I was trying to go to Lahore on March 23, 2006, the 75th martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh. I wished that Indian and Pakistani people should together commemorate this historic event. That could not materialize. But this year an invitation came for the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar birth anniversary at Lahore on April 13 from Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation. The name of Sir Ganga Ram is well known in this part of Punjab and Delhi. Delhi also has a Ganga Ram hospital. Sir Ganga Ram, a noted architect, had designed the most beautiful buildings of Lahore, Patiala and Amritsar.
NEVER TREATED AS FOREIGNER
I was born and brought up in the Indian part of Punjab, that too after partition. My forefathers had been living in village Mehraj of Bathinda district, so I had no particular reason to be excited about Lahore or west Punjab. I am an atheist, so there is no religious reason also to go to Pakistan. Yet I had felt an excitement. Perhaps, for two reasons. One, I have been involved with the study of Bhagat Singh and his movement, Ghadar movement and Kartar Singh Sarabha, also have been centre of my attention. Both these national heroes were executed in Lahore jail. Bhagat Singh’s life and activities were centered more in Lahore, so I wanted to visit the locations of his activities. The other reason was that I had read and heard so much about Lahore.
In the beginning | felt that | was in an alien country, where | should move carefully as a foreigner, particularly when the relations between two governments are not in the best of terms. Frankly speaking this reasoning did not work at Lahore and | was so freely moving in Lahore, at any point of time in day or night, as any Lahori would be moving.
BHAGAT SINGH ACTIVITIES
As it turned out, not even once during my eight-day stay, I was checked by any police or security person.
I took a walk towards Ferozepur Road, reaching Luxmi Chowk, without of course knowing the place. I returned from the front of Punjab Assembly, that too I did not know. Marvelous Allama Iqbal memorial building was in front of my hotel and Al Hamra, the cultural centre of today’s Lahore was just few steps away, so was Mall road and Lawrence Garden or Company Bagh, now given the name Bage-Jinnah. Amritsar and Lahore both had these similar gardens in similar name — Lawrence Gardens or Company Bagh in popular parlance. At the April 13 seminar I met representatives of Dalits in Pakistan. Most of them Christians and were members of Punjab Assembly or District Assembly. Pakistan has evolved a system of assembly from Tehsil level to national assembly.
Lahore is a heaven for non-vegetarians: The food streets of Anarkali and Gwalmandi have become such a craze that Lahore remains awake all night. After visiting Food Street one night at 1.00 a.m., we moved to Shimia hills of Bage-Jinnah, where the classical music programme was going on at 2.00 a.m. Farida Khanum had just completed her singing. Lahore is such a culturally alive city that one just wonders. I remembered my student days in JNU, when we used to go to Mavlankar hall to listen to classical programmes in late at night. Those days are over in Delhi, but not in Lahore.
Visiting Shahi Qila (Royal fort) is not so exciting, it is not so well maintained, but the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh, who once ruled from this fort is almost part of the fort, which has Gurdwara of the fifth Guru as well. Close by is Minar-e-Pakistan, built after 1947, which on its walls have the resolution of Pakistan, passed on March 23, 1940. This resolution is carved in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali.
LAJPAT RAI HALL
Visiting sites relating to Bhagat Singh’s activities was another attraction of Lahore. Accompanied by Zubair, well known progressive story writer of Punjabi, I first went to Bradlaugh Hall, which few people know now. Hall is in dilapidated condition and some training school is being run from there. From the shape of the building, one can well imagine that it was a grand building once. Fortunately, the foundation plate is still intact. The foundation of this headquarters of the freedom movement was laid by Surender Nath Sen in 1900. It would be better if India could impress upon Pakistan to get it declared as heritage building. Lajpat Rai Hall of Lahore, which housed famous Dwarka Dass library, now in Chandigarh, is now held by the fingerprint bureau of Pakistani police. I could not visit this place; neither could I locate National College, where Bhagat Singh was a student during 1922-26. I could not locate Khwasarian village, near Lahore, which was the abode of Bhagat Singh family for many years. Even river Ravi bank, where Lala Lajpat Rai and later the remains of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were cremated or Bhagwati Charan Vohra gave his life in bomb explosion, while testing, could not be located.
