But what met his eyes on the weekend has scarred him. To the extent that he now fears talking. ‘Madamji, hamara toh pariwar khatre main hai...kya baat karein,’ he asks.

His paternal cousins, Janakji and Nanakji (alias Premchand and Gyanchand) who worked as farm labour in Pakistan, were found brutally murdered with their throats slit. But it can’t be mere coincidence that the last time he had corresponded with them was when he had offered to send them the necessary documents for visa to migrate to India.

Since it is not possible for entire families to move lock stock and barrel, given the situation there, they say, families usually split into pairs and move on the eve of the day of migration and meet at a common point. Until then, they move in pairs through different routes.

But this attempt by these Pakistani Hindus who are said to have been making their way towards India ended up being their final journey.

Lamenting on the unbearable conditions back in Pakistan, Lakshman now fears for his family back home.

“In less than one month from now, they too would have made it here, but alas.,” says Lakshman as he chokes, wondering what fate awaits the children of the ones murdered, the youngest of whom is a 26-month-old toddler.

As he mourns the death of his brothers, Lakshman is worried for the rest of his relatives who, he says, have been receiving threats from local authorities and others for letting this news be discussed.

His relatives, he says, have been asking him to please keep mum, so they do not have to face any more trouble there.

Deceased Nanak has left behind his parents, wife and seven children. As they lit the funeral pyre of the two brothers, they wonder if there will be an end to these sufferings.