Partition of India: The Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs Who Saved Dozens of Lives

“From August 15, 1947, two independent states will be established in India to be known as India and Pakistan respectively.”

It is clause one of Chapter 30 of the Indian Independence Act 1947, passed by the British Parliament and then passed into law with the consent of the Crown, under which on 15 August 1947, India was formally divided into two parts and Pakistan. A new country emerged on the world map.

What is surprising and sad is that the people of the country, which was liberated after a long struggle and whose desire for ‘partition’ based on religious nationalism was also fulfilled, could not celebrate it.

The combination of ‘freedom’ and ‘partition’ was soon followed by the worst riots and mass exodus to save lives, which later became the largest migration in human history.

According to some estimates, 120 million people left their ancestral properties and whatever possessions they had, and migrated to India or Pakistan amid the terrible riots. More than 1 million people lost their lives. Thousands of women were abducted, and dozens of women were robbed of their virginity.

Similarly, after the declaration of partition in India and Pakistan, massacres, looting, arson, abductions, mass rapes and all other atrocities were carried out in echo of religious slogans.

However, regardless of their religious affiliation, there were people who sacrificed their lives without any religious discrimination or prejudice to help Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs who were wandering in search of safe shelters even in this crowded environment of Khun Chakan. Protected property and sincerely wanted that whether Hindus or Sikhs or Muslims should not migrate and stay in their own areas or at least they should be allowed to cross the border safely.

The story of Master Nahar Singh, a resident of Anbala district of Haryana, India, who saved the lives of people regardless of religion or nationality, who took a great risk and saved many Muslims from the wrath of the Baloists, is very encouraging.

Journalist and editor of weekly newspaper ‘Rayast’ Dewan Singh Mufti has described the story of Master Nahar Singh in detail in his autobiography ‘Unforgettable’.

Incidentally, when the Sikhs of the Akali group started massacring Muslims in East Punjab, Nahar Singh was also invited to join this group.

He joined it and left his house early one morning with the intention of massacring the Muslims, but on seeing the pitiful condition of one of his Muslim disciples on the way, he gave up his intention and not only that boy but also his village and He saved the lives of the nearby Muslims and brought them safely to the Muslim camps.

Dewan Singh Mufti writes about this: ‘You (Master Nahar Singh) decided that whatever happened you would save the Muslims from the villages. Even if they themselves have to perish in this way.

So you started visiting the villages from that time and any Muslim you found would be taken out and brought to the camp. In this way, you saved around two thousand Muslims from the hands of the Akalis and sent them to the camps.

‘Whenever he (Master Nahar Singh) comes, I rehearse these situations from his own words, because he went to his village with the intention of killing the Muslims and seeing the disciple in a pitiable condition. The birth of a revolution in the mind is an event that one wants to hear and reflect on again and again.’

Dewan Singh Mufti himself protected the houses of his neighboring Muslims and a mosque.

He writes about him: ‘One of the emigrants, Anwar Sahib, the owner of the office building, handed over his house to the editor. His aunt lived with her daughter and son-in-law in the house next to him. This house was also handed over to the editor state for supervision.

Another middle-aged Muslim lived next to his house, he also said Sardar Sahib! I am a poor man, please take care of my house too, so that I don’t get robbed somewhere.

‘As if I was appointed honorary custodian of three houses in this street. By the way, it was my sincere wish that no one should be harmed as long as I am in this street.’

Dewan Singh finally saved these houses from looting and burning while all the surrounding Muslim houses were looted and burnt.

Similarly, when the rioters tried to demolish a mosque in the neighborhood, Dewan Singh saved it too.

He writes: ‘The result of my remonstrances about this mosque was that the poor and low-class people of the neighborhood, who were bent on looting, were not encouraged to attack the Muslims in my presence in the street. robbing the houses of

Famous Urdu critic All Ahmad Sarwar in his autobiography ‘Khavab Baqi Hain’ has mentioned his friends Azhar Abbas and Qaiser who were residents of Karol Bagh in Delhi.

When looting started there, Qaiser first took refuge in the house of Rafi Ahmad Qadwai, but later went to Azhar Abbas’s house, but when the Balouis attacked there too, Azhar Abbas took him with him to one of his neighbors, who was a Sikh. Was transferred to yes.

All Ahmad Sarwar writes: ‘When the looting and killing continued, all the people moved to a neighboring Sikh’s house. This good man protected them by risking his life, but the house of Azhar Abbas fell.

A similar incident is found in the autobiography of academician and poet Sajida Zaidi, ‘Naoy Zindagi’, in which she has written about a Sardar who saved her life.

