Just watching a documentary of an Asian Indian actor tracing her roots. And then the documentary talked about her Grand Uncle and his family being massacred on a train as they fled from the newly created Pakistan. She even met her great aunt who was on that train when she was 20, but somehow survived. Why do I feel a stab of pain each time I hear or see anything on the partition of India ? I am a partition baby, but I don’t really remember anything… but after all these years, whenever I see people from the other side of the border speaking Punjabi, looking and speaking exactly like my grandfather, I can’t help shedding tears …
….. why did we allow this to happen ? What happened to us that we became such barbarians ? Ruthlessly massacring one million men, women and children on both sides. Ten million people became refugees, causing the greatest mass migration of people in known history.
I escape into blaming the British. Not willing to accept that I carry the genes of the people of Punjab that did this. My culture, my genes. How could you take a sword to an innocent child and ruthlessly run it through her heart ? Could I do that in those circumstances…
.. so I escape. Escape into the politics of that time. I hate Mountbatten who came home as a hero, lauded for the fact that not a single British life was lost at that time. Who cared about a million Indian Hindus and Muslims ? In my mind I rebuke Nehru and Jinnah for standing on their ego’s, unable to compromise their personal desires to be the first Prime Minister of India.
But it was not the British that did all the killing. It was us. Our forefathers.
My parents were in Lahore where my mother went to Kinaird (spelling ?) College. My father to the Government College in Lahore, and then the Medical College. After partition my family came to the newly formed India as refugees. But my father went back because there were not enough doctors to treat the wounded and the dying.
I would often talk to my father about that time, and I would see the pain on his face. About his muslim friends lost in time. Friends with whom he stood shoulder to shoulder as they took the Hippocratic Oath. But the very friends that were too afraid to give him morphine to treat the wounded, just in case the raging, raving crowds found out they were helping the Hindus. And years later as I would go along on my scooter to my University in Delhi, I was shown a spot in Paharganj where apparently muslim women and children were thrown alive in a burning bonfire.
My mother would recoil at talking about that time. Except for the memories of the drains around the houses filled with Kerosene and put on fire. But she would soon escape into the memories of better times. Of when Lahore was the cultural capital of Asia. Lahore was still the greatest city to anyone that had lived there.
Years later I went to Lahore. To record the music for Bandit Queen with the amazing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I remember walking into the local recording studios where a large orchestra suddenly broke out in the theme music from Mr India and songs from Masoom to welcome me to Lahore. It was a moment I will always remember.
I went to Kinaid College. Where my mother went. I saw shy girls, giggling as they recognized me, looking so beautiful in flowing Salwar Kameez’s. I tried to imagine my mother as one of them. I saw her as a pretty young girl who passed me, and then looked back and smiled that eternal smile my mother always used to have. Everywhere I walked I imagined myself as one of everyone.
And I wondered, what turned us all into such beasts ?
Shekhar
Hi Shekhar,
I was born much later than the Partition. Though I have watched quite a lot of movies based on partition including Gandhi and 1947 Earth, I have never really felt the pain untill I read this blog post. It was a very touching post, and I could imagine the pain which could have gone through the millions of people.
manju
i wanty
whath is your name my name is shinka
name may fther is shaekh ali name may mather is carlo ungaro
CONNECT TIPU SULTANS LIFE HISTORY AND PHOTOS OF TIPU SULTAN
If anybody has gone thru strobe talbot’s book-
“Diplomacy,Democracy and the Bomb” about
India ,Jaswant Singh,UPA of the 1998-2002 and the
Pokhran tests he/she would know that the whole
world considers Punjab under the maximum risk
areas as Nuclear flashpoints.This after being at
the recieving end for almost a millineum.
When will someone really recognize Punjab.The
land which after such adversity was still able to
produce lovers like Sohni-mahiwaal,Heer-Ranjha
and Laila-majnu.
