A South African national, Parvesh Gangaram Hardin Parmeshwar Nepal Singh, visited his ancestor’s Nimia village under Sasaram district of Bihar on July 10. A great grandson of a Girmitia labourer, Parmeshwar Singh, the descendant, interacted with his relatives during an emotional reunion a century after the Singh Sr. had boarded South Africa-bound ship to work there as an indentured labourer on November 16, 1902.
“I am overwhelmed for getting an opportunity to meet my kin,” he told reporters. Singh, who is based in Durban and works there as teacher, thanked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for helping him find his roots and meet his relatives during his sixth visit to India. “I had come earlier on five occasions and ran from pillar to post to find out my relatives, but to no avail,” he said, adding “as a last hope I contacted the RSS, which found my kin,” he said. Singh is also associated with the RSS’s branch back home.
Stating that his was a hazardous journey in search of his relatives, the South African teacher of Indian origin urged the Government of India to set-up a mechanism which can find out the native place of the migrant people and identity their relatives to facilitate a reunion. (VSK, Karnataka)
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