In the shadow of Partition's shadow: Stories of loss, hope and resilience

First Post

3 days ago

The Partition of India in 1947 was a painful turning point in history that forced millions to flee their homes. Speaking to Firstpost's Bhanu Pratap, many shared haunting memories of leaving everything behind with the fragile hope of starting anew from the dark shadow.
Refugees crowd onto a train as they try to flee India near New Delhi in September 1947. Some 15 million people crossed new borders during the violent partition of British-ruled India. At times, mobs targeted and killed passengers travelling in either direction; the trains carrying their corpses became known as "ghost trains." File Image/AP
The Partition of India was far more complex than the mere drawing of borders — it shattered homes, tore families apart, and scarred millions for life. Arguably the largest displacement of humans in modern times, the Partition that brought Independence to India as well as Pakistan forced millions to leave behind everything familiar and step into the unknown with fear and hope intertwined.
Speaking to Firstpost, many families bravely recounted their horrors and shared deeply personal memories.
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During the Partition of India in 1947, an estimated 10 to 15 million people were uprooted and forced to migrate across the hastily drawn borders, marking one of the largest mass migrations in human history. The borders, hurriedly drawn by British lawyer Radcliffe, left scores of lives irreversibly altered.
'Bogies full of dead bodies… terrible times'
CL Madaan, an 83-year-old resident of Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, recalled the horrors of Partition to Firstpost, 'When Partition happened, I was just 3 or 4 years old. I don't remember everything, but some glimpses of those horrific times have stayed with me. I remember my parents hurriedly carrying our belongings as we left our native village near Rawalpindi. We boarded a train, and when it reached Amritsar, we got down, took a lorry, and eventually reached Delhi.'
He described the difficult conditions that followed, 'The government provided us with a small tent in a place called Shanti Nagar. My siblings, parents, and I lived in that tiny tent. We stayed in that camp for 30 years until the government allotted us a 160-gaz plot here in Mukherjee Nagar.'
CL Madaan, a retired government employee, speaking to Firstpost's Bhanu Pratap.
'We all bore the pain of losing our homes, our villages, and some even lost loved ones,' he said to Firstpost. 'But we adapted to our new life here. Despite the hardships, we lived together happily, without divisions among us.'
Meher Chand, born in 1936 and a resident of North Delhi, said his family migrated from Dera Ghazi Khan. 'When we arrived here, trains kept coming loaded with entire bogies full of dead bodies from the violence back there. I remember military troops, including Gorkhas, were assigned to protect us and escort us safely to Hindustan when we left Dera Ghazi Khan. It was a terrible time. We had to leave the city, which was on the frontier, and it was a long journey.'
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Recalling the horrors of Partition, Chand shared, 'A father and his son who lived next door went to Dera Ghazi Khan to buy something. They were killed there, and their families were not even able to see their bodies. This terrorised the few of us who remained.'
Maher Chand, a ex-postman, now lives a retired life in North Delhi. Image: FP
'A train to Patiala… and then to dirty, diseased-filled shelters'
A shopkeeper, who wished to remain anonymous, told Firstpost that his grandfather and grandmother were both killed during Partition violence in Pakistan. His father somehow survived and escaped their native village, Mulhal Mughlan near Chakwal, rebuilding his life in Delhi, where the shopkeeper was later born.
Ninety-year-old Arjan Singh, who was just 11 when he migrated from Dera Ismail Khan, still vividly remembers the Partition. 'I am actually a Sardar. When we migrated, Hindus and Sikhs travelled together. At first, we walked with the group. I remember taking a boat to cross a large river. After that, we reached a railway station, I can't recall which city, and then boarded a train to Patiala.'
People watch the Heritage run of an Indian Railway coach hauled by a 1947 model steam locomotive engine. AFP)
Singh described those times as extremely difficult. In search of a better life, they first went to Jhansi, then Bareilly, feeling confused and suffering, before finally settling in Delhi.
'In Delhi, the government later allotted us a barrack to live in. It was very small, overcrowded, and the area was dirty, with diseases spreading all around. Those were really tough times. We lived in those barracks for 25 to 26 years,' he said to Firspost, adding that his family was later allotted an 80-gaz plot in Indra Vihar in North Delhi.
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The migration was accompanied by brutal communal violence, leading to the deaths of an estimated 200,000 to 2 million people. Many were killed in riots, massacres, and attacks along migration routes, while countless others suffered abductions and other atrocities during this tragic upheaval.
This photo taken in August 1947 shows Indian soldiers walking through the debris of a building in the Chowk Bijli Wala area of Amristar during unrest following the Partition of India and Pakistan. (Photo by AFP)
The Partition of India remains a dark chapter in history, a profound human tragedy marked by massive migration and unimaginable suffering, that must be remembered and passed on to future generations.