Pakistani Woman Says 'Lost 7-yr-old Brother' At Railway Station In 1947 In India, Gives Details

In 1947, she lost her brother Mohammed Tufail in the turmoil of partition. He was 7 at the time. Today, Sharifa Bibi in Pakistan's Burewal hopes to find him, who would be 82 right now and somewhere in India.

She explains the little information that she has of him, in detail.

What had happened back in 1947?

Back in 1947, her brother, Mohammed Tufail, was spotted sleeping at a rail station & eventually adopted by a family in India. Families were ripped apart as a grim result of partition and the chaos. Tufail's parents and sisters ended up in the new nation of Pakistan but 7-year-old Tufail ended up being in India -- alone. He was later adopted by a wealthy childless Hindu couple.

Watch her video

This is Sharifa Bibi in Burewala, Pakistan. In 1947, she lost her brother Mohammed Tufail in the turmoil of Partition. He was 7. He was spotted sleeping at a rail station & eventually adopted by a family in India. 75 years later, @NPR is trying to find him. Can u help? 1/ pic.twitter.com/COlEUU2Utk

¡ª Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) May 23, 2022 " target="_blank">here:

This is Sharifa Bibi in Burewala, Pakistan. In 1947, she lost her brother Mohammed Tufail in the turmoil of Partition. He was 7. He was spotted sleeping at a rail station & eventually adopted by a family in India. 75 years later, @NPR is trying to find him. Can u help? 1/ pic.twitter.com/COlEUU2Utk

¡ª Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) May 23, 2022

Now, 75 years later, the story has come to light through a US news organisation -- NPR. A correspondent of NPR, Lauren Frayer, took to Twitter on Monday to share the details of the story, urging people in India to help find the man. Ever since the video of Sharifa Bibi has been viewed by over 85,000 people.

Info about Mohammed Tufail/ Arjun

Speaking about her brother, Sharifa Bibi told the reporter that Tufail's adoptive family changed to his name to Arjun, or maybe Ranjit. Their surname may have been Singh. They lived in a bungalow near Indira Gandhi's house. The boy loved horses. He grew up & became a veterinarian at the Delhi Race Club. He used to get off work at 2pm. Later, he lived in Chandni Chowk. A dhaba called Pehlewan was his favorite. He was a regular.

Mohammed's adoptive family changed to his name to Arjun, or maybe Ranjit. Their surname may have been Singh. They lived in a bungalow near Indira Gandhi's house. The boy loved horses. He grew up & became a veterinarian at the Delhi Race Club. He used to get off work at 2pm. 3/ pic.twitter.com/ur6C4y4sk1

¡ª Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) May 23, 2022

If you're wondering how does she know all this? Here's why.

Here's how she knows details about him

Sometime in the early 1990s, Mohammed/Arjun went back to Pakistan to try to find his sisters. But in a tragic case of crossed paths, they missed each other. When Tufail/Arjun arrived in Pakistan, he was clean-shaven. He wore a shalwar kameez and had a distinctive mark on the side of his head. He told locals he'd snuck across the border from India, with help from a smuggler in the Punjabi town of Kasur.

Rumors spread through Pakistani villages, that a man from India was here, looking for his birth family. But Sharifa was traveling. By the time she got home, the mysterious stranger -- her brother? -- had left. This was the early 1990s. No cell phones & very few landlines.

"So Mohammed/Arjun had no phone number to leave behind. Only the info above. I work at the Delhi Race Club. I get off work at 2pm. Come find me -- someday, somehow. That was 30 years ago. He would be 82 now," Lauren posted on Twitter as per Sharifa Bibi's narrative.

So Mohammed/Arjun had no phone number to leave behind. Only the info above. I work at the Delhi Race Club. I get off work at 2pm. Come find me -- someday, somehow. That was 30 years ago. He would be 82 now. 7/

¡ª Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) May 23, 2022

Lauren further wrote that two of her colleagues interviewed Sharifa Bibi and shared a video of her with her permission. She then wrote that she along with her colleague Raksha Kumar are looking for for Mohammed/Arjun in India. "Everyone we tell about this wants to help. So many families have similar stories," she posted.

Quest for Mohammed Tufail/ Arjun begins

Explaining how people from across the country are helping NPR, Lauren wrote, "The president of Delhi Race Club, Mr. Sudheer Uppal, was so inspired -- his own parents were born in Pakistan -- that he called all his veteran staff, and let @NPR sort through decades of yellowed personnel records. The name rings a bell, one or two people said. But nothing on file."

"Sympathetic Delhi police said they'd give us access to records of all Indians who got visas to Pakistan in the 1990s. But Mohammed/Arjun said he crossed with a smuggler. Records from that era aren't digital. And Singh is a very common name. We don't have a passport," she wrote.

This week, Lauren went to a Pehlewan dhaba in Chandni Chowk, looking for anyone who might remember an Arjun Singh. She said, "But all the staff are new. And it turns out there are 15 Pehlewan dhabas in Chandni Chowk alone! Like Singh, it's a very common name."

This week, we went to a Pehlewan dhaba in Chandni Chowk, looking for anyone who might remember an Arjun Singh. But all the staff are new. And it turns out there are 15 Pehlewan dhabas in Chandni Chowk alone! Like Singh, it's a very common name. 11/12 pic.twitter.com/DfsH7ZIXa5

¡ª Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) May 23, 2022

"So this thread is my Hail Mary pass. Our info is incomplete. Some details may be wrong - faded or lost by memory, time & translation. But if anyone knows a Mohammed Tufail/Arjun Singh -- or his spouse, or children, or grandchildren -- please tell them Sharifa Bibi is waiting," she concluded.

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