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The euphoria over Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf's visit to India may be visible in most parts of the country, but in Lucknow, relatives of Pakistan's military ruler seemed to be least excited about the entire affair.
The family happens to be that of the late Hayatullah Ansari, a well-known Congressman of his time and founder editor of the one-time powerful Urdu daily Qaumi Awaz, that had played a major role in the freedom movement.
Pakistan's well known Urdu daily Jung, which was replete with stories about Musharraf's impending visit to India, had mentioned that Lucknow may figure in the itinerary of Musharraf's wife Begum Sehba, who might visit some relatives.
However, none in the Ansari family seemed enthusiastic about these reports.
Ansari's wife, the late Sultana Hayat was the first cousin of Pervez Musharraf's father, Syed Musharrafuddin, who had studied with Hayatullah Ansari at Lucknow's Jubilee College as well as at the historical Firangi Mahal Madarsa in Lucknow.
Ansari's son Sidrat and wife Shahnaz have nothing much to look forward to in the proposed visit of Sehba Musharraf.
"We belong to a family that was strongly opposed to the creation of Pakistan. My father wrote articles and editorials against the two-nation theory," explained Sidrat.
The older Ansari was not merely a devoted Congressman who had devoted his life to the freedom movement but also among the few privileged ones to enjoy close proximity to Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, the latter was responsible for Ansari's marriage with Sultana.
"Ideologically, my father stood poles apart from the Musharrafs. That could be the reason for the relationship not continuing for long," Sidrat told rediff.com.
He narrated how Ansari decided to sever ties with Firangi Mahal once it became obvious to him that the institution was tilting towards the Muslim League.
Sidrat said his father never got used to the idea of India's partition and that too on religious lines. "Since partition, there has been very little contact between the two families," he added.
Therefore, Sehba Musharraf's proposed visit to meet her long lost relatives in Lucknow has evoked only a lukewarm response, even though Sidrat and Shahnaz said they would make it a point to play host 'if at all she decided to visit'.
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