Owais Geelani, a sub-inspector, married Faiza Geelani early this week amid raging tension in the Valley. Sayeda Faiza Gilani, a postgraduate in literature from a university in Islamabad, travelled to violence-hit Valley in “Karavan-e-Aman” (the Peace Caravan) bus operating weekly between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, to tie the knot with her cousin Syed Owais Gilani who otherwise is busy countering street protests. The groom's father, who hails from Karnah town near the Line of Control (LoC), said it was his longing to visit members of his divided family - due to the 1947 war between India and Pakistan. The marriage was solemnised in a hotel here at a time when the cops have borne the brunt of protesters’ ire in the Valley that has been rocked by nearly two-month-long unrest.

The marriage of the young police officer is not the first such incident where a Kashmiri has taken a spouse from Pakistan-administered Kashmir or from other parts of Pakistan. This marriage has caught significant attention because police are presently battling stone-pelting mobs and are in the thick of law and order management in the valley. We are hopeful that this will marriage bring peace in the region and also end the hostilities between the two countries as the divided families are the worst victims of acrimony,” said father of the bridegroom Shabir Geelani Shabir, a retired SSP. The bridegroom’s family had sent “mehndi’ (henna) in the peace bus on July 25 when the “Carvan-e-Aman” bus plied after three weeks’ suspension due to the unrest following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.