The Divide

- Ramanjit Singh

With the passage of time, as the year 1947 is becoming a distant memory, so is the geographic and historical awareness of the various Punjabi cities and towns that were once so familiar to the pre-Partition generation. Most of us have lost that proximity, the cultural and social relationships that were once so vibrant between these various cities and towns of western Punjab. And I believe the same is true for the people on the other side who also have lost all the historical links they once had with eastern Punjab.

Centuries of settlement and migration created a degree of rich diversity of people belonging to different religions and backgrounds all living together till the time of Partition. They lived together, they worked and did business together, they were land owners, they were government employees, they were teachers, they were carpenters and shop owners, they were wrestlers and money lenders, they were singers and soldiers. They celebrated each other's festivals. Their homes, their Mosques, their Gurdwaras, and their Mandirs were interspersed in a complex social mosaic that had evolved and matured over centuries. Their lifestyles were so interwoven that once upon a time Muslim rababis sang Shabad Kirtan at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. Sikhs and Hindus paid homage to Hazrat Mian Mir's dargah at Lahore. Pak Pattan of Baba Farid was as holy to the Sikhs and Hindus as it was to the Muslims. Bulleh Shah's Dargah in Kasur was both revered by the non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

It is this united Punjabi identity / شناخت / ਪਛਾਣ / पहचान that was lost in 1947.

And this loss is immeasurable.

In one of my blogs, I mentioned that that after Partition, author and diplomat Sardar Khushwant Singh of Hadali, Sargodha used to go to Delhi's Khan Market to talk to shop owners in chaste Lahori, who like him had also migrated from Lahore. It was his desire to relive his roots, to talk to his people in a language that he grew up with and this post-partition reality triggered a sense of tremendous loss that some never recovered from it, and some carried on with it for the rest of their lives.

The splintering of the population removed the necessary prerequisites of a secular mindset, sharing of ideas, and religious tolerance that was needed to create a modern state. India is secular to a certain extent but now the growing xenophobia against Muslims, and other minorities is taking its ugly roots.

In Pakistan, individuals from minority communities can face death due to unfounded blasphemy accusations or experience the abduction and forced conversion of their daughters, with no state protection for their fundamental human rights. The recent murder of a Christian couple at a brick kiln near Lahore is just one of countless cases where the perpetrators go unpunished.

Partition resulted in the formation of two independent nations, yet they are now governed by a new group of colonialists. Although they resemble us, but their politics of greed and hatred has shattered any hope of overcoming poverty, illiteracy, and inequality. Thousands line up for a single job posting, but the bellicose religious sloganeering always takes higher priority.

And this loss of basic human rights in post-partition India and Pakistan is immeasurable.

Great artists such as Mohammad Rafi of Amritsar, the Kapoors of Samundari and Peshawar, Yusuf Khan urf Dilip Kumar of Peshawar, Anand Bakshi of Rawalpindi, Balraj Sahni of Rawalpindi, Sunil Dutt of Jhelum, Dev Anand of Shakargarh, Rajendra Kumar of Sialkot, Yash Chopra of Lahore, Prem Chopra of Lahore, Om Prakash, Manoj Kumar, Pran and so many others were starting their careers at a time when Lahore was the cultural capital of India. They were singers, actors, poets, and film makers who at the time before Partition made Lahore the epicenter of Indian cinema.

However, following Partition, this vibrant cultural hub lost its modern and cosmopolitan essence, along with its artists, the very individuals who contributed to its creativity and greatness had left.

And this loss of Punjab's dominance in the film industry is immeasurable.

As another consequence of Partition which hits close to my heart is the loss of the Urdu language from the eastern Punjab and Delhi. This void of not knowing Urdu or to be able to read the stories of great poets like Waris Shah or Mirza Ghalib in Urdu is a great loss for the generations born after 1947. Growing up we were never taught about the great poets and Sufi saints of western Punjab. Urdu remained the lingua franca of India till 1947. Hindi was forced down our throats and it's the language that I never felt comfortable with. The fact that the Dargah of Data Ganj Baksh of Lahore is one of the most venerated place in west Punjab was unknown to me until I started reading about the history of Lahore in wikipedia. Our collective heritage of the western Punjab was no longer taught to us in schools.

Our borders, our heritage and our hearts grew rigid and distanced from the land that was once ours.

And this loss of common heritage is immeasurable.

Most of the cities in central Punjab coexist within 200 kilometer radius.

Sheikhupura is located to the northwest of Lahore and is approximately 75 km from Amritsar.

Nankana Sahib lies to the southwest of Lahore and is around 107 km from Jullundur.

Gujranwala is situated northwest of Lahore and about 79 km from Amritsar.

Kasur is northwest of Ferozepur, with a distance of 20 km from Ferozepur.

Sargodha is slightly northwest of Amritsar, approximately 200 km away.

Lahore is 107 kilometers from Jullundur.

In eastern Punjab, the names of the cities that were once so close to us in western Punjab are no longer mentioned in our conversations. Lahore is hardly mentioned nor is Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Multan, Jhelum, Lyallpur or Sheikhupura. The newer generation of Punjabis have lost that sense of belonging to the land on the other side of the divide. When I was growing up, as part of the second generation after Partition, I still remember people talking about these cities. Now it is completely absent from our vocabulary. Rare mentions of these cities due to Sikh pilgrims going to historical gurdwaras still exists but the ordinary people have lost all cultural linkages with western Punjab. And this is also true for the Punjabis on the other side of the border.

This loss has also removed the stories, historical knowledge that once was commonly known among the people. I remember the first generation of post-partition Punjabis talking about a great wrestler from such and such place or a famous singer from such and such village of western Punjab. These stories were no longer passed on to the newer generation of Punjabis who are growing up now. Memories of the old Punjab are all but gone from our collective conscience.

Even though these cities and towns are geographically nearby, they feel thousands of miles away from our hearts and minds.

And this loss of common memory among Punjabis is immeasurable.

In the end, I would like to say that this divide is not just a separation of land or its people, it also divides our collective conscience. A Partition of our common memories that are now all but forgotten. And we can never bring those memories back. Now all that what matters is whether we live a life that is more kind to others, that we treat others in the same way like we treat our own. Whether our common heritage as a Punjabi can unite us or do we let communal hate divide us further. Whether we can overcome our prejudices and view each other as long-lost siblings who were separated but now have the opportunity to reunite.

While we cannot bring back the Punjab of pre-Partition times, we can revive a shared spirit of brotherhood and affection in today's world, which lacks many of the qualities that the Old India once had.

From this point forward everything we do is our shared responsibility.