"My grandfather was a Sikh too at one time. And then 1947 happened." She says it with glazed eyes. 1947- a year that wrote the lives and deaths of countless people. A year soaked in blood and tears. For people who have witnessed this man- made disaster, it brings back blood chilling screams and distraught memories. Homes of years left for an unknown life in a nation as alien as the one that caused this divide.
"He saw his entire family slaughtered and escaped thanks to his dead mother sheltering him with her own body. The assailants left feeling satisfied that kafir blood was spilt avenging the massacre of many muslim brothers in Agra. He wondered why they chose the brothers living hundreds of miles away over them, with whom they had broken bread on numerous occasions. But his young mind was all muddled up. He wiped his eyes with his grubby hands and got up. He cried for his family. The hardest part was leaving them to rot without a proper cremation. But having no choice he ran as fast as his legs could and reached the house of Maulvi Sahib. For him, the old cleric was the farishta, his grandmother always told stories of. The cleric's home served as a refuge for many. But the way forward was only to denounce his faith and blend in with the masses. Maulvi Sahib understood the pain, but had no choice other than to cut the kesh he had pledged to the Guru. Life was never the same for my grandfather." This is the story of hundreds and thousands on both sides of the border. Religious fanaticism uprooted friendships and brotherhood that had been a hallmark of secular Hindustan since the time of Akbar, the Great. There were incidents in history where the divide was visible, but never had it been so clear. The compatriotship which threatened the mighty British Empire had to be broken and along with came the divide which till now etches itself on every child's mind from the moment he first sees a cricket match between the two neighbours.
" Born a Sikh, raised a muslim, he eventually converted to Christianity, which too did not give him the salvation he was after. My grandmother was a Hindu and she too was left behind by her family when they fled to India. She was lucky enough to be raised by the Sisters of Charity in the orphanage attached to the church in Lahore. How they met, I don't remember, but it was love at first sight. Love that broke all boundaries of caste and religion in the strict Islamic state. Knowing the turmoil he had gone through and was still undergoing, my grandfather forbade my grandmother from converting to Islam in order to marry him. Instead, once again he tried to find salvation in the love of his new bride and the new adopted faith. Life had it's crests and troughs, but my family could not think of a better life. Religion had united them, but it was love that guided them on. Terror struck again when the fundamentalist gained strength and being a minority- Christian, Hindu or Sikh was the bane of everyone's existence. What could we do? Where could we go?"
This story stands status quo on both sides of the border. September 2013 in Pakistan was a black day when the two simultaneous suicide attacks on the historic All Saints church in Peshawar left more than 80 dead and 100 wounded. On this side of the border, one has seen the 1984 massacre of the Sikhs, the 1992 Bombay Riots,the 2002 Gujarat Riots and the latest in the string, Muzaffarnagar riots of August 2013- all in the name of religion. With 2013 seeing a dynamic election scenario in Pakistan and 2014 for India being a very crucial year, both countries or better still all the governments across the world need to look at fanaticism on the basis of caste, religion, creed and colour. Is it fair to be given the tag of minority in one's own country? Do we need commissions and bodies to set up separate rules for these so called minorities or is each citizen entitled to the same privileges, rights and standard?
(These thoughts came about after an interesting conversation with a Christian refugee from Pakistan and are also influenced by the latest news and so called analysis in the run towards the upcoming Indian Elections)
Artika Aurora Bakshi
24th November,2013