There’s no doubt that the 1947 partition was one of the most heartbreaking events in the history of the country. And, this woman’s AMA proves it. This Pakistani woman, who was alive during the partition, held an AMA session, along with her granddaughter, on Reddit.
Interesting, right? Let’s read what she has to say in her AMA.
1. If you could say one thing to the people who decided the partition, what would it be?– Anonymous
“I was scared as hell. They would come and take girls away. Mothers would jump into the water with their babies because they would kill babies and rape their mothers. They would grab the babies by the legs and pull both ways so they would rip, fathers would kill their own daughters so that no one else would kill them. I would have told them that this is my house, don’t make us leave, let us live here.”
2. Do you think that the creation of Pakistan was justified, given the many lives that were lost during the partition? – justacanuck
“No, I was never happy about it. Nor did I meet anyone that was happy about it. I still feel that my home was India, even after living in Pakistan for so long. I still dream about the house I grew up in, my friends and the people I lost.”
3. Why would you think the partition happened? Did you get a first-hand encounter with the violence?– ssd0004
“I don’t know, but it tore us apart. Nothing happened to us, my father was too protective and loved us too much to let anything happen to us. But, I saw horrible things happen right in front of me. People used to make fun of my father because of how madly in love he was with his whole family. No father loved their kids as he did back then. He used to tell everyone that he breathed through his children.”
4. Where did you live before the partition? If you lived in the Indian portion, how did you find a place to live in Pakistan? If you lived in the Pakistani portion, how did your neighbourhood change? – Krazy19Karl
“I lived in India. The government gave us the houses that were left by Hindus or Sikhs. We got a small house because my father was a landowner and we got a shop as well because he had his own shop in India that he had to leave behind.”
5. What’s your biggest regret and your greatest achievement in life?– exxoticdeath
“Not being able to get an education and my kids.”
6. I’m assuming you are muslim, since you live in Pakistan. Did the partition force you and your family to move to Pakistan or were you already within the borders of modern Pakistan? – Yelnoc
“I’m a Muslim, but I do not live in Pakistan anymore. We were forced to move, Hindus would have found us and killed us if we didn’t.”
7. What is your favourite memory from before and after the partition?– ThouMayest
“Being with my friends and living in my childhood house. After the partition, I was happy about moving into my own house, that my husband had built for us.”
8. How was daily life without electricity?– Delta104x
“We would use daylight to do our work and play when we could. When it was time to sleep, our father would tell us stories. I used to play with the neighbourhood kids with anything we could find.”
9. Do you think there are irreconcilable conflicts between Hindus and Muslims?– ssd0004
“Yes, there are. Mostly religious conflicts.”
Our hearts go out to all those who suffered losses during the partition.