Commemorating sacrifices : The nameless martyrs of the partition
On the outskirts of Lahore, next to a railway station in a village named Jallu, there lies a small nondescript graveyard. Among the graves that populate this plot of land contains are many that carry no names.
Unbeknownst to non-residents, these graves are a grim reminder of the sacrifices of partition. They are the final resting place of the many Muslims who migrated en masse to the newly formed Pakistan but could not reach their destination alive. With no way to ascertain and reach out to their kin in 1947, the martyrs remain forever shrouded in anonymity.
“There are 40 to 50 graves here of the anonymous martyrs of partition,” said centenarian Muhammad Nawaz Nambardar. “Many of the millions of Muslims who attempted to migrate to Pakistan in 1947 lived to see their new homeland. This plot of land is sadly the only chance some of them got to reside in Pakistan,” he recalled.
For Nambardar and other Jallu residents, there is a deep historical attachment to the graveyard. Each year, on Independence Day, they gather at the plot to adorn the graves with wreaths and flowers, and to offer their prayers for the martyrs.
Nambardar himself remembers vividly the extreme violence in Punjab leading up to and after the partition, despite his advanced age. “I was only 20 then and had just been engaged. She and her family lived in an area that would not become part of Pakistan,” he recalled. “Jallu remained peaceful and tranquil, but there was horrific violence from all sides in other areas.”
“We heard reports of entire caravans of people young and old, women and children, martyred en route to Pakistan,” Nambardar said. “Many Hindus leaving for India from this side of the border sadly met the same end as well.” Fortunately for Nambardar, he would get married to his fiancé a few weeks after partition. But any joy he may have felt was overshadowed by the massive influx of Muslim refugees seeking safety in the newly formed Pakistan. “My family and other Jallu residents started preparations immediately,” Nambardar said. “Jallu is only eight to 10 kilometres from the border and our railway station was the first stop in Pakistan for those coming from the other side,” he told The Express Tribune.
“All of us, when we heard news that the first train would be arriving, went straight to the station,” he said. “We had arranged cold water and a large quantity of rice, lentils and sugarcane for the Muslims who would be joining us as countrymen.”
The first train, however, would turn out to be a grisly scene. “There were mutilated remains everywhere,” Nambardar recalled. “Those who survived, I will never forget the look of horror and death on their faces.”
Nambardar and other fellow youths immediately gave food and water to the survivors. “We did not know how long they must have been starving for. All of them looked emaciated. But those who saw their loved ones martyred before them could barely eat a few mouthfuls,” he said.
It was the village elders who decided that the bodies would be unloaded and buried in Jallu. “There is a banyan tree that still stands here. The elders asked us to bury the martyrs in the field around it,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2020.