HYDERABAD, Feb 2: "It’s only in Sindh that Hindus and Muslims are blended so well that they have become indistinguishable," says Sarah Singh, an Indian-born US filmmaker who is currently visiting Sindh to work on a documentary on contemporary culture of India and Pakistan.

Talking to Dawn after visiting the Sindh Museum on Friday, she said that she thought the man who was took her around a (Hindu) shrine in Odero Lal was Muslim.

The shrine is a unique example of religious harmony in Sindh as it is equally held in high esteem by local Hindus and Muslims. Hindus believe that the shrine houses the tomb of Hindu saint Odero Lal whereas Muslims insist the he had later embraced Islam and was named Shaikh Tahir Bhirkiyo. The shrine is looked after by two caretakers, one Hindu and other Muslim.

Ms Singh said that Harappa and Moenjodaro were the ‘heart of Indus Civilisation’ and called for efforts to preserve and document the sites.

She advocated relaxation in visa restrictions between Pakistan and India and said that "the visa policy should be more open" to facilitate people to visit the two countries.

The young freelance journalist said: “I feel religion is not a divisive issue among people here. It’s poignant that people from either side had to leave in 1947 although they were blended so well.”

Ms Singh who has been in filmmaking for five years said that her latest documentary would give an overview of spiritual and historic sites belonging to different religions on both sides.

"Catasraj is the second most sacred place for Hindus after Vernasi and it’s hardly three hours drive from Lahore," she said.

A student of photography and painting, Ms Singh is deeply interested in studying cultural history. So far she has travelled Pakistan and northwest of India, including the areas lying between Kachh and Kashmir.

Meeting people from a cross-section of life, she said, she heard incredible stories of how people migrated from one side to the other. She interviewed a 103-year-old man in Lahore who ran a bakery. He was 40 years old when the partition took place and migrated to Pakistan with a gun hidden inside a large piece of bread for his safety, she said.

She was visibly upset to note that Pakistani film actress Zeba Ali had been recently denied a chance to visit Ajmer in India. "It’s quite absurd.”

Ms Singh painfully noted her journey to India from Pakistan through Thar Express -- now lying closed for want of infrastructure repair on Indian side – because facilities at Zero Point (Khokhropar) are only rudimentary in nature.

"It needs improvement because so many people travel through this route which is shorter and easier link between Sindh and Rajasthan,” she said.

She said with disappointment that the railway station even lacked drinking water. "No one even sells water there. If you are not carrying your own bottled water, you should not hope to get it over there while you have to stay in the desert for around six hours due to cumbersome immigration procedure.”

She said that the station had only a shed with some columns and without any wall. "However, the beginning has been made and it needs to be appreciated," she said.