The Ferozepur road, one of Lahore’s arterial thoroughfares, evokes a lot of nostalgia. Starting from the Walled City, connecting several small ancient hamlets on the way, including Ichra, Mozang, Amar Sadhu and Kasur, it leads to Ferozepur in India. Or so it did.
Somewhere along its path, a boundary fence has been constructed. Two of the largest armies in the world, armed to their teeth, stand guard on either side of this fence.
The cities of Lahore and Ferozepur were linked by an ancient bond that several ravages of history – Mongol and Afghan invasions, and British colonialism – could not cut. But this bond was finally ripped apart in 1947 when the two new nation states of India and Pakistan were formed. The Ferozepur road now forlornly runs through Lahore, hastily abandoning its destination at the first sight of armed soldiers, betraying the traveller.
// Article also has an interesting story behind the origins of the January 26th Republic Day in India and its association with Lahore.