BIRTHPLACE VISITED
Ravi has perhaps dried up and people say it has become a nallah. They also say that India has stopped releasing water to river Ravi. However, I could easily locate the place of Saundras killing and DAV College hostel nearby. There is not much change in that area, except that DAV College and hostel have turned into Govt. Islamia College and hostel now. But the SSP office remains the same as it was during Scott’s time. I was also able to visit Phansighat, execution spot of Lahore jail, which has now been demolished, and Shadman Chowk or Fountain Chowk instead has come up. It is a residential colony now, with no trace of jail or its history, where hundreds of freedom fighters were hanged. Democratic Pakistani activists do gather on March 23 at Shadman Chowk and burn candles. They also plan to put a plaque nearby, indicating its historicity.
Bhagat Singh lived in many houses of Lahore during his underground days and people still talk of those houses. One such house is said to be on Jail Road. N. Hjam Hussain Sayeed, noted Punjabi writer, lives on Jail Road, but he has no idea of that house.
I could go to birthplace of Bhagat Singh with local friends who took us first to Waris Shah’s mazar at Jandiala Sheikh. We crossed through Sheikhupura town and from distance I was shown haran magar, a beautiful place built in memory of a deer, which got killed during shikar by Prince Salim. Visiting Waris Shah mazar was an experience, where every year competition of singing Heer is held and it starts with singing of Amrita Pritam’s “Aaj Aakhan Waris Shah nun…”
NANKANA SAHIB
From Jandiala, we moved to Nankana Sahib. It is a small town, but the access road is huge.
Pakistan has paid more attention to its roads and correctly boasts of its motorways from Lahore to Peshawar. But Pakistan lacks in railway services.
Nankana Sahib has eight gurdwaras in its vicinity, including the main one, where in February 1921 morcha was started against Mahants, who were polluting the pious place. Mahants, supported by the British had killed nearly 200 Sikhs before vacating the gurdwara. Inside the gurdwara, there is Shaheed Jand (tree), where one protestor, Lachhman Singh, was burnt alive. In Nankana Sahib, most of the gurdwaras relate to Guru Nanak’s childhood stories — where he was born, where he played, where he studied etc. I took langar with my Muslim friends of Lahore, who accompanied me there.
From Nankana Sahib, there was a direct route to Jadanawala. Crossing Jadanawala, a tehsil town, we went to Chak No. 105, before we could ask someone on the way, a pleasant surprise awaited us. There was a tin board on roadside, painted with Bhagat Singh picture behind bars. One Jasbeer Singh from Faislabad (Old name Lyalpur) had put this signboard with his email address.
Seeing our interest in Bhagat Singh, some told us the lane to his village. They suggested that before going to the village, we should meet one Farhan Khan nearby. As it turned out, Farhan Khan (82), retired as excise officer, having his factory named Gulab Farm, adding Bhagat Singh town on the signboard. He belonged to Chak No. 107, Pathankot nearby. He welcomed us warmly. In his drawing room, there was an old photograph. The typical hat-wearing popular photograph. Farhan Khan was so happy talking about Bhagat Singh family. He was five years old when Bhagat Singh was martyred. Bhagat Singh’s younger brothers, names he did not remember (obviously Kulbir Singh and Kultar Singh), used to meet him. The man was a great admirer of Bhagat Singh.
VIRK BROTHERS
We moved to Chak no.105. It was getting dark. The road to the village was not very good. When we reached there, it was not the old house; it was now being shared by three Virk brothers.
Pakistan has as many Virks, Randhawas, Sehgals, Bhattis, Cheemas, Waraiches, Gills or Sidhus etc. as we have in our part of Punjab.