At the time of the partition of India, Sajda Zaidi was also living in Karul Bagh, but when the situation worsened, she was forced to take refuge in the mansion of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Muslim leader of the Congress. A Sikh saved his life and that of his family before moving there.

Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmed’s book ‘The Punjab Built, Partitioned and Killed’, translated into Urdu by Waseem Butt as ‘Punjab Ka Bitwara 1947: Ek Almiya Hazar Dastanin’, sheds light on the darkness of the Partition of India. There are many enlightening stories.

The barbarity that was shown by the people in Punjab has been recorded in this book, the stories of the messiahs of humanity who saved the lives of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs have also been included.

Former Federal Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Anwar Aziz has told Professor Ishtiaq in an interview about his father how he saved the lives of the women of a Hindu family and later took the rest of them across the border.

Chaudhary hailed from Hoshiarpur (Shakargarh) area of ​​Gurdaspur district of Punjab state, but when the situation became tense, his family moved to Sialkot. A large number of Hindu Brahmins were living in Rehal, a nearby village, who had good relations with Muslims because of their good intentions and sincerity.

When Gurdaspur became part of India and Shakargarh became part of Pakistan, large-scale riots broke out in these areas. When the fire of the riots reached the village of Dehat, a Pandit Ram Saran Sharma of Rehal, who was a scholar of Persian, came to Chaudhry Anwar Aziz’s father with a request for help.

Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmed has written in his book: ‘Panditji was quite worried and worried. Seeing them, our family started crying. Panditji’s connections with our family were good. It was decided that men, women and girls would risk their lives to cross the border.

‘The Hindus wanted to give us their jewels as a reward for saving lives, but my father said there was no need and you should not worry while we were there. He (Panditji) decided to leave seven girls of his family in our house. They were all very beautiful, polite and educated.

Apart from them, we took the remaining women and Hindus with more than 20 young and old people and reached across the river. Wounded Muslims were brought in a boat on our side of the river. The women’s breasts were cut off and they were in great pain.

“When these Muslims came to know that we wanted to take the Hindus safely to the other side, they got angry and tried to attack us, but we foiled their attempt.”

Seven girls from Pandit Ram Saran Sharma’s house stayed at Chaudhary Anwar Aziz’s house for seven months. All kinds of facilities were provided to these girls in this house. They even built a small mud and mud temple in the same house where she used to worship. Later he was also sent to India.

Professor Ashtaq Ahmed has narrated the story of the massacre in Sheikhupura of West Punjab in the form of oral interviews of various characters.

Among them, an interview with Kaval Krishan Tula and Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Vark reveals several instances when Muslims risked themselves to save the lives of Hindus and Sikhs.

In the book of Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed, it is written that by the end of August 1947, about 20 thousand Sikhs and Hindus were brutally killed in Sheikhupura alone. The massacre started when a train full of dead bodies arrived in Lahore from East Punjab.

‘There were some Hindus and Sikhs in riot-affected areas who found it appropriate to kill their women to save them.

Among them, Sardol Singh Vark of a village in Sheikhupura said that we decided to kill our women instead of handing them over to the Muslims. She herself wanted to die an honorable death. However, we beheaded 33 women of our family, some of them were teenage girls.

A Sikh Faqir Singh Vark from Sardol Singh Vark’s family said that I and other Sikhs were rescued by Paran Dutta Arain and taken to his home. God bless Inspector Ghori, he also saved the lives of many Sikhs.’

Prof. Ishtiaq has written that Brigadier Yakub Ali Dogar’s maternal grandfather Chaudhary Moola Bakhsh Dogar saved the lives of countless Sikh women and girls, whose families wanted to kill them for honor and to save them from being kidnapped.

Chaudhary Mola Bakhsh took these women to Sulaimanki border at his own risk.’

Kadarnath Malhotra, who came to India with the refugees after the Partition, told his story and that of other refugees in a 2004 interview with Professor Ishtiaq.

When tension spread in Gujranwala region of Pakistan, hundreds of Sikhs and Hindus were forced to take shelter in a gurdwara, in which Kadarnath’s family also belonged, but this gurdwara was also attacked in which some managed to escape with their lives. gone.

The rest of the children were buried alive in the Gurdwara after they set it on fire. Kadarnath’s father was also among the dead. When there was the first attack, Kadarnath’s father sought help from a Muslim friend of his, Ramzan. He sent his son Javed to Gurudwara.

‘Kadarnath’s father did not want to leave the Gurdwara so only he went to his house with Javed. There his life was protected by this Muslim family by risking their lives.