One Jesus Christ was tortured and a religion was
born.If one could just even briefly check thru
the severity of the tortures met by Punjabis at
the hands of invaders of all hews and colours
one could expect a thousand religions.But they
all happily accepted torture of the highest degree
(being sawed alive,childeren being placed alive
in brick walls,getting their scalps removed,
getting cut bone by bone,boiled in cauldrons
alive,fathers being made to eat the raw flesh of
their own childeren and forced to swallow their
small bleeding hearts etc.-I will throw up if I
continued,I haven’t yet because we have been
hearing these stories from birth-but last week
when I saw the panaroma of the torture in the
Ajaib ghar at Harimandir sahib it all welled up
inside me) just for their peaceful and freedom
loving beliefs.
All they ever ment was -‘yes we too believe that Allah is Great and their is only one God but please dont try to force upon us what we must do to please Him. Let us independantly love and fear Him in our own customs and ways.For when a person looses one’s legitimate freedom one looses ones spirit.And without the spirit one becomes the living dead.
The invaders knew this and so to break the collective spirit of the people of Punjab they divised the ultimate forms of torture.
The Partition was just the apparent tip of the iceberg.
*******
With the domestic situation in Pakistan getting
critical and Pakistan naming its highly capable
missiles as Gauri, Gazni and Abdali should we not
even be telling the world what these names mean
to us.
Punjabis are just ridiculed for their hot
blooded and quarrelsome nature but no one wants
to look at their wounds.
Should a responsible modern nation state not take care of the sensitivities of their neighbours in their policy decisions?
Imagine had we not parted from Pakistan what would have been the condition of our polity given their record of democracy.
Wouldn’t you say it was rather the farsightedness of Nehru that we have the India we have now-slow but steady(although now we can’t even call it slow anymore).
Dear Mr Harpreet
We appreciate your enthusiasm in posting your comments and views on myriad topics; Having said that, I feel-and Iam sure some other posters too- that you are now using Shekhar’s blog to only propogate what you want to, even if that’s completely irerelevant to topics discussed here. I request you to please stop spamming this blog ….
We are here to have a intelligent conversation with Shekhar..
hai
i want the exact name of the person who handover the independence to india…
huun.
thanks dev, for being polite.
point taken.
“Partition” tho har pehlu meh har rung meh har taraf se ho jaaya karti hai, insaan ke banaye asool, kya ye asool jayaz hai? Agar na jayaz hai tho ineh jayaz bananeh ka haq kisne diya? Kyu diya?
“Principals of life cowards did frame”
Chalti hu, na janeh aapke expressions parke kaha pahunch jaathi hu…
Bye
School meh har subject meh fail hui thi lool, spell errors ko nazar anadaaz kar de, aur mere language command ko bhi, koi ek bhaasha thik se nahi bol paathi hu.
Smile
I sincerely appreciate your thoughts on partition and “ego of Nehru and Jinnah” for which two nations have to bear the blunt(and still are..)….You should work on script to show our national leaders on the contemporary scene. Something on the lines of Bal gangadhar tilak didn’t personally like Gandhi’s ideology and differences between Gandhi and Netaji on Freedon struggle.
I live/reside in USA and after coming here, it interested me a lot about my history and country’s pride. I have been reading a lot about the politics behind freedom struggle and how every other freedom fighter was forgotten by the whole nation, other than Gandhi’s name.
I am a aspiring filmmaker/artiste myself looking to enter the arena once my financial liabilities are fulfilled. Please feel free to check my website http://www.idlefilms.com
Good Luck.
Suresh Matta
http://www.idlefilms.com
chilldesi@gmail.com
Dear Shekhar,
Visited your blog for the first time.
Was touched by your partition horror tales.
I have been living in Dubai for sometime.
I find there is greater acceptance of what happened 60 years ago here and both Indians and Pakistanis wanting to put it behind us –
‘Jo hua so hua’.
What could we be doing together in culture, comedy, commerce et al.
In my view we need the intellectually evolved internationalists like you to engage in projects that can help make that a reality.
You worked with Nusrat Saheb in the 90’s on Bandit Queen. Can we expect more joint projects in the future?
