The little peace ambassador

The little peace ambassador

Noor Fatima did what diplomats and politicians of India and Pakistan could not do

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon
Throughout my road journey from Lahore to Gujranwala, the plight of a little girl — now recovering after a complex heart surgery — had me perturbed. I kept wondering as to what would coming back to life mean to her and those who love her dearly. I was in for a pleasant surprise when I found a healthy and bouncing Noor Fatima playing with her elder sister Mahrukh and brother Tehseen.
Noor Fatima was just 30-mpnth old when she underwent this breakthrough surgery. She had been diagnosed as having holes in her heart. Besides, two of her arteries were choked. It was a tough fight for survival — for the little kid as well as her doctors in Pakistan who advised that she should be taken to the US or Bangalore, India, because the complications involved in the surgery couldn’t possibly be dealt with here.
Noor’s parents opted for India and flew her to Bangalore where a team of three doctors operated on her at Karnatika Hospital in a surgery that lasted over six hours.
It was the longest day for the worried parents who did, however, have the moral support of their relatives as well as an entire lot of people from around India, Pakistan and elsewhere, who called in to show their deep concern.
Dr Shetty and Dr Sharma, the surgeons at the private hospital in Bangalore, had made the horrific declaration that the surgery was not going to be easy. But they were game for it and put in their best energies and resources before they succeeded in sending a healthy and smiling Noor back to Pakistan.
The little Noor did what the diplomats and politicians of the two countries could not do. She brought the peoples of the two neighbours close to each other and defused a volatile situation where armies of both the countries were facing each others with fingers on triggers after a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001. Noor Fatima turned out to be an ambassador of peace and love, plugging the leaks in the hearts of two great Asian neighbours.
As we sat for a cup of tea at Noor Fatima’s house, Noor ran out of the house along with her brother and sister to play ‑ pushing each other and bickering over one thing or the other. Flashback of her ordeal and the time spent in India made Noor’s mother emotional when I asked her about how she felt after having her child back. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “I fail to find words for the feelings that gush forth from the heart of a mother when she is handed back a dying child healthy and smiling. We will never forget the love and hospitality we got in India. We got our life back in India.” She said Noor is leading a normal life – she is doing great at school and home.
Nadeem Sajjad, Noor’s father, recalled, “Relations between Pakistan and India were tense when we boarded Dosti Bus and we were fearing something bad will happen ‑ an attack on bus or a crowd attacking Pakistani passengers with knives and sticks. But once in India, our fears changed into comfort when we got a warm reception there. We found a lot of encouragement and love in India for Noor Fatima’s treatment. For that we are grateful to Indians. The love we found in India outmatched our expectations. Children carrying placards wishing Noor Fatima well lined up the Bangalore streets during the surgery and strangers visited the hospital to present bouquets to us. We were impressed by the love and care we got there and felt at home thousands of kilometres away from home.”
“We used to get phone calls from people all the time. There was a pile of well-wishing cards and flowers for Noor in the hospital that housed a mosque, a church and a temple and Muslims. Hindus, Sikhs and Christians all were praying for Noor, and we became part of a larger community with love as the joining spirit,” he said.
Tehseen, 14, and Mahrukh, 12, said they used to weep when they saw their little sister on TV channels. “We did not know what was happening. We were very upset because our Mamma and Papa were away and Noor was in hospital. All we did was weep and weep and pray for our little sister. Now we are very happy to have her back,” they described their experience smilingly.