Displacement & cultural death

Harjap Singh Aujla

When the ethnic cleansing of any community happens, the loss of lives is only a small part of the tragedy. Along with its people, an entire culture is killed, and so is its native language. The next generation, born away from its roots, has only superficial knowledge about its legacy. The third generation moves even further from its centuries-old homes and gradually loses touch with its heritage. This cultural cruelty is worse than any physical torture.

Punjab saw the phenomena of ethnic cleansing in 1947. India attained freedom, but Bengal and Punjab were bifurcated, and the population was brutally displaced from its centuries-old dwellings. The later generations remained alien to this upheaval. Most of the Bengalis were lucky to be settled within Bengal. They were only shifted from East Bengal to West Bengal and vice-versa. 

A majority of Indians wanted India to remain united. But a large chunk of the most significant minority nursed a burning desire to have their own land, where their personal, religious doctrines would govern their life. Initially, seeing their movement heading nowhere, some of the hot heads of the community started random killings of Hindus and Sikhs, who were in minority in West Punjab. According to my late father, a bureaucrat, the then government preferred to keep the news suppressed.

Tarlochan Singh, a former member of Rajya Sabha, recalls the violence that erupted against Hindus and Sikhs in Rawalpindi, Punjab, in March 1947. 

The early wave

Initial Hindu, Sikh migration began in March 1947 from Rawalpindi. Maharaja Patiala, Yadavinder Singh, offered shelter to refugees in government-owned forts and other properties. The first lot arrived in Patiala. However, Patiala was not large enough to accommodate the massive rush of wealthy Hindus and Sikhs of Pothohar. Some smaller groups were rehabilitated in other cities of East Punjab. The bulk had to be accommodated in the National Capital Region in places like the Old Fort and other buildings in July and August of 1947. Refugees kept pouring in even after August.

The bone of contention was Lahore, capital of undivided Punjab. No one knows the exact figure, but the combined number of Hindus and Sikhs was almost equal to Muslims in Lahore. Both communities were not willing to abandon claim to this vibrating, cultural and educational centre that was the largest city of the province.

Amritsar was the other hotly contested city after Lahore. The second largest city of the province, it was also its industrial and commercial capital. Its population of roughly 4,00,000 also had equal numbers from both communities. Pakistan wanted it because it was contiguous to the princely state of Kapurthala which had a Muslim majority. The neighbouring Jullundur district, too, had a substantial Muslim presence.

In case, Amritsar was merged with Pakistan, 70 per cent of Punjab would have gone to Pakistan. Punjab was a Muslim majority province with 57 per cent Muslims, 30 per cent Hindus and 13 per cent Sikhs. These figures are based on 1941 estimates during World War-II.

The ‘battle’ for Lahore

Lahore was the headquarter of the central division. Two divisions, Rawalpindi and Multan, were located to its west and two more, Jullundur and Ambala, to its east. Finally, it was decided to award the entire Multan division, comprising Montgomery, Lyallpur, Multan, Mianwali, Muzaffargarh and Jhang districts to Pakistan. All these districts had a Muslim majority. The Rawalpindi division, comprising Gujarat, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Campbellpore and Dera Ghazi Khan districts, was also awarded to Pakistan due to similar reasons. 

The eastern-most Ambala division, consisting of Gurgaon, Rohtak, Hissar, Karnal, Ambala and Simla districts, with its predominantly Hindu population, was awarded to India. Entire Jullundur division that had Ferozepore, Ludhiana, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur and Kangra districts, despite some disputed majorities in Ferozepore and Jullundur, was awarded to Indian Punjab.

Lahore had a sizable wealthy Hindu community. They did not want to abandon their strong financial base. The Sikhs, too, were unwilling to leave Sheikhupura, the birth place of Guru Nanak. 

Gujranwala violence

Gujranwala was the first capital of Emperor Ranjit Singh, and the Sikhs had substantial landholdings there, too. The Muslims, who were in the majority there, wanted them completely out of their stronghold. The most gruesome violence occurred in these three districts of Central Punjab. Thousands of Hindu and Sikh lives were lost. In order to make Gurdaspur district a clear Hindu/Sikh majority area, the predominantly Muslim tehsil of Shakargarh was delinked from Gurdaspur and attached with the neighbouring Sialkot district. The Hindu/Sikh population was partially compensated by taking the Patti area out of Kasur tehsil of Lahore district and attached with Amritsar.