Regards,
Gaurav
Harpreet, Hello. 🙂
Your posts are interesting.
Thank u very much dear Neeta,
I almost felt unwanted after what Dev had to say.
thanks again.
yup harpreet….ur posts r gr8…especially the “Chronology of British Raj”. gud work…but i think Dev only meant giving others a chance too and understanding their viewpoint.
On Obama’s election stance:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20070536/
http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/obama-vows-to-hunt-down-terrorists/20070801105409990001
Should(‘nt)India be concerned?
International relations is such a ‘balance of power’act.
Is the ‘American Empire’ thesis correct as many like to put it?
Should only older(assumingly wiser) people be holding power for their ability to see beyond the immediately apparent?
Dear dev,
I hope I am not annoying u again.
what would be the purpose of discussing Partition if we don’t get to the root of the event.And also if we do not comprehend where Partition actually stands in the global political scheme of things both historically and contemporarily.
Partition indeed was a big jolt.we need to go beyond scratching the surface.
*******
Its as if an eruption has occured on a person’s skin and we discuss how the epidermal cells of the skin seperated rather than trying to understand what caused the eruption.
Healing has more to do with understanding the root cause.And ultimately HEALING should be our PURPOSE.
Gochcha Adi.
thanks.
shekar the partion i remember is through your dads personal assistant my grand mami our aunt as we parsis call mrs italia when she was with your dad at lady hardinge medical college. even though i was born on indiras birthday 1973. the people to blame for the violence was fellow indians but the seeds of splitting into 3 separate states goes back to 1912 when the stalin of the victorian raj lord curzon split bengal my home state into two east and west . shekar it was the bengalis who lit the fire for independece. fast forward to 1933 churchill had extreme racist white supremacist views on indians blacks orientals slavs, arabs and spics. churchill and the british governing raj had planned to split india way back in 1933 before jinnah was on the scene the british created the muslim league to counter the hindu declassified material shows that churchill the bigot wanted to give muslim india full power churchill was fond of saying these wogs are incapable of getting their act together. if we are so incapable why is david cameron gordon brown and that ugly rundi kahi kaa thatcher asking for a special relationship with us wogs.the ever opertunistic angrezi sahib . by the way mountbaten neice ms india hicks now wants to live in india . she said something about kolkota being a dreaded place i remember she is interested in helping the poor ha haaaa .
There is something very interesting to note about the ‘subsidiary alliance’ business of the British:
The british made their almost bloodless expansion thru subsidiary alliance in the following chronology-
1.Nizam of Hyderabad(1798)
2.Mysore(1799)
3.Avadh(1801)
4.Peshwa Baji Rao II(1802)
5.Bhonsle(1803)
6.Scindia(1803)
7.Holkars(1818)
Not Punjab…Never.They did try to subvert Dilip Singh after his father Ranjit Singh’s death. But the Punjabis saw thru and waged the 1st Anglo-Sikh war.
they say out of bad sometimes there may be good
partitions is one such thing
millions of hindus/sikhs/muslims sufferd in ways we cannot imagine,
but think for a momments if our sikhs/hindu brother and sister were still in pakistan now, imagine their state with all this terrosrist organisation (religious) in pak or west paunjab , sind nwfp if u please,
if there was no partitions we would have been slaughtered in the above places as well as in india proper, it would be a civil war all over the subcontinent from kaynakumari to the afgan border, as muslims would be almost 50% in united india, we would possible lose kashmir,delhi, hyderabad, parts of up, whole of bengal and punjab,assam, maybe we would have got moth eaten india, god its a frightning thought
it is well proven that muslims once they are in substantial nos they want a seperate country, law ect, (philipines/kashmir/thailand/chechen)
as long as they are minority 10/15% they are manageable, once they are 30% + god help that country,
imagine they also dream of londistan(the brits deserve it though)
muslims love to fight, if there are no hindus/sikhs/christains/jews, well no problem, they will fight among themself, shia sunni ect,
if ther are no clear enemys then they will declare some sect as non muslim (ahmadiya/ismailli) and kill them
our secularism is strange, when hindus raise their voice its fundementalism, yesterday a MLA (muslim)in hyderabad openly threatend Taslima (Bengali write) with death , what is our secular govt doing?
