TORN
FROM THE ROOTS ( MOOL SOTAN UKHDELAN )
(
A Partition Memoir ) by Kamla Patel
Translated from Gujrati by Uma Randeria
Price
350/=( Hardbound and 236 pages )
ISBN
81-88965-27-8
Published
by… ‘Women Unlimited’ , Hauz Khas , New Delhi.
Kamla
Patel (1912-1992) was a freedom fighter who spent her early years at Mahatma
Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram ,Ahemdabad. She headed the Kasturbha Gandhi National
Memorial Trust . Alongwith Mridula Sarabhai, Kamla Patel did exemplary work for
the recovery of abducted women after the partition of the country. For this
work, she kept visiting Pakistan regularly and met every person in the
political , police and military hierarchy. .Later, She was also associated with
Khadi And Village Industries Commission.
The
problem of women abducted during riots was one of the saddest chapters in the
history of the partition. A period when man became a jungle wolf, partition
rÃots had many dimensions. Women were subjected to every type of torment ,pain
and sorrow by people who had lost sanity in the communal frenzy and
lawlessness.
This
book gives first-hand account of 'Operation Recovery' carried out by Government
of India and Pakistan immediately after the partition of the country . One gets
a painful knowledge of efforts put in by Kamlaben Patel and her team to recover
thousands of abducted girls, children and women who were restored to their
homes and families.
The
book takes us to the pathetic refugee camps in Lahore, Jalandhar , Amritsar and
many cities where Kamlaben spent about three years . The individual stories are
truthful memoirs of the horrible period of the history of the subcontinent. A
period when merchants of death and destruction traded children, girls and women
like vegetables or fruits. The stories are candid, painful and true to every
word. The book has a rare archival value apart from conveying the efforts of
some great women who applied balm to the bleeding wounds created by the
partition. Roughly about 25000 women and children were abducted in the
partition riots. Out of this, as per data available in the book, 20728 were
recovered .
One
is simply amazed to read the stories of exemplary humanitarian work done by
some great women from India under the guidance of Mridula Sarabhai. These
daring women ran two huge camps in India and Pakistan. Hindu women and children
recovered in Pakistan were sent to the camp in Lahore and Muslim women and
children recovered from East Punjab were sent to the camp in Jalandhar
city.From Pakistan side Miss Qari was actively associated with this work.
Children and women were recovered from Dera Ismail Khan Gujranwala,
Jung,Jhelum, Miyanwali, Lahore ,
Montgomery,Multan,Rawalpindi,Sargodha,Sheiikhpora ,Sialkot ,Kohat ,Lyallpur,
Bahawalpur,Sindh ,Ambala, Karnal, Hissar ,Ludhiana,Amritsar, Jind, Delhi , Nabha,
Firozepur,Karnal,Rohtak,Faridkot, Kapurthala, Alwar ,Bharatpur and Patiala .
In
chaper 2 ,we read with keen interest as to how terrified and suspicious was rhe
ambiance inside Mrs Amanulla's house where Kamlaben Patel stayed on her arrival
in Lahore after the creation of Pakistan .The hate, suspicion and fear had not
died down .Many Urdu newspapers in Pakistan named these daring women as spies
from India.
It
was at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's initiative that a department dealing with the
issue of abducted women was formed under the Ministry of External Affairs . It
was headed by Gopalswami Ayyangar . Rameshwari Nehru was appointed as director
of this department. Pandit Ji and Sardar Swarn Singh also took keen interest in
the affairs of this new department.
The
author takes us to the refugee camp in DAV College, Lahore to know pathetic
tales of human misery. We are taken to refugee camps in Amritsar to know
similar painful stories. Women, sad, dumb,terrified and poor bore the savagery
and madness of partition riots .
One
reads with painful interest the story of Sudershan ,a Hindu girl from Lahore
who refuses to go to India .Another story that evokes sympathy is about Latif
who was actually born to Hindu parents. The story of Dayalata also keeps the
reader engrossed. The sad tale of Prema, also keeps echoing for many days after
one reads it.
Through
the book, I came to know that Dr Saif ud Din Kitchloo had given his Amritsar
house to the Society for Recovery of Abducted Women ' to be used as office. I
also came to know how Kashyap Bandhu Ji had been closely associated with
Mridula Sarabhai and Kamla Patel for similar work in Kashmir after the
Pakistan sponsored Tribal Raid . Both Kashyap Bandhu and Comrade Dhanvantri
find lavish praise in this book. Comrade Dhanvantri also did commendable task
in this area in Jammu .
About
Bandhu Ji , Kamla Patel writes this :-
.
Bandhu Ji’s aim was to eradicate poverty and illiteracy among the Kashmiri
people . He made his homeland his field of work and literally buried himself in
the task of uplifting his people . Sheikh Abdullah , the leader of Kashmir ,
had tried to persuade Bandhu Ji to join his cabinet, but having pledged himself
to the service of the people , he refused the offer. He was a selfless Gandhian
who was always clad in Khadi . Mridulaben had informed me about the special
place that Bandhu Ji occupied in the hearts of the Kashmiris .The poor section
of the society had a great deal of respect for him .On one occasion , in my
presence , a shepherd presented a Pashmina shawl to him. A man sitting near Bandhu
Ji praised the quality of the shawl, and without a moment’s hesitation , Bandhu
Ji put the shawl on that man’s shoulder.
I
asked him later , why he had given that shawl to someone else . He smiled and
replied , ’That fellow was keen on owning the shawl. Let him be happy. Why
should a crude and unpolished person like me , who has suffered hardships for
many years , and even courted imprisonment , spoil his last years by using a
fine shawl ? ’ Apart from Sheikh Abdullah , he knew Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad from
his childhood, but totally disapproved of his modus operandi. When Sheikh
Abdullah was imprisoned after being removed from his post , Bandhu Ji was also
put behind bars . After being released from the jail, Bandhu Ji immersed
himself in another kind of assignment . He took up the herculean task of a plan
which had been shelved for years , of saving innumerable villages located on
one side of Wular Lake that were inundated year after year , and resulted in
much damage . I was indeed very happy when I read in the newspapers that as a
result of his ceaseless efforts , this task was finally completed .”
About
Dhanvantari , Kamla Patel writes this :-
“
I
must mention the late Dhanvantari Ji , the veteran worker whom I came into
contact with . Dhanvantari Ji lived in Jammu. The former Chief Minister of
Kashmir , Mr Sadiq regarded him as his Guru. Years of imprisonment had played
havoc with his health, but he still had the fervour of a revolutionary .He was
a bachelor . When he was released from Andaman Jail, he was well past the
marriage age. His sister in law took good care of him , and Dhanvantari Ji
looked upon her as his mother. There was a history behind his low back pain from
which he constantly suffered .Those who were imprisoned in the Andaman jail, could not get a glimpse of the
world outside .In such circumstances ,some of his fellow prisoners devised an
ingenious method of looking at the outside world . Dhanvantari Ji was made to
act as a’ horse ‘ , and seven to eight prisoners would climb on the top of one
another to reach the high wall and look over it. One of the men who was riding
the horse had a fit of cough , as a result of which the whole pyramid collapsed
. Dhanvantari Ji suffered a serious jolt in this process , and the pain in
his lower back became his lifelong
companion. ”
I
recommend the book to one and all.
(
Avtar Mota)
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