Seeing his isolated life today, one has a hard time believing that he has had such an illustrious past. The list of 88-year-old Fakhruddin’s achievements is impressive. This ex-army man is a World War II veteran, and has fought in both the 1965 and 1971 wars against India. But today, he lives in destitution near a nullah (drain) in Sultanabad. Fakhruddin never married and has no family, as his parents and siblings were killed in the 1947 partition riots.
Despite his sacrifices, the government has neglected this brave soldier. “The government has given me nothing except miseries which can be counted from stopping my pension to declaring me dead. I tried desperately for years. Finally, controller military pension helped me restore my retirement fund,” he said.
Fakhruddin, since his retirement in 1959, would draw his pension from the post office in Hyderabad. He was recalled to serve in the 1965 and 1971 wars.
One fine day, officials, referring to a letter received from the military pension controller Lahore, said, “We can no longer give you your pension. How can a person get the pension for 53 years? As per government record, Fakhruddin is now dead”. The elderly man tried to convince them that he was still alive, but the officials wouldn’t believe him.
Since there was no other source of income, he tried to approach General Headquarters (GHQ), and later contacted controller military pension in Lahore wherefrom he finally got the good news. “It was my right. I decided to get it and finally I did,” he said.
The postmaster general, Hyderabad district said that it was not their fault, because they had gotten the letter from military accounts that this person was no more alive. “Now they have faxed us a letter and we have corrected our record, not only restoring his pension, but also transferring his account near his house,” he said.
Story of his life
Fakhurddin who originally belongs to a village adjacent to Lucknow, India, migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He started his career by joining Indian Army in 1942, when he left his parents following a quarrel among his siblings. “I left my house and reached Lucknow city. Since I had no place to spend the night I slept on the footpath. Early morning, some people holding bamboo sticks in their hands came to me and said, ‘Are you willing to join India army. We are looking to recruit the people’. I had no option but to join them,” he said. He was among those deployed in Italy and Singapore by the British government to fight against its enemies in the Second World War. “These tanks belong to the Indian army. We had occupied the tanks during the war,” he said while showing the black and white photos of the tanks. Photos and memories are all that are left with him.
Awards under his pillow
This elderly man still calls himself a proud soldier and has preserved all awards given to him by the Indian and Pakistani armed forces. He has kept awards conferred on him following World War II under his pillow as well as in shopping bags. He calls them his only treasure. “After retirement I had no place to live. I came here where my friend’s family was living. Since then, I am living here,” he said, referring to the one-room house located near a storm drain where one cannot sit for long because of the strong stench.
Losses at partition
When Pakistan came into being, Fakhurddin lost loved ones to tragic incidents. His family members were slaughtered near the Atari railway station in Hindu-Muslim riots.
“My parents and three siblings were headed towards the newly created Pakistan in a train. Near Atari railway station, some rioters attacked trains and killed people. Me and other soldiers, equipped with weapons, were travelling in another train. When we reached Atari, we saw dozens of bodies and people crying for help. I started searching for my family. All I eventually found was the severed head of my father in bushes,” he said, the pain still visible in his old eyes.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2013.
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A victim of circumstances. Some of his choosing. Some outside of his control.