In ndtv there was a programme yesterday, the question was what was indias greatest shame, guess waht was the answer breaking of Babri Masjid,
what about the 100 of temples broken in Kashmir, well that is secular pride
i am a minority but i have no clash of interest with being 100% indian my loyalty lies with india, not any other country because of my religion
when i read about partitions, i always wished it was peaceful, with hindus/shikhs coming to india amd muslims going peacefully to pakistan,
about jinnah/nehru/gandhi less said the better, though to be fair for 17 yera nehru did follow the constitutions rule of laws ect which benifetted india, but also kept us in poverty bec of socialism, he should have opened the economy selectively, Gandh an over blown clown,)a good person is not necessay a good leader) was good in some ashram not politis, freedom we would get with or without him,
so in a nut shell partition was a good thing whch came about in a bad way
my state was not even part of india during independence, we got it much later
sorry for my rambling, cant help it
kya kare hindustan ke liya dil dhadak tha hai
SALAM> PAKISTAN WAS NOT FOR INDIN MUSLIMS> PAKISTAN FOR PAKISTANIES MEANS> PATHANS, BALUCH, SINDHI, KASHMIRI, AND PUNJABI, WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM INDIANS< BECAUSE 90% INDIANS LOOK LIKE AFRICANS.
ITS MEAN YOU ARE NOT GIVING PLACE TO PAKISTANI PEOPLE > YOU M ARE MAKING FRAUD AGAINST PAKISTAN AND PAKISTANI PEOPLE> WHY YOU INDIANS PLAY DRAMAS ALWYAS?
BEINGA PAKISTANI I LOVE BABUR AND GHOURI> THEY WHERE OUR FOREFATHERS>
GANDHI IS GREAT LEADER
Hi people,
I’m one of those dreaded Brits I keep reading about. I was interested in Partition and have been reading up about it and thought you might be interested in an anglo point of view.
Whatever the wrongs of colonialism, imperialism and the Raj, I don’t see that Partition is an evil to be laid at the British door.
The government wanted out in as simple a way as possible. If muslims and hindus had said “We want to stay together” then The Queen would have signed off on that, or a federal state, or whatever.
Sure the British planning was appalling, the line drawing arbitrary and the underlying colonial attitudes were racist but what else could they have done?
I have read no credible counter-factual proposition that could have got the British out with less conflict.
But as one of the previous posts said – what worse outcomes might there have been without Partition?
Finally, I agree wholeheartedly that peoples who were colonised by the British empire suffered all over the world at the hands of racist exploiters. But my family (and the vast majority of Brits) didn’t benefit from it. My ancestors worked under inhuman conditions in mines and factories or were forced to fight and die in wars of empire.
Only a very small minority of people were active in colonialism and an even smaller number actually benefited from it. We weren’t all sahibs sipping tea on the verandah!
All I’m saying is, if you have to blame someone, don’t blame the ordinary British people, blame the elite. In all countries.
thank u, hackit for ur very honest post. I do believe that the British empire, like so many other colonial empires, were built not only on the backs of the colonized, but also on the backs of their own working class or down trodden people. The Elite brain washed so many of the people in the ‘name of Queen and country’ but essentially to their own benefit.
I do disagree with you on their being no option to the partition of India. There are always tensions between different races and people in this world. But each society learns to live with those tensions developing their own natural release of the ‘pressure valves’. Colonization polarizes the people by removing the natural checks and balances that have developed over centuries, and therefore create conflict where there was none.
Imagine somene (chinese ?) colonizing the US. And then playing upon the divisions between Black and White. Creating and exaggerating conflict between them. And then at the end of a 200 year rule, dividing the country arbitarily between a black nation and a white nation. I wuld bet that there would be much blood shed at that time if (say) NY was suddenly declared all white and Chicago was declared all black,
shekhar
Wait till 2 or 3 countries comes out of Iraq.
