Austere marriages have taken place in Kashmir during the past two months marred by elongated curfew, shutdowns, protests and killings, but this marriage was unique in many respects. This week, a bride from Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, married her cousin in a Srinagar hotel at a simple ceremony when normal life was out of gear in the entire Valley due to the current unrest.
Interestingly, the bridegroom Owais Gilani, is a junior police officer posted in Srinagar where separatists have launched a tirade against police rank and file accusing them of using disproportionate force to quell public protests. Gilani is himself, son of a senior police officer Syed Shabir Gilani who recently retired at a senior position after working on the counter-insurgency front for several years.
The cross-loC marriage has taken place at a time when India has raised its pitch on its claim over POK. The marriage was solemnized on Tuesday evening at a hotel where a small number of guests were invited. The bride Faiza Gilani is a Post Graduate in education, planning and management from National University of Modern languages, Islamabad. She had arrived along-with 13 family members from Muzaffarabad in 'Carvan-e-Aman' bus on August 29. The bus started in 2004 was the first major confidence building measure between Indian and Pakistan on Kashmir but it ran into rough weather at more occasions than broadening the scope of people-to-people contact between the divided parts of Kashmir.
Gilanis belong to an influential dynasty of spiritual leaders who have a vast range of disciples in both parts of Kashmir especially in tribal Gujjar community.
The Gilanis had planned to celebrate the marriage at their native place in Bandipora district of north Kashmir but due to the unrest the venue was shifted to a hotel in Srinagar.
“We are hopeful that this marriage brings peace in the region and also ends the hostilities between the two countries as the divided families are the worst victims of acrimony,” Shabir Gilani said.
Shabir had visited Muzaffarabad for the first time in 2014, after his retirement from the police service, where he suggested to his cousin to tie the knot of his son with his daughter.