环球英语 — 298：Friends Across the Partition
Voice 1
Hello, I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“I am writing you this letter as a human being. I hope that you will not be unhappy because a Hindu is writing to you. We are first human beings, and then religious people.”
Voice 1
A man called Harkishan Das Baydi wrote these words. He lived in India. He lived during the time when India and Pakistan became independent nations. In today’s programme, we hear how the events of that time affected the lives of millions of Indian and Pakistani families. And we hear more from Harkishan Das Baydi’s letters - how he managed to live through some very dark days.
Voice 2
From the late eighteenth century, the British government ruled India. India under the British covered the territory that is now India and Pakistan. Britain considered it to be one of its most valuable colonies. But in 1939, the Second World War began in Europe. This proved to be very unsettling for India. Some Indian soldiers fought for Britain in the war. But for many Indians, it was a time of terrible poverty and unemployment. The people’s desire to govern their own country grew. The Indian National Congress, or INC, gave voice to these desires. This organization mostly represented the majority Hindu population. It had long been fighting for Indians to have more control over their country. Its leaders demanded India’s independence.
Voice 1
In 1945, the war came to an end. And the British government seemed ready to agree to demands for independence. It wanted to concentrate on re-building Britain after the war. So, it accepted the fact that India should be left to rule itself. But this was not as easy as it seemed. India was a divided country. Which group would govern when the British left?
Voice 2
The majority of the people in India were Hindus. A much smaller percentage of people followed the Sikh religion. And there was also a large number of Indian Muslims. The most likely group to rule was the majority - the Hindus. However, the Muslims worried about living in a country with a Hindu government. They believed that no one would listen to their demands or problems. Their political organization was called the Muslim League. The League wanted the British government to divide India into two countries - one with a Hindu majority, and one with a Muslim majority.
Voice 1
And so, the dividing of India, or Partition, happened. On the fourteenth of August 1947, the Muslim State of Pakistan was born. And the next day, what is now India became an independent nation with a Hindu majority.
General opinion today is that Britain did the partition very badly. The dividing line cut across two large areas of North India: Punjab and Bengal. The result was that Pakistan had two parts - east and west. They were separated by 1,600 kilometres of Indian land. It meant that people of different religions found themselves on the wrong side of the lines. They had to leave their homes and travel to the right side of the lines depending on their religion.
Voice 2
We now return to Harkishan Das Baydi. He was one of the people who moved. He was a Hindu. And he lived in the town of Lahore, in North West India. After Partition, Lahore became part of Pakistan. Baydi and his family left the town in a great hurry. And the new local authorities gave his house to a Muslim man. When he had settled in the new India, Baydi did something strange. He wrote to the person who now lived in his old house! The man’s name was Chaudri Latif. Here is part of the letter:
Voice 3
“To the occupier, house number 32, Pandoo Street, Krishan Nagar, Lahore...
I was a teacher at a high school in Lahore. My students included Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. In my eyes, there was no difference between them...
The law broke down badly in Lahore. So I took my children out of the city. I did not take anything with me. I thought that the disorder would end and we would come back to Lahore.”
Voice 1
Baydi and his family travelled east to India. And so did hundreds of thousands of other Muslims and Sikhs. About the same number of Muslims travelled into Pakistan. Baydi and his family were some of the lucky ones. They arrived safely at their new home. But terrible fighting broke out between the different groups on the road. Estimates say that almost one million people died during the whole process of Partition. Baydi wrote again to Chaudri Latif:
Voice 3
“I am afraid to think what Hindus and Muslims have done to their fellow Indians... It was a sickness of mind that made them so blind. But the worst part of it is that it happened in the name of religion. No religion permits such killing.”
Voice 2
It was a very difficult time for both India and Pakistan. But the two men continued to write. Their unusual friendship continued in a time of hate and lack of trust. Chaudri Latif sent Baydi some important documents that he had left behind. Baydi wrote:
Voice 3
“I feel proud to write that they have given my house to such a good person. I am not just praising you - my heart is my witness. Only God knows how strong our friendship will be in the future.”
Voice 1
The two men died without ever meeting each other. But their families still speak about their friendship. For them, it represents a positive side to Partition. It demonstrates how suffering can create strong links of love - links that rise above any outside differences. Today, more and more families are remembering their own stories of love and courage from those dark days.
Voice 2
Ashur Rahman is a friend of Chaudri Latif’s family. He lost many members of his family during Partition. And he is still trying to make sense of all that happened. But he, too, believes in the power of human stories. He believes that they can help to heal his troubled country. He says:
Voice 4
“Deep inside we are still wishing that when we turn the stone over, there will be flowers, not blood. And we are in the process of discovering that - the brighter side to Partition.”