Big Uncle(USA)is working on dividing it too now. More shops in the market is good for the big suppliers to do business and creating imbalance on different parts of the world will make, the most powerful into supreme power.
Even in this war all the people who lost their lives are working class or down trodden people. Weather they were British, American or from the allied countries or Iraqis.
Even HERE “The Elite brain washed so many of the people in the ‘name of WAR OF PEACE”(what a joke) but essentially to their own benefit.
Pray for peace!
sanjay
Have look on this news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6947886.stm
This is just one of thousands causalities. All This is the prep ration or the seed for A division again.”EK AUR PARTITION”(one more partition),with in one community.
Now do we have Hindu Muslim problem here…???
Humans just want to live peacefully Shia and Sunni’s don’t have any problem,Cause the main problem for everyone is to survive….in this extremely competitive world.
“PROBLEMS DOES NOT EXIST THEY ARE ALWAYS CREATED FOR A MOTIVE.” And that motive is always MONEY or POWER.NOne of the war in the world so far was without these 2 reasons….If you can find please let me know!
Trying for solution!
Sanjay
Quiet a thought Shekhar.
*******
There you are: ‘pressure valves’.Thats what I think films can be in the 21st century.
Empathy and conscious closure to conflicts after making an effort to understand the others viewpoint and making emotional concessions where due.
Films can lay a foundation for that.
*******
I am not saying films need be made in a fashion that requires permissions from the extreme elements or fundamentalists of any religion or state or any division.This will make the task impossible.
Nor do I think that they have to be accurate historical documents.films can be made intelligently and sensitively. Something representing the bare spirit of what happened from all different viewpoints.Obviously all camps had a reason to do what they did(even God was made the banner to forward a reason).And a collection of these intermingling/superimposing deeds is history.
The moot question is can an intelligent and empathatic set of people from all camps be collected.And can they make themselves to agree upon a collective (evenif with different POVs) expression of history,the contemporary world and where they would want it to go(which could include even agreeing to live with diversity while sensing unity in it)?
If this is not possible in a bunch of modern youthful empathising sensitive intelligensia what should we expect of the rest.And if its possible shouln’t the result of this globo-social experiment be put on screen?
The warmth of your embrace is still felt
when the winds come from where you live
The thought of you and me in the green lush
fields makes me smile.
The river of emotion overflows
and the clouds in the eyes shower
You and me …
We once lived in a paradise
where there were tales of love
and the winds sang the glories of friendship
How is it then my friend?
That the blood running in our viens
turned the rivers of love red and filled them with hate?
And the lush green fields turned to graveyards?
Look there is blood on the ground
is it yours or mine?
There’s a child on the corner of the street, crying
how would he be killed, by whom
will it be decided by what verse he chooses to read?
you and me…
We once lived in a paradise
where every child pledged to die for his friend
How is it then that now
there is this line of fire between us?
Leaving both the sides with nothing
But burning them to ashes…
You and me….
Hi Shekhar Ji,
This is for you… this poem is inspired by your thoughts.. take care
Traveller
“PAKISTAN WAS NOT FOR INDIN MUSLIMS> PAKISTAN FOR PAKISTANIES MEANS> PATHANS, BALUCH, SINDHI, KASHMIRI, AND PUNJABI”
There was no Pakistan before partition….there was only India…if partition was not on religious lines, why were the hindus and sikhs driven out of the northern regions…they didnt look african…they looked like any other north indian..
“WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM INDIANS< BECAUSE 90% INDIANS LOOK LIKE AFRICANS.”
people like u cannot complain of racism, because u deserve to be ill treated on racist lines.
Assume that the struggle in kashmir today is legitimate and it gets independence….now, after independence whose role would be more significant–the hurriyat’s or the national conference’s. the national conference is only just an extension of indian government. Similar was the Indian national congress. it was a substandard part of the ruling british government then. They didnt even have home rule in their demands when it was formed. it was only added later on. The congress’ role was very important in government formation but not in freedom struggle. we all know that the british left the country…we didnt drive them out. the congress was only a roadblock in freedom struggle…it was never an instrument.
