KARACHI: World Bank President Ajay Pal Singh Banga arrived in Pakistan on February 1 for a four-day visit. During this visit, he travelled to Khushab district of Punjab province, his mother’s ancestral village, where he spoke about his Pakistani heritage and the emotional impact of returning to a place tied closely to his family’s past.
He said he was deeply moved by the warmth and affection shown by local residents.
Banga also paid obeisance at an old gurudwara built by his material grandfather. The Sindh Chief Minister’s House posted a video of him on Instagram.
In the video, Banga is seen saying that Partition was very difficult for families on both sides, whether they moved from Pakistan to India or vice versa.
According to Banga, families were torn apart, livelihoods disrupted, and many never spoke openly about the trauma in their homes.
He shared that only two or three years before his mother passed away did she begin speaking to him about Partition. She told him about life in Khushab, the land they owned, and what his father used to do.
The World Bank President also recalled that he had previously visited Pakistan in 1996 while working at Citibank, though those visits were limited to Karachi. After joining the World Bank about two years ago, he said former Executive Director Dr Tauqeer Shah and Qasim Sahib encouraged him to return to Pakistan, which ultimately led to this visit.