It was almost four canal land area, which is now shared by Igbal Virk, Sadiq Virk and Mushtaq Virk families — the three brothers, who were allotted this house after partition. They had migrated from Virk village from Amritsar. Out of the three, Sadiq Virk is no more, but his family lives there. We could meet Akhtar Virk, son of Mushtaq Virk, who is now an advocate at Faislabad. He told us that not only this house, but they also acquired the 17-acre mango garden of Kishan Singh, father of Bhagat Singh. Asked about the value of this land, we were told it was Rs. 6 lakh per acre. That Bhagat Singh family also having garden at Chak no. 105 was not known earlier to us, yet it came as no surprise to me. The judge, who ordered the execution of Kartar Singh Sarabha, has clearly mentioned that Kishan Singh (father of Bhagat Singh) has contributed Rs. 1 lakh (a huge amount today) to the cause of Gadar Party in 1914 or 1915. The legend of Bhagat Singh and family becomes more fascinating, because their commitment to the nation overstepped their comforts in life.
CANADIAN SIKHS VISIT PAKISTAN
Lyalpur was built by British officers as a planned city. This area has very fertile land, so the peasants from other parts of Punjab were encouraged to buy lands here, just as many Punjabi peasants had gone to Terai area to buy lands. Interestingly, more people from Doaba went there. They were allotted lands in villages named Chak with numbers. The families which shifted here attached the name of their village or area to these numbered chaks. Thus Chak no. 65 is Mukundpur, Chak no. 67 is Gidderpindi, Chak no. 104 is Samra, Chak no. 105 is Bange (from Banga of Doaba), Chak no. 106 is Khurla, Chak no. 107 is Pathankot, Chak no. 109 is Bajajanwala and so on.
These names continue after partition as well. Only the landowners and inhabitants of the houses have changed. We were told that prior to 1965, there were not many restrictions, and many people used to visit these places. After 1965, restrictions increased. In recent years, there again has been some relaxation and people are again coming to visit these places. We were told that a bus full of Punjabis from Canada had come to visit the place last year.
THIRD BIGGEST CITY
After partition Lyalpur, renamed as Faislabad, became the centre of textile industry. It is now the third biggest city of Pakistan, after Karachi and Lahore. But the city has probably suffered the same problems as has been faced by Ludhiana. Faislabad cloth is rated high in Asian market. I wished to go to Taxila and Islamabad at least but the time was short. So, I stayed in Lahore for the remaining days. I shifted from my hotel to a different location. I spent one night with some young students, one of them Imran was teaching Urdu at Govt. College at Nankana Sahib. Another night I spent at the guest house of an NGO—South Asia Participation, who organized a talk with its researchers and staff as well. Its Deputy Director Irfan Mufti offered to take me to Bulle Shah’s mazar at Kasur.
PARALYSED PUNJABI BODY
Though the road to Kasur, which was under reconstruction, was somewhat irritable and 60 k.m. journey on car took almost three hours, yet the atmosphere at mazar was wonderful. At about 11 pm the mazar was full of people, singing, dancing inside and outside the mazar. People were offering flowers, but the women were not allowed to go inside the sanctorum. They would give the flowers to the caretaker and watch from the windows. That was unlike Bulle Shah, but everything else was just like Bulle Shah. People dance traditional folk forms like Jhummar and sing Kafis of Bulle in the most fascinating voice and with the sweetest of musical chords.
After visiting Nankana Sahib, Waris Shah and Bulle Shah’s places and talking to cross sections of people, I felt that partition had paralyzed the Punjabi body of cultural oneness. Both sides of Punjabi people have strange kind of thirst for each other, which I could realize in Lahore that both are missing vital and healthy part of each other and inside feel incomplete without each other. The overwhelming emotion on both sides for each other, (perhaps more on West Punjab side), speaks volumes about the cultural losses, which both parts of Punjab have suffered due to this completely irrational division of one complete cultural unit, consisting of three major communities — Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus — due to partition for purely political reasons of gaining political power .
AMRITSAR SINKS, LAHORE GROWS
Pakistani Punjab is almost three times bigger than Indian Punjab. The population of Pakistani Punjab is 9 crores, which is more than half of total population of Pakistan. It is true that Punjabi language and literature has developed more in Indian part of Punjab, but the overall scene of Punjabi culture is still alive in Pakistani Punjab.
