Sikhs & hindu saved our lives | Bathinda (India) to Burewala (Pakistan | Partition 1947

Baba Rasheed Ahmad lives in Burewala, a city near Sahiwal & Pakpattan districts of Punjab, Pakistan. His native city is Bhatinda, where he never returns after partition 1947.
Bhatinda lives in his heart now. He recalls a huge fort near his house where all girls and boys used to play various games all the time. The ground near fort was heaven for kids. There was a muslim school called Anjuman (may be Anjuman e himayet e islam) near their homes. In Bhatinda all muslims, hindus and sikhs were living with peace and love. Like brothers!
He recalls Bhatinda railway junction where uncle of his father ran a small restuarant serving food for muslims.
There was annual fair held at shrine of a saint called Baba Haji Rattan. People of all communities used to enjoy their time in the fair.
There was a graveyard near the shrine, only graveyard of the city, where his grandmother, paternal aunt and other elders were buried. They have become the part of Bhatinda's soil.
1947 came and life changed in no time. Their houses were attacked by some extremists and put to flames. A hindu, a kind hearted neighbor, offered them help and hid dozens of people in his house and gaurded them all the night sitting on his rooftop. He said ' I would protect you till my last breath'. Kudos great man!
The mob attacked the houses, killed the muslims of the muhalla and burnt the houses.
Four members (two brothers of his grandfather, an aunt and an uncle) of his family were killed in the attack. It was a horrible dark night.
After midnight, a sikh friend, zaildar, asked his two young sons to escort muslims to camp. He advised his sons ' protect them at the risk of your own lives'. What a great work you did my sikh friend!
Rasheed Ahmad's grandfather, while leaving the place for ever, took the white cloth off his brothers' dead bodies and cried silently ' Bye Fazal Din, my brother, I am helpless and can't do anything for you. Bye for ever my dear...'. Saying this he along with his family left for the camp. There were about dozen dead bodies placed in line in the house.
Camp was about 5km away and it was horrible journey indeed. Two kinds young boys came back leaving them near the camp. But still the risk was not over. Two men attacked and looted them, they pointed gun on them but did not shoot.
Two other men came and tried to attck when a sikh with camel came with a loud warning to attackers and shooed them away. He was an unknown sikh, zaildar of any area, in fact he waa like an agel for them. He told them that he had been saving hundreds of muslims for last four days. Waoooo...GREAT HUMAN BEING
The kind camelman, a sikh, ensured their safety till the camp.
All caravan boarded the train and came to Ferozepur where train was halted for two days. There was fear of attack on the train. At last,after lot of fear, hunger and pain they reached Lahore.
How they settled in Pakistan, it is a painful story too.
watch & share
#bhatinda
#bathinda
#pakistan