Savage Harvest: Stories of Partition by Mohinder Singh Sarna

Author:Mohinder Singh Sarna [Sarna, Mohinder Singh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788129130433
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Published: 2013-08-31T18:30:00+00:00

Sikhism

hough it was called Mughal Chak, the village belonged to Sikhs. There were very few Mughals, meaning Muslims, who lived there; those who did were all landless labourers who tilled the lands and harvested the crops of Sikh landlords. The landlords included some wealthy Sikhs who had also been given land in the new canal colony of Mannawala in Sheikhupura district, where the soil was so fertile that it very nearly beggared belief. These powerful families spent time in either Mughal Chak or Mannawala, as their fancy took them, leaving their lands and crops in the hands of their clerks while they were away.

When Pakistan was established, the Muslims of the village told the Sikhs, ‘There is absolutely no need for you to leave the village. No one will dare touch you while we are around.’

It even happened that when the Pakistani flag was unfurled on top of government buildings and houses in towns and villages on 15 August, the Muslims of Mughal Chak asked Zaildar Chet Singh to do the honours. This gave some relief to the village’s worried Sikhs. Their minds began to harbour a new possibility. How did it matter that Pakistan had been formed? So what if the Muslims had become rulers? After all, hadn’t Hindus and Sikhs lived under the Muslims for many centuries? When power changes hands, there is revolution, there is violence. But that was over now. Bad things had happened, but now that there was a legitimate government it would surely be a just and fair one. After all, the new country could hardly be without laws... Not even an Islamic state would let Muslims go on killing Hindus and Sikhs, taking their women and stealing their properties...

The truth was that they deluded themselves with such arguments because they did not want to leave their beloved land and property. And besides, there was no guarantee that even if they left the village they would reach Hindustan alive. They had heard of the killings in Sheikhupura and the looting and burning in Lahore. Caravans of refugees were being attacked on both sides of the border and trainloads were being massacred. The wisest thing was to stay in their ancestral homes and look after their land and property, hoping all the while for better days and leaving the rest to God.

But the times did not improve; in fact, they worsened. Finally one day, the Muslims of Mughal Chak said, ‘Now you are in danger here. Thousands of Muslim refugees, ravaged and looted, have come from the other half of Punjab and settled in the surrounding villages. They are seething for revenge. Take your cash and valuables and go to the Gujranwala Refugee Camp before they decide to start settling scores. From there, you can get across the border by train or in one of the large caravans. It shames us to say this, but matters are no longer in our control.’

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