I still remember Lahore burning

By Pran Nevile

Fifty years have passed since India became independent. I have vivid memories of those terrible days when Lahore, the city of my birth and upbringing was burning and dying, while the Britishers were engaged in the momentous task of the partition of the subcontinent.

To Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, independence meant to use his memorable phrase, ‘a tryst with destiny’. To Jinnah it was the fulfillment of his dream of a separate homeland for the Muslims, Pakistan.Lahore has a long and ancient past. No other city in the subcontinent can perhaps be said to have a more chequered history than Lahore, a city ruled by Hindu kings, Mughal emperors, Sikh monarchs and British sovereigns. As the capital of British province and centre of a modern system of administration, Lahore emerged as the fortress of the Indian empire that watched over the troublesome Afghans and the Russian borders.

With its chain of colleges and professional institutions, Lahore was the leading centre of education in North India. So much so that students from Delhi came to Lahore for higher education. The city had acquired the reputation of being the Paris of the east. Fashion ruled the life of its people whose lifestyles, habits and customs were considered to be most admirable. It had also become the nucleus of commerce and politics.

The interplay of historical forces had made the Muslims of the Punjab less fanatic and the Hindus and Sikhs less orthodox and ritual-conscious than elsewhere in the country. The three communities mixed freely and had cordial and friendly relations subscribing as they did to a composite Punjabi culture which blossomed from the early decade of the century. Muslim influence of nearly a thousand years had left its impact on the citizens’ dress, customs and manners, food and language and even their names.

The British announcement of the decision to quit India by June 1948 had a disastrous effect on the situation in the Punjab. The Muslim League launched a campaign of direct action against Unionist Party leader, Khizr’s banning the para-military Muslim League National Guards Organisation along with the Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Muslim League leaders defied government orders and courted arrests and there were strikes in Lahore. Khizr was forced to come to terms with the League by lifting his ban but in his exasperation he gave his resignation on March 3, 1947.

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