A glimpse into the ordeal millions went through during Partition

Rajkumari Sharma Tankha

I have read quite a few books on the India-Pakistan Partition and human sufferings in its aftermath. So much so that by now, I know almost all its nightmarish details. But every time a new book comes on this subject, I get an itching to pick it up – in the hope that may be this one has some different story, some different angle; some happy anecdotes.

I picked up A Midnight Adieu during Indo-Pak Partition 1947 with the same hope and expectation. But, alas, this one too is no different. This one too talks about the harsh realities of the time, and an utter lack of political and social will to put an end to the mayhem that happened.

What’s more painful is that its author Dr Pankaj Kumar has not presented some fictionalized accounts, rather he has spoken to actual people who faced the wrath of their own friends and neighbours during the Partition. So, the book is a direct account by the victims of Partition, in first person, one of who is author’s nonagenarian father Narain Dutt – He suffered due to religious fanaticism and apathy of powers-that-be. In the book, he narrates true incidents of his life during Indo-Pak partition in 1947; he talks about the massacre, rapes and looting of Hindus that happened at the time of Independence by those who had been living with them since generations. The raw pain that comes forth through the words of Narain Dutt is mind-numbing.

But it was not just neighbours who looted, raped and killed. Many of these were state-sponsored acts. For Narian’s father, Dr Paras Ram, was killed by the Baloach Unit of Pak Army – there were several others killed by the Pakistan Army.

What did Indian National Congress leaders think? Could Lord Mountbatten not envisage this kind of happening? Were they so naïve? Was it practical or even sane to presume that Muslims in Pakistan would remain neutral to Hindu minority at the time of Partition? These are some of the question that the baffles Narian, and he throws these at the readers, as well as governments.

A kaleidoscope of pained souls, the book cautions its readers against dwelling into religious fanaticism, hatred and communalism; it asks the governments to take strict well-defined corrective steps against those fanning disharmony between different communities and it also appeals to the sanity in every human being to guard against barbarism in the garb of religion.

Though the story of one family who went through an unthinkable nightmare, A Midnight Adieu during Indo-Pak Partition 1947 gives a glimpse into the ordeal of millions at the time of Indo-Pak partition in 1947.

The book couldn’t have come at a better time – a time when we are celebrating the 75 years of our Freedom, it comes as a stark reminder of what many a common man lost while the country gained Independence. And how we must guard our nation so as to not repeat the past mistakes.

A Midnight Adieu during Indo-Pak Partition 1947, I feel, should be read by every single Indian, irrespective of religious or political affiliations so as to know what common man stands to lose when the frayed nerves disrupt unity. It tells us our own vulnerability if forces which drive the idea of killing, rape and loot are not curbed. It tells us that in times such as these, no one comes to the rescue of common man!