On either side of the border between India and Pakistan, two elite influential families, including one of Pakistan’s top political family currently in power, ceremoniously entered into a relationship by virtue of the marriage of their children in Chandigarh on Friday.
Daughter of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, who is presently the Chief Minister of Punjab province of Pakistan, got married with the grandson of Lt General (retd) P N Hoon, a former Indian Army commander.
Lt Gen Hoon is well-known for his anti-Pakistan rhetoric, especially when it comes to commentary on Indo-Pak relations and posturing amid provocations from the other side of the LoC.
He is also believed to be an RSS ideologue. Shahbaz Sharif was made the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province for the fourth time in June this year after his party, the PML-N, swept the general elections that made his elder brother Nawaz Sharif the prime minister of Pakistan.
An impressive marriage ceremony took place during the day on Friday, a day considered auspicious by the Muslims, while a gallant reception was arranged at a swanky five-star hotel in Chandigarh in the evening. The event was a testimony to the recognition and blend of cultures, identities and ideologies sans borders.
Pakistan Punjab province Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s daughter Khabija entered into a wedlock with Lt Gen Hoon’s grandson Kanv Pratap Singh.
Khabija is Sharif’s daughter from his third wife, family sources said. He was not present during any of the ceremonies. For reasons best known to the family, the welcome notice outside the venue read “Somya weds Kanv.” The high profile reception witnessed a host of VVIP’s from the two nations. The list of invitees was carefully crafted and later pruned to make the event a close-knit wedding. Some Punjab MLAs were also present at the marriage.
If sources are to be believed, both the bride and the groom have studied in the US.
After studying in the prestigious Lawrence school in Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh, Kanv completed his MBA from US. Lt Gen Hoon has a plush two-kanal (1000-square yards) bungalow in Panchkula. He has various business interests in the city.
Clarification:
Apropos the story published in these columns on Saturday headlined “Wedding celebrates cross-border harmony,” Ataullah Tarar, the PSO to the Chief Minister of Pakistan Punjab on Saturday clarified that as claimed in the story, “the lady having reportedly got married to Lt Gen Hoon's grandson has no relation whatsoever with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif or Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.” The error is regretted.