After staying for a few days, Kadarnath came to Amritsar with the Indian army. Later settled in Delhi and says that I always remember this Muslim family in prayers.

Prof. Ishtiaq writes in his book that a man named Bashira of Sialkot saved a Sikh Sampuran Singh and his father from being killed when a group of Muslim rioters wanted to kill them.

‘Actually Bashira was involved in these riots, but being a neighbor of Sampuran Singh, he shouted to other people that they are under my protection, beware of anyone who touched them, even though the rioters fled from there, but Sampuran Singh’s mother and The sisters had been cremated in the Gurdwara along with others.

‘Sampuran Singh’s father used to treat teeth for free, he also treated Bashira.’

Prof. Ishtiaq has written with reference to Bisham Kumar Bakshi, who migrated to India from Rawalpindi after the partition: ‘During the riots, the Khaksars of Rawalpindi played an outstanding role in saving the Sikhs and Hindus.’

It should be known that before independence, a movement of Muslims was started by the name of ‘Tehreek-e-Khaksar’ whose aim was to free India from the British rule and establish a Muslim government. The khaki uniformed volunteers associated with it were called ‘Khaksar’.

Professor Ishtiaq has written that famous Bollywood actor Sunil Dutt and his family belonged to village Khurd, located twenty kilometers away from Jhelum.

‘His uncle was not only saved by his friend Yaqoob but also brought him safely to the refugee camp.’

After partition, the biggest problem was that of abducted women. Women and girls were abducted and subjected to brutality and brutality. This was the reason why the Sikhs in West Punjab considered it appropriate to beat their women.

Renowned Urdu poet Ada Jafari has narrated the story of Rabia who was one of the girls abducted during the partition of India in her autobiography ‘Jo Rahi So Be Khabar Rahi’.

Before partition, a Sikh used to follow him in the university. When the riots started, Rabia and several girls from her neighborhood were imprisoned by the Sikhs, including the Sikh youth who was chasing Rabia.

When the Sikhs started dividing these girls among themselves, the Sikh who was behind Rabia asked for her from the rest of the people and guarded her throughout the night and said to her, “Don’t worry, I respect you.” Abru is cute, but I can’t leave this room or I’ll be killed by my own people.

When the morning came, the Sikh talked about bringing Rabia home to which she did not agree, she said that the whole night has passed, now what will I do when I go home. So begged him to take you home and give your name.

He was truly in love with Rabia, a Sikh, so he married Rabia after a few days. Rabia became the mother of the man’s three sons with her new name Rahaba.

Professor Ishtiaq writes that after the partition of India, when Gurdaspur came under the custody of India, the feet of the Muslims there were uprooted because they had full hope that this area would become a part of Pakistan.

After the situation changed, a large number of Muslims migrated from there. Chaudhary Muhammad Bashir also went to Pakistan from Gurdaspur with his family.

According to Chaudhry Muhammad Bashir: ‘A Hindu from our village attacked us and we did not take any such action. When we left, Sikh Charan Singh and Dilip Singh from the adjoining village came to see us off at the border. Had they not helped us, things would have been different.’

After the partition of India, people believed that when the riots subsided, they would return to their homes. When Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims started leaving their homes, they gave the keys to their friends or neighbors.

Former journalist, writer and politician Khushwant Singh handed over the keys of his house to a Muslim, which he mentioned in his autobiography.

He migrated from Lahore to Delhi after partition. He had given the key of his house in Lahore to Manzoor Qadir, who was also his very close friend, saying that he would return when the conditions became favorable.

Dilip Singh, an employee of Khushwant Singh, had taken care of the security of the house by staying in Lahore, but the Balawis suspected that a Sikh was hiding in the house.

When the matter dragged on, Manzoor Qadir not only protected Dilip Singh but also transported him across the border.

In this regard, Khushwant Singh writes in his autobiography ‘Sach, Mohabbate Aur Zira Sa Keena’ (translated by Muhammad Ahsan Butt): ‘On the way, I found my Lahore servant Dilip Singh walking along the road.

‘He told me that the mob had come to our house in Lahore. Qadir and his servants hid it on the roof for several days and Manzoor removed my name plate from the main door and replaced it with his own name plate.

But word got out that a Sikh was being sheltered and the attackers wanted to search the house. Manzoor managed to call the police before they broke in.

That night, he hid Dileep in his car and drove him to what was to be the new Indo-Pak border. He gave him money and instructed him to travel by train from Amritsar to Kalka.’