Well guys this one is going to be a dampener for anti-colonization national zealots.
I am doing this in response to the honest ordinary-anglo view put forward by our friend hackit.And also as always to balance things with truth when they seem to be getting carried away in one direction with emotion.
So here it goes…
Even peoples of the Indian sub-continent in both BC and 1st millenium AD eras colonized southeast Asia.
I would recommend(probably a revision) of Nehru’s ‘Discovery of India’ for a brief and interesting browsing of Indian history from the first PM himself.
King Shailendra of the Indian peninsula was quite the ‘british Queen’ type monarch for Sumatra and Java Islands.Indian rulers did have a vast and subverting influence (cultural,trade and otherwise)in those times in countries we today call Malaysia,Laos,Cambodia and everything in between.This is how Ramayana and Mahabharata got there.
***
Secondly, we cannot ignore the fact that Britain had become very weak after WW2.It had to leave anyway.All it was doing was to aquiese to the contemporary leaders of all sides just to maintain better relations with them later when they would hold power in the would-be Independant India & Pak.
Shekhar, I don’t think britain at the time really had the leveraging power to act ideally.It was just too worried about its own future relations here.
Given the kind of ‘bigger than life’ public images leaders of both would-be India and Pak had built over the decades and the kind of following they had, it was almost impossible for the weak and quitting colonisers to force their will on them even if they had better options than partition in mind.
As u once urself said we shouldn’t forget “there is no them but only us”.
Shekhar, we know how scripts can look so good on paper but filming becomes a whole new game.So goes with cold analysis in private environs of real events with documents and archives at hand.
Once film-planning and filming starts many real factors come into play. Reality always has certain surprise elements which none beforehand can decipher.As u once mentioned probably the best solution at times is to not direct at all and let the eternal flow takeover.
Real political events are incomparably bigger in scope,spectrum and quantum than films and obviously much more real and long-lasting in both cause and effect. Can we even imagine how they are or could be directed?
Politics itself being a science or art is a big debate.
***
I might not have many supporters but I believe future can only be built on the shoulders of the giants of the past.Its easy to say who was wrong or at fault in the past but Universe was serving the past with the same equanimity as today.
An interesting example comes out of the attitude of Einstein towards Newton and colleagues when he proved classical physics wrong with the discovery of quantum physics.He appreciated the ‘Shoulders of the Giants’ on whose bold foundation could he aspire to jump and envisage further even if in the process he proved them wrong for particle physics.
Stephen hawking took from Eintein to prove Space and time themselves to be non-liner and curvable.
The greatest thing about Quntum physics is that reality is dependant upon the observer.The West has just reached where the East began.
I’m sure I seem apparently impertinent but I couldn’t be more on course.
thanks guys for bearing me for now for u’ll enjoy me in times to come.
Bhagwan,
well i know the letter starts off with Dear,but that is western form.We in east regard everybody as God which is far more valuable because God is dearest and everything reminds that you are a GOD who has gorgotten himself.
bhagwan, i think you have given indian cinema the best movies it can have,then i also think what’s stopping you to rule the industry.ok i will be very precise….straight to the point.
Have you seen “The Passion of the Christ”?? if not then please do yourself a favour and watch.then please click n the link i am sending you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_the_Christ
look at its budget and gross profit worldwide.the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
punchline is IT WASNT IN ENGLISH.
cant we make an indian movie,the highest grossing R rated foreign language movie,when i think about this and only one name rings in my head “Shekhar Kapur”.
i know iam not the first one to tell you but after reading this if you think even by 1% that i am right then please give me a chance,give me the opportunity to meet you,i have an idea.
please give me 15 minutes of your precious time.
bhagwan,
i stay in glasgow,which is not very far from london,i will be there at any time u call me,please 15 minutes,thts all i ask.
i am posting this letter in various sections,to get your attention,if it annoys you,i am reaaly sorry ,i beg your pardon ,but i dnt have choice,just for a second think of yourself when u were 22 an amaeteur,in memory of those days,please give me a chance.
take care.
