This used to be where my grandma lived.

So, my grandma used to live in here and I used to...

Look, the stairs there, I used to go to the top, because it was cooler

and I used to go right to the top, on the roof,

and she used to lay on the manji and I used to just like massage her.

Right at the top, there.

And then...

HE GREETS SOMEONE IN LOCAL LANGUAGE

-VOICEOVER:

-The first person I meet

is my uncle, who's home from Germany.

There's a picture...

There's a picture of me when I was a little boy and I'm, like...

I'll do the picture right now, I'm like...

I'm like this.

Mummy!

My mum has flown in from Burnley specially to welcome me home.

She's a typical Asian mum - she has to be there for her son.

I know she loves me.

I've got to own up - I've avoided coming here in the past,

thinking that this country isn't a part of who I am.

Two-thirds of the way through my trip,

despite the familiar problems of religious intolerance

and political corruption that I've found,

I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

This is a Pakistan that doesn't match the perception

the West has of the country.

And I've been as guilty of believing the image that is portrayed.

I'm beginning to enjoy letting the Pakistani in me take over.

It's a dilemma many British Pakistanis will be familiar with,

as we wrestle with who we are and where we belong.

I'm on the final leg of my journey through Punjab,

and for the first time, I'm going to be able to stand

at the Indian border and at least look into Pakistan,

even if I can't cross over.

It's the closest I'll get to my dad's homeland.

This is Dera Baba Nanak,

which is one of the most holiest sites for the Sikh community,

because it's where the first guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji,

spent a lot of his time.

But across the border that we're about to see,

is where he spent his last days, in Kartapur Sahib,

and actually, there's a board here that says that.

"Which at a distance of 4.5km in Pakistan,

"has an historic and remarkable religious importance."

There's a lot of border security forces here.

But I think if we can get to that viewing point,

we're going to be able to see Pakistan.

And this remains a dangerous border.

Only last year, after a series of cross-border clashes in Kashmir,

50 miles north, 27 people died.

All villages within 10 kilometres of the border

were temporarily evacuated, including Dera Baba Nanak.

So, it says that photography is prohibited in this area,

but loads of people have got their iPhones out, so...

He said we can't go up there and take pictures.

He said that we can shoot this way, but we can't show the Pakistan side.

My first glimpse of Pakistan,

from the India border.

But I think this is a place that neither of us have been.

We're about half a mile away from Pakistan.

So, if we could walk it from here,

we'd probably get there within 15, 20 minutes.

I'm in touching distance of where my dad was born,

which is now in Pakistan.

It's incredibly frustrating not to be able to just step across,

but that's the reality of 21st-century India and Pakistan -

people who share the same culture,

the same history, speak the same language, are still divided.

And it feels to me that it's governments

and not really the people who want to keep it that way.

Next time...

Heading north, we are on the final leg of our journeys.

You could well lose your life on this pass.

Gaining rare access to the Pakistani Air Force.

We are going to fight them back with all the life we have.

And experiencing life on one of the world's most dangerous borders.

As one nation forges new friendships...

This relationship that the Chinese have got with the Pakistanis,

it feels like something's happening.

The other is locked in a bitter internal conflict.

They're just saying, "We just want to be free."

The future is unpredictable for both these countries.

Would you like to find out more

about why India was partitioned into two states?

Delve deeper into the history

and the psychology with our academic experts at...

..and follow the links to the Open University.