![\"Sarover](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Love-is-Blind-Sarover-41bf.jpg\")
\n\t\tSarover, 29, made an instant connection with Kal in Love is Blind UK (Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tSarover, 29, made an instant connection with Kal in Love is Blind UK (Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n
As a Pakistani Muslim, distrust between Indian and Pakistani communities has been drilled into me from a young age.<\/p>\n
My childhood best friend, who is Indian, once told me in those very early days her dad took time coming round to the idea of his kid befriending me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From my own parents, I had heard stories of family friends whose children\u2019s relationships had been torn apart because one or both of the parents simply refused to accept their Indian partner<\/a>. Or, in the rarer-than-rare case where they stayed together anyway, they were quickly ostracised from the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n I can\u2019t pinpoint the exact moment it clicked, but at some point in my youth, I sadly accepted that Indians and Pakistanis weren\u2019t meant to mix.<\/p>\n Outside of these circles, very few understand how wide this yawning chasm remains among second and third-generation immigrants to this day, even as we mark 78 years of partition this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tGet personalised updates on all things Netflix\t\t\t<\/p>\n Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro\u2019s TV Newsletter.<\/p>\n Sign up to our newsletter<\/a> and then select your show in the link we\u2019ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.<\/p>\n But aside from some fleeting discourse on the BBC\u2019s A Suitable Boy adaptation<\/a>, which tackles this topic from a historical lens, I have never seen it discussed or represented in mainstream media \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n In the most surprising turn of events, it was Love is Blind UK season two<\/a>, of all places, which has brought it to the fore.<\/p>\n \t\t Spoilers ahead for season 2 of Love is Blind UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n During their time in the pods (where participants must date without seeing one another), 32-year-old contestant Kal, who is half-Pakistani, and 29-year-old Sarover, who is Indian, make an instant connection.<\/p>\n A few dates in, they broach the topic of their heritage and quickly acknowledge \u2018there could be conflict\u2019 with Kal asking Sarover if her family would ever accept him.<\/p>\n I thought that might be the end of it, but the show shocked me by really giving this tension the time and space it deserved to explain and work through.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Kal tells the audience in a voiceover: \u2018I\u2019ve come here to find love, definitely, and I wouldn\u2019t have expected to find it in Sarover. She\u2019s got Indian heritage. I\u2019ve got Pakistani heritage.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Historically, there\u2019s been conflict and a massive divide between India and Pakistan. Ten, 15 years ago, me and her probably wouldn\u2019t even be having a conversation.<\/p>\n \u2018Especially for the older generation, I know from experience, a parent with an Indian daughter would not want them dating a half-Pakistani or Pakistani guy. They just did not get on.\u2019<\/p>\n It was heartening to see someone perfectly summarise the crisis that has been facing us for decades, and ruined people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n What is even more heartening is Sarover\u2019s response, as she opens up to Kal: \u2018Undoing so many years of upbringing, it took a long time. Over the years, even my grandparents are so open and we have so many mixed marriages in the family now.\u2019<\/p>\n The pair get engaged and, although we are yet to see if their relationship can survive the prejudices of the outside world, even just getting this far feels revolutionary.<\/p>\n \t\t I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. This kind of representation on one of the most popular dating shows around could genuinely change perceptions of Pakistani-Indian relationships.<\/p>\n Of course, on a global scale, it\u2019s always been known that the two countries have bad blood that runs as deep as the gaping wounds left by centuries of British colonial rule and the partition of India in 1947.<\/p>\n Just a few months ago, the neighbouring nations were on the brink of nuclear war<\/a> due to the ongoing dispute over the territory of Kashmir.<\/p>\n It was a repeat of a situation my family had been trapped in when they visited Pakistan in 2019, while I stayed home in London. I was sitting terrified on the other side of my phone as the airspaces overhead shut down while both nations prepared for nuclear war.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thankfully, it didn\u2019t come to that.<\/p>\n But this volatile political divide has permeated into the personal, impacting millions of diaspora across the world, 78 years on from partition<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t One of my close friends is being forced to hide her relationship with a Muslim man from her parents out of fear of outright rejection, and vice versa.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, any relationship of this nature is still the subject of scandal and gossip in my local community, although it has become easier over the years.<\/p>\n This is far from a black and white issue. There\u2019s religious prejudice, misguided national pride, and the rejection of \u2018other\u2019 in whatever form, stemming from both communities, which makes this a minefield wherever you land.<\/p>\n Online misinformation makes this a modern problem \u2013 not least as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to fuel Islamophobia<\/a> and perpetuate the concept of love jihad \u2013\u00a0a false claim of Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage).<\/p>\n Love is Blind proves that this is a problem my community cannot afford to ignore, and for those far removed from this experience, I hope it proves an education for just how big this struggle remains for people like Kal, Sarover, and me.\u00a0<\/p>\n At one point, Kal jokes to Sarover: \u2018Yeah, but listen, we can bridge the gap. We can mend the peace,\u2019 to which Sarover quips: \u2018Are we just gonna solve history?\u2019. I laughed; it\u2019s the same jokey conversation my Indian friends and I have had time and time again.<\/p>\n I\u2019m under no illusions that Love is Blind will heal decades of bitterness but it\u2019s a small salve that I hope one day grows into something bigger. Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\tComments Arrow Arrow![\"Kal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Love-is-Blind-Kal-b15a.jpg\")
\n\t\tKal, who is half-Pakistani, asked Sarover, who is Indian, if her family would ever accept him (Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n![\"Sarover](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Love-is-Blind-Sarover-2-afcf.jpg\")
\n\t\tSarover told Kal: \u2018Undoing so many years of upbringing, it took a long time.\u2019(Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n![\"Kal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Love-is-Blind-Kal-2-efec.jpg\")
\n\t\tKal and Kieran are looking for love on season 2 of Love is Blind UK (Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n![\"Kal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Love-is-Blind-Kal-and-Sarover-9cf0.jpg\")
\n\t\tKal and Sarover get engaged \u2013 it feels revolutionary (Picture: Netflix)<\/p>\n
Or even just kickstarts a conversation in someone\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Netflix unveils major return for Peaky Blinders legend in \u2018stressful\u2019 new film<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Inside Emma and Matt Willis\u2019 20-year romance as Love Is Blind UK returns to Netflix<\/a><\/p>\n