– Kapil Janakrai Rajyaguru
Yup Kapil,
Last weekend I got the opportunity to watch Mel’s Apoclipto and Naseer’s Parzania.
While the former being in the native language with English subtitles only hightened its effect,the latter was shallowed by opting for English dialouges in a very very emotionally critical subject(after all the effort it still seemed like putting up an act).
Aditraya
its like cutting a chocolate cake into two peices and then saying that the other peice is black current… it will never be black current … it will always be chocolate… There have been number of instances when there have been fights in India on the name of religion but none have gone so far…. and they are not meant to …
a mistake is not corrected by another mistake.. is it?… nobody is meant to treat anybody in a racists manner…
Come on guys atleast now stop fighting for something which actually should’nt have had happened… atleast now understand that so many people have lost their loved ones and at times themselves in this fight…
Lets walk towards union ….
shekhar ji … am still waiting for your views on the poem which was dedicated to you especially…
Traveller
Mr yaz.
u are proud od babar ghouri ect ect
do you know who the first muslimm were, during the islamic invasion, they were the children od raped womenns,
is your family name same as babbar/ghouri, oops no
wonder y not, maybe babbar/ghouri your fore father forgot to marry your fore grandmother, oops what a thought
let me put it straight, read the true history not what u get in pak, or even India,
the first invasion in india(Sind) from arab land 100s of 1000s of women were raped, men killed, and taken into slavery,
the one who kissed the invaders ass became muslim, the one who did not remained Hindus
now i wonder which side your ancesstor belonged
peaceful islam to a certain extent was in south kerala ect, smae like christanity, which was ther before europe became christain
please dont be proud of rapist and killers, be proud of the sufis they were holy affcouse your godfather saudi does not beleive in them
now mr salam, pak for kashmiri/afgan/panjabis/sindis ect
y did you throw out the sindhis/panjabis (hindus,sikhs) the hindu sindhis are much more fairer the the muslim sindhis
i meet lots of pakis(pathans/punjabis)god they stink, the pathan do not have a bath,
now dont say i am racist, ask the lahori or a person from karachi, they will tell u the same,
now bangle were not paks so u threw them out in 1971, what u going to do abot the mohajirs, they are dark
do u hae the guts to throw them out, try is and pak is history, offcourse as indian we will give them moral support to them same like u guys give the kashmiri that would be nice
i dont think balouchi are pak, are they bec u guys a slaughtering them
guys think bef u write,
ITS MEAN YOU ARE NOT GIVING PLACE TO PAKISTANI PEOPLE > YOU M ARE MAKING FRAUD AGAINST PAKISTAN AND PAKISTANI PEOPLE> WHY YOU INDIANS PLAY DRAMAS ALWYAS?
BEINGA PAKISTANI I LOVE BABUR AND GHOURI> THEY WHERE OUR FOREFATHERS
SALAM> PAKISTAN WAS NOT FOR INDIN MUSLIMS> PAKISTAN FOR PAKISTANIES MEANS> PATHANS, BALUCH, SINDHI, KASHMIRI, AND PUNJABI, WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM INDIANS< BECAUSE 90% INDIANS LOOK LIKE AFRICANS.
traveller, interesting poem.
What experience inspired you to write this…would you share it with us?
Cinda
I have been watching the India 2007 programmes on BBC with great interest as well. What I love about those is British are trying to know more about us than we about our country.
The way BBC are making films is easygoing, unconventional, talking about things which I have never seen on Indian TV and at the same time, Sanjeev Bhaskar is being very funny.
Great film making.
Prasad
I have been watching the India 2007 programmes on BBC with great interest as well. What I love about those is British are trying to know more about us than we about our country.
The way BBC are making films is easygoing, unconventional, talking about things which I have never seen on Indian TV and at the same time, Sanjeev Bhaskar is being very funny.
Great film making.
