A Haryana YouTuber crossed the border to visit Pakistan in 2024 and 2025. It wasn’t just the lure of a few thousand views on his channel that pushed him to undertake the journey. It was also the hope of carrying back to his Haryana village a fistful of soil from the neighbouring country that would mean the world to his 90-year-old paralysed grandfather.
“In my childhood, he’d narrate stories of his life in Kabir Wala, his eyes turning moist,” said the 38-year-old YouTuber, requesting anonymity. “I couldn’t take him there, but I brought soil from his native place. Seeing him apply it to his forehead after bowing before it was deeply moving.”
The arrest of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra and 11 others from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on suspicion of espionage has cast a shadow on a band of content creators from Haryana who crossed the Wagah border with one finger on their camera. A big chunk of these travellers hail from Haryana’s Jat and Punjabi communities, who were making cross-cultural content before tensions rose between the two neighbours after the Pahalgam attack. It’s not just virality that drives them to enter Pakistan. It is the historical rupture of Partition that fuels the journeys of Haryanvi YouTubers seeking to reconnect with their roots. For them, Pakistan represents a cultural and ancestral pilgrimage, amplified by the Partition’s legacy.
Jyoti Malhotra, whose parents migrated from Pakistan, epitomised this quest through her YouTube channel “Travel with Jo,” which amassed over 3,77,000 subscribers.
The virality of these videos stems from their ability to bridge the historical gap created by Partition.
“Haryanvi audiences are drawn to these videos because they make Pakistan feel like a lost home,” said Jyoti Mishra, a research scholar at the Centre for Study on Developing Societies (CSDS). The novelty of cross-border storytelling, combined with emotional narratives, fuels their popularity.
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The Haryanvi travellers
Vikas Sheoran and his wife, Ritu Khokhar, both from Haryana’s Jat heartland, have documented their visits to Pakistan by focusing on Muslim Jats who migrated from Haryana in 1947. Their videos bring forth subcultures that have remained invisible to a generation of Indians and go beyond the confines of religion and nationhood. Those featured include people from Pakistan’s Punjab province—they speak Haryanvi and uphold Jat traditions such as wrestling and folk dances.
For instance, Haryanvis are renowned for their quick wit, with a joke ready for every occasion, often delivered with such gusto that laughter echoes far and wide. In a video shared by YouTuber Vikas Sheoran on his Facebook, a group of Muslim Jats in Pakistan’s Multan is seen embracing this Haryanvi tradition, exchanging hearty jokes with infectious laughter that resonates across borders, showcasing the universal appeal of humour in connecting communities.
The Partition left a lasting imprint on Haryana’s Punjabi communities, many of whose forefathers migrated from regions now in Pakistan. Similarly, there are people from the Jat community whose Muslim neighbours and friends in Haryana migrated to Pakistan.
As far as I’m concerned, my excitement was that just as I can do bungee jumping or walk on fire, I can also visit Pakistan, as visiting that country was considered a task in itself
Pawan Tokas, who visited Multan city in Pakistan twice
Jyoti Malhotra’s 2023 and 2024 trips to Pakistan, documented in videos showcasing visits to ancestral sites and the Pakistan High Commission, resonated with audiences whose forefathers have lived the shared history and trauma of separation. Now, her arrest means a larger scrutiny of all such travellers who crossed the border in search of their personal histories.
Driven by a mix of cultural curiosity and personal adventure, Pawan Tokas, an IT professional living in Sydney, visited Multan city in Pakistan twice, in March 2024 and March 2025.
Tokas is a native of an outer Delhi village. His wife Ritu Sangwan, who runs the channel, belongs to Chandeini village in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri.
“As far as I’m concerned, my excitement was that just as I can do bungee jumping or walk on fire, I can also visit Pakistan, as visiting that country was considered a task in itself,” Tokas told ThePrint over the phone.
Their channel is titled ‘Pawan Tokas Vlog’ and hosts videos from Nankana Sahib and other historical sites.
Haryanvi-speaking communities feature in their vlogs. Tokas was impressed by the preservation of Haryanvi culture among Muslim Jat families of Pakistan.
“While the younger generation in Haryana leans toward Hindi, these families in Pakistan still speak Haryanvi,” he said.
On one of his travels to Multan, Tokas even came across a school named Muslim Jat Public School. “They still idolise Jat leaders like Sir Chhotu Ram and have a school named after him,” he added.
In a February 2024 post on his Facebook, Tokas is seen posing with one Khalil Ahmed Jaat. The video has now been removed. Their hands wrapped around each other’s shoulders. A song from 1980 Bollywood hit Dostana plays in the background: Rahe Chahe Dushman Zamana Hamara, Salamat Rahe Dostana Hamara.
Navankur Chaudhary, a Rohtak-based doctor-turned-vlogger — known as ‘Yatri Doctor’ — visited Pakistan and tried reconnecting with the Jat heritage there. He is on a mission to fill his passport with every country’s stamp.
