Virtual Memorial to Victims of India's Partition in 1947

So far, we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to persuade the governments of India and Pakistan to build a suitable JOINT memorial, at Wagah border-crossing, to ALL the victims of India’s Partition in 1947.

Therefore, this year, as a part of our India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008 campaign, we have set up this virtual memorial.

We are using a blog format to allow an unlimited number of authors to add their contributions.

We invite you to use it to add the names, pictures, and brief stories of victims from your family along with their pre-Partition location, as well as your own name and current location.

If you accept this invitation, please write to ihs@ionet.net with a request to add you to the list of authorized contributors. You will be notified as soon as your name has been added.

Even without becoming a contributing author you can, of course, use the comments feature to add names of victims immediately.

Please direct additional questions, comments, and concerns to the undersigned at asiapeace@comcast.net

Also be sure to visit www.indiapakistanpeace.org to read about India-Pakistan Peace Day celebrations in previous years, and www.asiapeace.org for information about us.

Best wishes,

Members & Directors
Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA)

Comments

[Pritam K. Rohila]

A Partition-Related Tragedy at Rupar, Punjab, India

When I was 11, in 1947, my family and I lived in the Indian Punjab town of Rupar, in a second story apartment close to the Muslim part of town.

Communal tensions increased considerable as the Partition approached. Anti Muslim feeling was fanned by the local Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh leaders, who advised people not to patronize Muslim businesses. The feeling was augmented by the pathetic tales of Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan, who had started trickling into our town.

Muslims living in predominantly Hindu-Sikh neighborhoods started migrating to the predominantly Muslim area. In the process, one afternoon, two Muslim men were attacked in our street. One died instantly. The other one played dead, and sprinted to the safety of the Muslim area, as soon as his assailants walked away.

Every night, for several nights, from the roof of our building, we watched Muslim homes in neighboring villages being set afire. The residents were forced to seek refuge in Rupar, swelling its Muslim population by several hundreds.

Fearing attack by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in our neighborhood gathered bottles filled with nails and lime on their roofs. In the event of an attack, the bottles were to be partially filled with water, shaken, and thrown at the assailants below.

Early in the morning, one day, the Sub-Divisional Officer, with loudspeakers mounted on a jeep, moved through the Muslim area. He announced that an attack on the Muslims by a large group of Hindus and Sikhs had been imminent. He told them that he could no longer assure their safety. But he promised them military escort to the town of Sirhind, where they could board a train to Pakistan.
Feeling no longer safe, many even before they could have the first meal of the day, the Muslims decided to leave their homes and go to Pakistan. They gathered a few of their most precious possessions, and came into the streets. In a long procession, they walked along the Sirhind Canal, to a temporary camp on the outskirts of the town.

As the Muslims were leaving their homes, a mob of Hindus and Sikhs started looting the abandoned homes. They made off with whatever each one could lay his hands on.

On a rainy morning, a few days later, the Muslims were ordered to move. Followed by a military escort, they started marching on foot in the hope of boarding a train to Pakistan at Sirhind, about 30 miles away.

A couple of miles later, the military escort suddenly disappeared and a mob of Hindus and Sikhs attacked the Muslims. In panic they started running helter-skelter, to save their lives some. In the process many discarded their possessions on the road.

Some Muslim women and girls were abducted. A large group of Muslims was cornered by the mob in a muddy field. Surrounded by the assailants armed with swords, and they backed in to a large heap. The attackers pulled them off the heap one by one, and killed them.

Later, I discovered that some of Muslims residents of Rupar had made it safely to Pakistan.
For several weeks there were daily news reports of communal atrocities from both sides of the new border.

I apologize to the victims and their families that neither I, nor my elders and our leaders did enough to ensure safety of the victims and prosecution of the perpetrators. I bow my head in shame.

As a founding member of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (www.asiapeace.org), since 1993, I am committed to the nonviolent resolution of all disagreements and conflicts.

Pritam Rohila