Prasad
Another funny thing as i can imagine is that Pakistan named its missiles gauri,gazni and abdali after they thought India named its missile Prithvi in Prithvi raj Chauhans name whereas India had only named them as Air,water,earth(prithvi),fire and ether
I was a 12yr old school boy studying with Hindo and Sikh boys.Our house was in Bhimsain street, behind Lala Bhimsain building on Ferozepur road in Ichhra Lahore.Mohalla Arya samaj was 4 minutes walk.Our neighbours were (sharing a wall)Amrik singh and house opposite was Arjan Singh.My favourite shop uncle was Desraj, who always gave me a “raori”.So i had a good feel of living in pre-partition Lahore.I remember wearing a V made of aluminum given to all students when WW2 victory was being celebrated.It might be of interest to know what history was taught to Natives in India.Not what India was before British arrived, but Mary Queen of scot, war of roses!!etc.As communities we had irritations at Muharram,or dosehra, but it passed of better in some than other localities.The inhumanities the Raj inflicted on us all meant we all wanted them out.But our leaders while talking of welfare of community persued personal agendas.They could not think of the reasons for co-operation now talked about.Poor communicatins lack of newspaper or radio,s in every house , meant word of mouth transmission of news.India being such a big country ,peoples knowldge was limited to their area only &no way to timely counter a wrong uttered.I am sorry to have rambled on away from the point i wantd to make. What will be the nature of partition and how will it impact the life of average citizen??My elders were not sure and may be not many were.I will share a conversation between my Dehli resident police officer uncle just transfered to Lahore and my school teacher father.Uncle asking my father if he should shift his bank account to Lahore from Chandni chowk?My father saying there is no need as even he has not shifted his insurrace branch from Bombay. When uncle Amrik sing wanted my father to take care of the house till he returned after riots subside.It will certainly of interest that visa, passport regime was not there for almost 7-8 years after partition.!We must conquer the pain and be like elder and younger brothers who did not wish to live under one roof.My comment has dragged on, but i want to share a comment by our ship chaplin on a Royal Navy ship.All Roman catholics and Indian/Pakistani boys had to leave when church of England worship was to start.While they would sing hyms we(indian and Pakistani)would sing Indian film songs.Our Padri would say despite being from two countries “you sing the same hyms!We can and must move on.When my generation departs, we will view each other as we deal with each other, in the subcontinent or away.
Shekhar jee,
I know you have millions of fans all over the world, I am one of them. I fell in love with you when i saw you acting in Hindi film “Falak”. I am from Lahore. My father also is a big fan of yours. You have written an excellent article. You are different from the ordinary people, you are special, why? because you speak the truth. We all know what the truth is but we are afraid to speak. Thanks for throwing light on this burning issue. I salute you!
Regards,
S. Ahmed
Lahore
sir,
i am a big fan of your creativity,, now i am a jornalsit, my age is 30, at present i am working as a editior with rajasthan patrika newspaper, i am so much interested in script writing and direction. at these age how can i start learn all this things.. can u suggest me way..
Thanks Cinda,
I wrote this sometime ago this year… though i was not even born when this happened. I feel rather than trying to avoid fights and rifts people are still moving towards it….strongly disagree with Eric & Adityaraya ,… Pakistan was made just because of ego & hipocracy of a few politicians… Hindustaan was never ment to be India & Pakistan… it was one… and in many hearts will be one…
Traveller
Dear Qaisar,
Interesting view. Whether partition was wrong or right can be a matter of debate. But after partition we must view partition as two brothers who didnt want to live under one roof. forgetting the past and our differences is the only way forward. just hope our leaders and the people find some sense and understand this simple thing.
Hello Mr. Kapur,
My name is Ali, my family is from Lahore as well. Sir, have you have thought of making a film on Un-divided Punjab. Comparing both the pre-partition Punjab and Post-partition Punjab. Basing it in Lahore, i mean Lahore has such as rich culture; sufism, bhangra, agriculture, islam, hinduism, sikhism.
If you think its is apealing, I think I have concept. I would love to present it to you.
Regards,
Ali