1947 - A common man's view

10 Dec 2011

Gurgaon

Is it all fake? Is it all a lie? Is it exaggerated to no limits? Whatever we see in TV channels, in movies, whatever this media tells about the British rule over India and the partition……. Is it true? Was that really happened? I am not sure………

Tuesday (15^th Nov) I had a chance to have few words with Neiha’s Uncle. He is a UK citizen now and came to India just to visit their relatives.  We were sitting in the balcony having evening cup of tea.

“So, basically you belong to Delhi?” I asked him to start a conversation.

“No….. Lahore,I moved to England in 1962….. Before that we were in Delhi….. But I belong to Lahore and during partition we moved from Lahore to Delhi”

“Ohhhhhh…… So, you might have witnessed all that happened during partition…… Tell me something about the British era and the partition….. You might have seen the torturous britishers and the cruel pakistani’s during partition” I was excited to hear some real stories about the British rule.

“It’s nothing like that” He laughed out my excitement. “There was not much wrong about the British rule…….. Infact most of the britishers are kind…… Yes exceptions are every where”

“That means what we have heard and read till now was all wrong” I quizzed.

“I don’t mean that….. But they had done lots good to India…… first of all, because of them only that ‘king’s rule’ has finished……. Otherwise we might have been ruled by some king until now. Or India might have not got this existence on world map; however it must be a cluster of small countries ruled by different kings like in Middle East.” He stopped for a breath.

“They brought technology with them. Infrastructure…… Roads, Railways…… The best example is of ‘Lyallpur’…….”

“What’s that?” I asked in curiosity, as I had never heard about it.

“It’s a modern town in Pakistan now, then a semi-desert area. It was converted into agricultural land when in 1870s the colonial era Punjab government decided to increase the cultivated land by making barrages and canals to meet the demand at European markets. In 1880, a new town was proposed with a design based on the union jack by a colonial officer on the support of Sir James Lyall and was called as Lyallpur. Its design and infrastructure was among the best in the world, with eight roads radiating from a large clock tower in the centre. The eight roads developed into eight separate bazaars. In 1896 Lyallpur was provided with rail link to major rail network to transport agricultural surplus to the ports to be shipped to European markets.” He narrated all the history of Lyallpur as if he is the founder of the city. Later on I got to know that he studied in the city that’s why he has a special connection with the place.

“I agree that they developed infrastructure, but what about the cruelty and the bad behavior of Britishers with Indians” I wanted to know about every aspect of British rule.

“In general sense there was not much difference in the British rule and the then Indian kings……. All these things can differ for high profile people…… But for general public it was same….. Yes, occasionally we used to hear about different stories about British officers miss-conduct….. But those things are still there in Indian democracy also.”

“What about the partition?” another question by me.

“It was all political drama….. There’s nothing related to Britishers or hindu muslim...... In my views it was all Jawahar Lal Nehru’s game….. Britishers didn’t want to split India, not even Gandhi or Jinah……. But because of increasing influence of Mr. Jinah on Indian political cloud, nehru set this game to retain his seat as a top leader of Indian politics.” He took the last sip of tea and placed the cup under his chair.

 “And that followed by all that blood shed of Indians by the bloody Pakistani’s” I tried to sum-up the story in one line. He laughed and what he said next was not digestable to me.

“That’s what we all Indians say….. But that’s not the truth…… Actually, it all started from this side of the line. Everything was peaceful when the partition was announced and people started moving from places even before the announcements as they can guess about the boundaries of the two countries with the political scenario of different regions.” He paused for a while as if trying to re-collect those bloody days of Indian history.

“The first news of blood shed came from Patiala riyasat of Indian side.” Those words dampened my mood. ‘No…… It should not be my city’.

“As the news spread around….. So was the bloody trail. You can’t even imagine how many people were killed and how much blood spilled over this golden soil of Punjab. We were among the lucky one’s who crossed border safely. And this side of the border the image of deserted villages and houses was horrible. People poisoned the village wells before moving out. No house was in a condition to be lived in, they damaged everything before leaving. And if they left something behind, that was looted by the Indian families……. So we refugees were left with nothing……….….” He lost in his past for a while.

“And then that struggle by everyone to get the old status back which they left behind in their old country and a fresh start in this new country………….”he summed up and moved in as the wind outside was getting colder now.

I stood there in balcony looking at the sun getting down behind the tall buildings; the birds were returning to their nests but will those people who lost everything during the partition will ever be able to return back to their home town’s, their birth places??????

No, Never………