After Malhotra’s arrest, Chaudhary took to Facebook and clarified his position in a live session, underlining how the cross-border travels weren’t a rarity.
“I wasn’t alone—there were 700–800 people, including 500 from India and 50–60 diplomats from other countries. I’m a YouTuber, so I get highlighted, but thousands visit Pakistan annually, including Hindu and Sikh groups. I’m a proud Indian with family in the armed forces, ready to assist any investigation.”
The video he posted on his Facebook clarifying his position now stands deleted from the social media platform.
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The Jat connection
Haryana’s Jat heartland—Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar, and Bahadurgarh—shares a unique bond with Pakistan’s Punjab, where Muslim Jats settled after Partition. These communities, speaking Haryanvi or related dialects, preserve traditions such as agricultural festivals and folk dances that mirror those in Haryana.
For YouTubers like Sheoran, Khokhar, Tokas, and Sangwan, these connections are central to their content, evident in their social media posts. Their videos feature emotional exchanges with Pakistanis recounting migration stories. Tales that echo the YouTubers’ own family histories.
Tokas shared a striking example of this bond he witnessed first hand: “My friend Jaibir Singh from Gudha village in Haryana, now in the USA, visited Multan in March. When he arrived at our host Salim Ali’s place, Mohammad Ali, who had migrated from Gudha during Partition, was waiting. He couldn’t control his tears, embracing Jaibir, saying it was his first meeting with someone from his homeland in 35 years.”
Such encounters highlight the “mitti ki kasak” (yearning for one’s homeland) that Tokas said drives many visits.
Malhotra’s videos of Lahore drew lakhs of views for their authentic portrayal of Pakistani life. Sheoran and Tokas’s content, featuring vibrant street scenes and heartfelt conversations, often garners nostalgic comments
“There’s a unique pull for Haryanvi people. During the 1947 partition, nearly 7-8 million Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan’s Punjab migrated to India, with a large majority settling in Haryana, Punjab, and Delhi. Likewise, almost an equal number of Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan, many of whom were from Haryana. Despite the new boundaries drawn in 1947, the shared culture remains unbroken. These YouTubers find a living connection to their past, making their content both personal and universal,” said Mishra.
Haryanvi YouTubers’ content focuses on cultural exploration, showcasing Pakistan’s markets, religious sites like Kartarpur Sahib, and interactions with Haryanvi-speaking locals.
Malhotra’s videos of Lahore drew lakhs of views for their authentic portrayal of Pakistani life. Sheoran and Tokas’s content, featuring vibrant street scenes and heartfelt conversations, often garners nostalgic comments.
“It’s like seeing a part of Haryana in Pakistan,” read a comment on Sheoran’s video of a Jat wedding in Punjab.
Tokas, who is involved with the National Organisation for Haryanvi Restitution of Arts (NOHRA) in Pakistan, mentioned the efforts to preserve Haryanvi culture and language in Pakistani schools.
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Reels cut short
A new debate has started around Haryana’s YouTubers after the arrest of Jyoti Malhotra—does a visit to Pakistan and videos shot there endanger India’s security?
Tokas argued that these visits are not exclusive to YouTubers.
“Before Operation Sindoor, many visited Pakistan for its charm or to trace roots. Didn’t Atal Bihari Vajpayee ride a bus there? If visas were liberal, more would visit both countries.”
The online backlash being received by these influencers is undoing their popularity. ‘Yatri Doctor’ aka Navankur Chaudhary’s association with Malhotra has been questioned, with their old photos appearing online.
Navankar’s father, Naveen Dhankar, a retired Navy Officer, said his son had no connection with Jyoti Malhotra. The picture being spread was from an event when she approached his son, introducing herself as his fan.
“These trips can be exploited,” said Rajesh Malik, a professor of Law at the Central University of Haryana, who previously served in the Indian Air Force before transitioning to academia. “YouTubers may unintentionally share sensitive details or be coerced, especially when navigating regions with complex geopolitical dynamics. The line between cultural exploration and security risk is thin, and vigilance is crucial.”
The government’s expulsion of a Pakistani High Commission official on 13 May 2025, citing espionage concerns, underscores the heightened tensions and potential risks associated with cross-border interactions, even those driven by cultural curiosity.
The Haryana Police have questioned Navankar Chaudhary’s family in Bahadurgarh.
“These YouTubers are storytellers of a fractured history, but they must tread carefully. Their work can heal divides or deepen suspicions, depending on how it’s wielded,” said Mishra.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)
The Sanghis were never good with anything – their knee-jerk reaction to youtubers, arresting them and harassing them is a case in point. jyoti marhotra is being investigated – only the courts now can deliver a verdict in the case.
If these people feel such a strong longing or “kasak/chull” for their lost homeland, why don’t they settle there with their ‘Muslim Jaat’ biradari brothers? It’s not been that long — their grandfathers are still alive