
Shaukat Butt

This is Shaukat Butt from Jammu Kashmir, India. He came to Pakistan in the 1990’s for trade purposes, back then, travelling from India to Pakistan was not a big deal, one could easily move without the hassle of visas and passports. While he was in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan - the political conditions between the two countries got worst and war begun. Thus he couldn’t move back to his country because he did not bring his passport with him. So, he settled there, in Azad Kashmir, and adopted a Nepalian child, who lives with him and now they both run a shop in Keren. He says he can see his family from one end of the river but cannot go to them. He told me that his children visited him after 1-2 year of war, and that he loves them a lot. He smiled the whole time he told his story, and I complimented him, “sir you are such a strong man.” Before I left, he said to me, “YOU KNOW I LOVE PAKISTAN, PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!”