The Sandman
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At the time of Partition I was in grade 10. Our village was largely occupied by Muslim families but some Sikhs and Hindus also lived there. Back then, Sikhs and Hindus got married in our haveli.
We never thought we would have to move one day. We knew very well that Pakistan would come to existence but we never thought we would move.
Another village, at a distance of about two to three miles from our village, was attacked. A group of Sikhs attacked the village and I can’t even express in words what they did with them.
The Sikhs of our village approached the elders and told them they would not be able to protect us because the Sikhs who would attack would be greater in number. They apologised and said, “We have eaten from your plate. We don’t want to harm you.” It was around 2:30 am when they asked us to leave and we left everything behind.
The Sikhs of our village approached the elders and told them they would not be able to protect us because the Sikhs who would attack would be greater in number
We reached another village the next morning. We had no belongings, no shelter and no transportation. Residents from 42 villages from nearby gathered in the new village. It was a huge village but there were no arrangements for food and water. We didn’t have any protection either. A few days later, the Indian army took all of us to Pakistan. The people of the village secretly helped us, especially the elderly, for the 15-20 days we were there.
Our district of Hoshiarpur was the last district to be evacuated. There was an outbreak of Cholera due to which there were a lot of deaths. Nine people from my family also died, but those were natural deaths; we were not attacked. I saw a mother next to her son’s dead body, but she wasn’t even crying. The scenes were disorderly and chaotic; it was as if we were witnessing the Day of Judgment.
Two days later, we moved out and kept walking. It was August and it rained for almost five days near Jalandhar. We had no shelter or food. The people who were carrying tents were lucky, but since we left at night, we were out of supplies and didn’t have any arrangement. An aunt with whom I lived with was very sick at the time. I used to carry her on my shoulders during our long walks.
We finally reached Lahore after so many obstacles. We heard about trains arriving with dead bodies. Everyone in those carriages were killed and slaughtered.
One of my beloved uncles was a deputy commissioner in Lahore. He came to Lahore and took us to Faisalabad. He had made all the arrangements for our stay at his house but one thing was still missing: We were not enrolled in school. The Pakistani government took charge and made arrangements in the best possible manner.
Later, I joined the air force. There is an office at Shaheen building in Karachi where I gave the test for the Air Force. The next day they sent me to Kohat where I was trained for six months.
God has fulfilled all my wishes, but there’s only one that has remained: I wanted to see my childhood house in India but never got a chance to.
https://tribune.atavist.com/the-cost-of-pakistan#chapter-1325493
We never thought we would have to move one day. We knew very well that Pakistan would come to existence but we never thought we would move.
Another village, at a distance of about two to three miles from our village, was attacked. A group of Sikhs attacked the village and I can’t even express in words what they did with them.
The Sikhs of our village approached the elders and told them they would not be able to protect us because the Sikhs who would attack would be greater in number. They apologised and said, “We have eaten from your plate. We don’t want to harm you.” It was around 2:30 am when they asked us to leave and we left everything behind.
The Sikhs of our village approached the elders and told them they would not be able to protect us because the Sikhs who would attack would be greater in number
We reached another village the next morning. We had no belongings, no shelter and no transportation. Residents from 42 villages from nearby gathered in the new village. It was a huge village but there were no arrangements for food and water. We didn’t have any protection either. A few days later, the Indian army took all of us to Pakistan. The people of the village secretly helped us, especially the elderly, for the 15-20 days we were there.
Our district of Hoshiarpur was the last district to be evacuated. There was an outbreak of Cholera due to which there were a lot of deaths. Nine people from my family also died, but those were natural deaths; we were not attacked. I saw a mother next to her son’s dead body, but she wasn’t even crying. The scenes were disorderly and chaotic; it was as if we were witnessing the Day of Judgment.
Two days later, we moved out and kept walking. It was August and it rained for almost five days near Jalandhar. We had no shelter or food. The people who were carrying tents were lucky, but since we left at night, we were out of supplies and didn’t have any arrangement. An aunt with whom I lived with was very sick at the time. I used to carry her on my shoulders during our long walks.
We finally reached Lahore after so many obstacles. We heard about trains arriving with dead bodies. Everyone in those carriages were killed and slaughtered.
One of my beloved uncles was a deputy commissioner in Lahore. He came to Lahore and took us to Faisalabad. He had made all the arrangements for our stay at his house but one thing was still missing: We were not enrolled in school. The Pakistani government took charge and made arrangements in the best possible manner.
Later, I joined the air force. There is an office at Shaheen building in Karachi where I gave the test for the Air Force. The next day they sent me to Kohat where I was trained for six months.
God has fulfilled all my wishes, but there’s only one that has remained: I wanted to see my childhood house in India but never got a chance to.
https://tribune.atavist.com/the-cost-of-pakistan#chapter-1325493