Lahorias lose their home

Lahore and Amritsar were the worst affected. Lahore lost its 3,50,000 wealthiest Hindus and Sikhs and Amritsar lost 2,00,000 finest technicians, who manned its textile and other factories. Lahore could easily accommodate these technical hands in some of the freshly-evacuated mansions. However, Amritsar could not accommodate even 50,000 affluent Lahorias decently. 

Some hundreds and thousands of Lahorias were settled in small groups in Ferozepore, Batala, Kapurthala, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Simla and Ludhiana. Against their will, approximately 1,50,000 Lahorias were dispatched to Delhi, where new colonies like Patel Nagar, Vinay Nagar, Karol Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Punjabi Bagh and Lajpat Nagar were established. Another 50,000 were settled in houses vacated by rich Muslims in Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agra, Ghaziabad and Jaipur in UP, Rajasthan and Central India. 

Loss of cultural heritage 

The first generation of these displaced Punjabis could barely maintain their centuries-old culture. The second generation could not speak Punjabi, while subsequent generations submerged in the local melting pot.

Those settled in UP were the most affected. Yesteryear actress Bina Rai's parents and kin settled in Kanpur and Lucknow. Their descendants lost touch with Punjabi. Lyricist Rajinder Krishan's clan and actor Sunil Dutt's family lived in Jagadhri, Yamunanagar and UP. Even with them, language remained the major casualty.

Singer Surinder Kaur tried her luck in Bombay. But seeing the success of her elder sister Parkash Kaur in Delhi, Surinder Kaur wisely returned. Only her eldest daughter Dolly Guleria, who lives in Panchkula, has maintained her involvement with Punjabi culture.

Actor Rajinder Kumar migrated from Sialkot to Mumbai. Now, none of his Mumbai-based family members have any connection with Punjabi culture. Music director Vinod, who too shifted to Mumbai, poets Sahir Ludhianvi and D.N. Madhok and singer-actor Suraiya, too, have no Punjabi-speaking descendants. 

Lost dialects

Not just Punjabi language, its various dialects — Hindko (spoken in Peshawar division of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa), Pothohari Punjabi (spoken in Rawalpindi, West Punjab), Saraiki Punjabi (spoken in Multan) and Balochi are dying in India. All India Radio is facing difficulties in finding announcers for Saraiki and Balochi languages. However, all these dialects are still in regular use in their respective regions in Pakistan.

Rural Sialkotias

Rural Lahorias and Sialkotias were the first to migrate to India. According to Gurbachan Singh Bajwa, the then Rehabilitation Minister of Punjab, the Sialkotias crossed the border at Dera Baba Nanak, Pathankot and Wagah/Attari. 

Most of the rural Sialkotias were settled in nearby Batala tehsil of Gurdaspur. Others were placed in Gurdaspur, Ajnala, Bholath, Kapurthala and Dasuya tehsils. They have maintained their language and culture, and influenced the local language and culture as well. Actor Gurpreet Ghuggi's ancestors came from Sialkot.

The rural Lahorias crossed throughout the Lahore/Amritsar border in Amritsar and Ganda Singhwala/Hussainiwala border in Ferozepore. Amritsar had no space for them. Some of them were settled in Ajnala, a few in Tarn Taran; a lot more were settled in Sultanpur Lodhi and Kapurthala tehsils. A majority of them were settled in Ferozepore district, Ferozepore tehsil, Zeera, Guru Har Sahai, Muktsar and Moga tehsils. Most of them are still maintaining their culture. 

The urban Sialkotias were rehabilitated mostly in Batala, Kapurthala and Jalandhar. Since they were rehabilitated in place of the Muslim population that was in majority in Jalandhar city, what earlier used to be Doabi Punjabi is no longer the language of urban Jalandhar anymore. Now they speak what used to be Central Punjabi with a Sialkoti touch.

Many civilisations in the past have died after these were dislocated and their people settled at far-flung places. Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat suffered a similar fate after 1947.