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The disturbing facets of freedom
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R.V. SMITH on the first Independence Day when the wounds of Partition were fresh
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The turmoil that marked the first Independence Day comes to mind in a flashback now after nearly 60 years as a grim reminder. There were at least 50000 refugees in the Purana Quila, 5000 camped outside the Jama Masjid and as many near Paharganj. The murder and mayhem were reminiscent of the massacre in Delhi by Nadir Shah. Because of the riots the Ramlila or Ram Barat was taken out with great difficulty. Interestingly enough, boys like Mehfooz, Ahsan and Iqbal were among a large number of Muslims who didn't miss watching the annual spectacle from Shri Ram's shop in Chandni Chowk. It may surprise some to hear that Karol Bagh and its adjacent areas were among the trouble spots. One day when an attack was made at a group near the police post, among those who took a short cut to safety was schoolboy Massey. He had been sent by his mother to get some gram roasted at the shop of Babu Bharbooja. When mobs started running hither and thither, there was much concern for the boy.
Tommy Bhullan, passing by the boy's house, was requested to find him and escort him home. It was rumoured that medieval treasure in the form of asharfis (gold coins) had been unearthed in Tommy Sahib's house - and that he took one coin at a time to encash it in Meerut.
However, on that day of rioting, before Tommy Bhullan had proceeded few steps, Massey emerged out of the side gate of the kothi, ran across the street and jumped into the arms of his waiting mother, aunt and grandmother.
When rioting broke out in Paharganj, Hakim "Chiront", who used to dabble in alchemy after writing prescriptions for his patients in the old matab, tried to catch a train back to his ancestral abode in Gali Nadarji, Agra. Curfew had been imposed and it was with great difficulty that he could reach Agra City station. But with the aid of Haji Barati and a gallant Theo he made it safely home.
The rioting that continued after the entry of the refugees into Agra city had a lighter side to it too. An Indo-Turkish family, staying not far from the Filose mansion in a haveli built by their ancestor, felt particularly threatened. One night when Manzoor Ahmed got up on hearing the noise of "thalis" (dough-kneading vessels) being beaten in the neighbouring mohalla, he tiptoed into the room where his children were sleeping.
False alarm
What he saw made him laugh, for there was Mamoo, his 12-year-old son, fast asleep with a big lathi entwined between his legs. Thinking that the boy might be uncomfortable, he pulled out the stick. Just then Mamoo sprang to his feet and shouted in alarm that the attack was on. His father patted him and asked him to go back to sleep.
Not far was the house of Pedrons, another family of military adventurers. But in those days it was lying deserted, the last of the residents, Peter Pedron, having died more than a decade earlier. It was known to be haunted and at night the sound of drums echoed through it, or so claimed a refugee woman. She rushed out one day saying that a bearded horseman, armed with a sword, had suddenly appeared in the upstairs sleeping quarters, frightening her and her children. The tale sounded improbable, but she left the house the next day (when her husband returned from Delhi) and after that no one dared to occupy it.
Jailor Sahib's house in the church compound became a temporary refuge for some on those nights when the thali-beating and slogan shouting was at its worst. It was guarded with Chunnu Chacha, Hamilton, a discharged member of the Frontier Force, Medley Bhaiyya and a dotty Benji Sahib, while the old jailor sat with a thick cane in hand, which he had used on the backs of jailed bandits in the early decades of the 20th Century.
These memories came flowing back when one saw the Prime Minister unveil the tricolour this past Independence Day. How some things change and some don't!
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