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Musharraf nostalgic about childhood in Delhi

K J M Varma in Islamabad

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he felt nostalgic about the prospects of a visit to his ancestral house in Delhi where he was born.

But he said that he only had a few vague memories of his childhood years spent in India.

"Frankly, when I came I was just four years old. So I have extremely vague memory of the house where I was born, which is being talked often in the press. Very, very vague memories. It's entrance is big... other than that I don't have much memory of that," he said interacting with local media.

"Yes, I would like to go there," Musharraf replied when asked whether he would revisit that house.

Accompanied by his wife Sehba Musharraf, he is scheduled to make a brief visit to Naharwali Hawali in Old Delhi on July 14.

Asked about his feeling of revisiting his birthplace, Musharraf was quoted by Pakistan newsagency NNI as saying, "Quite nostalgic because I have never been to India since 1947, I am going there after 54 years. I was born at that place and I have never visited that place. So to that extent it is nostalgic."

On whether he has memories of partition, Musharraf said, "Yes, I do but then I was about four years old."

"At the time of partition, I certainly remember the violence and the patrolling that Muslims used to do in the area where there were Muslims. And we knew that attacks were coming in from the Hindu side. So I remember correctly that police guarded the area," Musharraf said.

"I also remember the journey from India, where I remember my father, who was in the foreign office, had six hundred thousand rupees at that time and we brought this money in a box and he was guarding it more than his life in the train. I remember that box very correctly," he said.

Talking about the impact of partition on his personality, Musharraf said, "Yes, it may have affected my mind because the violence that occurred and killings of the Muslims that were carried out and miseries that people suffered when they came here as refugees with no place to live."

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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