To say that “Punjab culture” is nothing but “agriculture”, shows the post-partition contempt of Indian Punjab which has built no strong cultural centre of its own, whereas Lahore was always considered as one of the most cultured cities of undivided India, the tradition which is still alive in Lahore. Lahore has developed tremendously after partition, now its population has grown to nearly 1 crore, whereas, prior to partition Amritsar and Lahore were just like twin cities. Amritsar has just shrunk and lost its eminence, except in religious sense, after partition.
In Indian Punjab, the spellings of university were changed to Panjab University, to differentiate from Punjab University, Lahore. The visit to Oriental College in old campus of the University, which houses Urdu, Persian, Punjabi and now revived Hindi department as well, was again interesting. To see the names of Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana or Bhai Santokh Singh to Sadhu Ditt Singh in Punjabi department office was an experience.
The Punjabi department of Punjab University is as old as 1879, is perhaps not even known on this side of Punjab.
Interestingly, the only one teacher working on temporary basis in Hindi department in Punjab University, Lahore, turned out to be my student from Punjabi University, Patiala. She is Shabnam Riaz, who migrated to Lahore from Malerkotla, after marriage and after doing her M.A. in Hindi from Patiala. Incidentally, Lahore is known for its educational institutions. Falling prey to privatization, it has almost 25 universities located in Lahore city itself, including one women university. Even the Govt. College has been turned into Govt. College University, an odd name.
COMMUNIST MOVEMENT
About the communist movement of those days, I heard a lot about the fascinating story of Pran Nath Seth, industrialist of Lahore, who refused to leave Lahore in 1947. He was the son-in-law of Lala Harikishan Lal, first time minister of Punjab in Fazal ul Hussain ministry. He was briefly arrested during 1965 Indo-Pak war. He came to India for some time and fell ill. He declared that he can’t live without Lahore. He returned to Lahore and became all right. During his underground days, Sajjad Zaheer, well known Urdu writer, who had gone to Pakistan in 1947 to organize Communist movement, took shelter in Pran Nath’s house under assumed name. When the police raided his house to arrest Sajjad, though he had already escaped, Pran Nath, aristocratic in his habits, got angry with police for raiding his house without informing him. These were the days, when Sahir Ludhianvi had also come to work in Pakistan Communist Party and stayed with writer Ahmad Rahi. A Pathan family who migrated from Ludhiana became very friendly with me. A waiter in the hotel, while talking Ludhiana, became so emotional that he brought a lot of fruit and pastry just to show his emotion. “Aap Hamare Mehmaan Hain” (You are our guest), is so common a refrain in Lahore that one starts feeling guilty that we in India never speak of being host and never take care of people coming from other side of border as much as Lahoris do.
There are many more things, such as attending Friday Sangat at Najam Hussain Sayeed house on Jail Road. Twenty plus Punjabi writers/scholars, including 4-5 women gather there every Friday evening, read Gurbani and Najam interprets it. Later they have dinner together before dispersing. Najam is known in East Punjab as well for his enlightened writings. He is the one, who had refused to accept Shiromani Punjabi Sahbitkar (Videshi) award in 2004 when Pakistani Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi was present in Punjabi University Patiala, at the time of World Punjabi Conference. The refusal was just on principle and for no other reason. One can go on talking about Lahore endlessly, but I shall conclude with the story of an interesting coincidence.
Nawab Mohd. Ahmad Khan was a prosecution witness (sarkari gawah) against Bhagat Singh and his comrades in Lahore Conspiracy case. He rose to become an honorary magistrate in Pakistan. He was murdered at the same place in the 1970s, where Bhagat Singh was executed i.e. Shadman Chowk. Further coincidence is that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was trapped for the murder of this man by Zia ul Haq and hanged in Lahore jail in 1977. Now everyone in Pakistan says that Bhutto was framed in this case with US complicity. Also, every Pakistani says that Zia ul Haq’s 11-year rule was the blackest period of Pakistan history, worse than all other military rulers like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan or Pervez Musharraf. Zia regime completely smashed the secular, liberal and democratic fiber of Pakistani society and had thrown it into prolonged struggle to regain its democratic freedoms back. At this moment Pakistani society has awakened and is now struggling to overcome the most poisonous effects of Zia regime. Let us wish and hope that they succeed.
