Footprints: Norway in Pakistan

It's simply a relaxed drive from Islamabad, in the ballpark of 140 kilometers on the Grand Trunk street. 

Leave the GT street amidst Kharian town in Gujrat region and pass through a slender street that winds through an occupied bazaar and in the end turns out in an inviting scene of sections of land and sections of land of lavish green wild. Pass behind an army installation as the street takes you deeper into the provincial range. Here, tractors and trailers run with loud motors and Attaullah Essakhelvi's Punjabi and Seraiki melodies boom from their speakers. 

One hopes to wind up in a customary Punjab town with smoke twisting up from the earthen hearths, bison touching, and goats and sheep circling. Be that as it may there is an astonishment in store. There is no town here. 

Rather, there are sprawling manors as you enter the principle road. Adolescent young men are in fine trousers and T-shirts and have spiky hairdo. Extravagance autos are stopped in and outside the manors, ventilation systems are introduced on the top stories and generators are rushing to give power amid loadshedding hours. 

This is a smaller than normal Norway in Pakistan. 

Out of around the 2,000 individuals who authoritatively live in Aalam Pur Gondlan town, 400 are settled in Norway. Others have gone to the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Canada, Italy and the Gulf to procure a living. 

This relocation to Europe and different parts of the world has totally changed the flow of life in this town, where now just 400 individuals live forever. The greater part is in Norway, whose aggregate populace is somewhat more than five million. This has made Aalam Pur Gondlan a purpose of enthusiasm for the Norwegians and in addition those possessing neighboring towns. The spot is every now and again gone by Norwegian representatives. 

"A hefty portion of the youngsters who have gone to Norway have likewise masterminded their matured folks to go along with them there as they could be secured by government managed savings and social insurance programs and be given benefits," says Muhammad Asghar Naseem, a senior in the town. "This town has no destitute now in light of the fact that everyone is gaining in krones in Norway. Yet some time ago, they were ruined and denied." 

The story behind such a variety of individuals from Aalam Pur Gondlan moving to Norway spins around a fizzled government official: Chaudhry Naik Aalam. 

Having graduated in horticulture from the University of Pune (India) and having served as appointee executive in Punjab's agrarian division after the allotment of the subcontinent, Aalam created sensitivity for the little ranchers and workers working around him. His sensitivity transformed into a mission to annihilate neediness from the region. He chose to challenge decisions from the stage of his own political gathering, Musawat (Equality), against his colleague and later president of Pakistan, Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, in 1956, and lost. 

"In those races, Fazal Ilahi crushed him by gathering the backing of every last one of heavyweights and huge landowners of the zone while Aalam was upheld just by a couple of workers and poor people," clarifies Naseem, who is likewise a nephew of Aalam. 

At the same time Aalam was not stopped by the thrashing. He continued challenging each race until 1977 however was never ready to satisfy his aspiration of arriving at parliament. Anyway this disappointment propelled him to help the denied and he began considering on discovering a way. 

In 1960, he asked his child Ijaz Aalam, a Pakistan Air Force flight lieutenant, to leave from his employment and go to the UK to search for work opportunities. Ijaz reported from London that conditions were good. 

Aalam began sending individuals to the UK. Before long he found that Norway had more open doors, so he redirected his center and now the end was Norway. 

"At that time, travel to Europe cost Rs2,000," Naseem reviews. "Individuals used to go through transports through Kabul, Iran and Turkey." 

However the issue for Aalam was that a large portion of his town individuals didn't have even that cash. Along these lines, he orchestrated credits from the helpful bet on his own individual and money related insurances. 

"Around 35,000 Pakistanis live over yonder now. Of them around 10,000 were sent by Aalam. Everyone paid back his obligation," clarifies Naseem, who has recorded Aalam Pur Gondlan's history. 

Aalam changed his Musawat party into the Bhook Kadh (Remove Hunger) party at the time of the 1970 races. He challenged the last races of his life in 1977 and lost that, as well. He kicked the bucket in 1981. 

Today, the lion's share of individuals in his town are extremely rich. They have assembled gigantic castles in the region, yet a hefty portion of them don't live there. They have utilized overseers to care for these houses, making employments for the poor of the encompassing regions. They additionally help stores for advancement and social welfare ventures in the town. 

Then, a relationship of the transients of Aalam Pur Gondlan in Norway recognizes Aalam's commemoration in Oslo consistently. Aalam's kids and grandchildren all are in Norway. 

Yet the man who changed the lives of a huge number of individuals and opened ways for them to the world never left his nation himself. He was conceived and covered all alone soil.