Finding Peace on the India-Pakistan Border
By scott.poniewaz | April 13, 2008
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The late 1940’s were a fervent period in the world. The Nazi forces were being defeated in World War II, America surprised Japan and the world with nuclear warfare, and in India, the British Raj was preparing to step down from its rule and grant independence to India. Across the world, people were dying, villages were being burned to the ground and monumental decisions were being recorded for the history books.
India was no different after 1945, when the Labour Party’s win in the British elections gave India hope for its own independent state, and so began the framework for the partition between India and Paksitan. In addition to an eventual decision that would be forming the two new nations of India and Pakistan, it created what is currently the longest running border dispute in the world over the state of Kashmir. After the light at the end of the tunnel gave hope to Indians about the creation of the two states, some people saw dreams of prosperity, while others were daunted with the likely exodus that would occur with the drafting of new borders by British judge, Cyril Radcliffe. Appointed by the British Raj, he was brought in fresh, with little knowledge of cultures and his scouting teams were trying to pour information into his head faster than an Italian chef stuffs ravioli. He had a big decision to make as he would be splitting up the Punjab state, which would also divide the Muslim, and Sikh populations into two areas, but also leave behind many Hindu’s as a minority in the new state. He managed to make up his mind quite quickly, spending just six weeks in India to develop what would eventually be known as the Radcliffe Line. The Sikhs and the Muslims were pitting it out with each other in the political arena over who would take control of the new states, and the name Sikhistan was being hinted around, but the rumors dissipated and Pakistan came to light along with the fact that it would be a Muslim state in late 1946. While this would split two of the Sikh religion’s major cities, Lahore and Amritsar, there was less concern over the Hindu’s and the Muslims during this decision making process. Muslims in the Indian state began an exodus to what would be Pakistan and the Hindu’s began making their move into what would be India. Everyone knew that eventually civil unrest would be sparked, no matter what Radcliffe’s borders said. The British just wanted to get their hands out of the pot which was about to boil over as fast as possible.
In the mix, those wealthy persons on the edge of the proposed areas began moving investments, selling land at rates that were on the verge of handouts, and preparing for new lives in the state that their religious affiliations tied in with. Widespread segregation was occurring, Muslim’s and Hindu’s wouldn’t trade with each other, waiting rooms were created for each of the religions in the train stations and water fountains were labeled “Hindu” and “Muslim.” In preparation for the partition, the military determined that Muslim soldiers would be split and head to Pakistan and the Hindu’s would stay in India. Unlike what was occurring in the general population, it was a very sad time for the groups of soldiers that had grown so close, but the journey to Pakistan was anything but easy. Trains carrying military were often bombed. In response, they began alerting troops just minutes before they would be departing to keep people from tipping off their schedules, but information would still leak and attacks would still occur.
The exodus of the general public that occurred on the railway also led to major casualties, including excessive abuse toward women and children. Rape, torture and killing were inflicted upon the female population and these horrific tactics were being put into action by both parties. Additionally, train bombings were frequent in this time period, as were accidents caused by trains overflowing with passengers that would ride the rails any way they could, whether hanging on by dear life, on the tops, or packed in like sardines. It was estimated that around 10 million people crossed the borders to the country the best fit into and over a half million were killed in the Punjab state alone.
Then August 15, 1947 occurred, and things really erupted. Independence was official and the British Raj was leaving as fast as they could jump ship, quite literally. At the same time the Raj was running, people would do whatever they could to get to the country their religion fit into and Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India took over and was deluged with tasks. Developing a system for the world’s largest democratic state, harvesting a prosperous economy, while also facilitating the transfer of information that was pertinent to getting Pakistan off the ground was no menial job. The government would often just take parts of offices, box them up and ship them off to Pakistan. There began the official creation of Pakistan, actually Pakistan and East Pakistan. Cities like Calcutta in the east were also facing rioting, rape and murders as what is now Bangladesh was going to be split from India to create the state of East Pakistan. East Pakistan eventually fell in 1971 and became Bangladesh as it is known to the world today, though the United Nations didn’t officially welcome it into the organization until 1974.
Kashmir began its ongoing conflict in 1948 and 1949 brought with it a ceasefire ordered by the UN. This area has grown into one of great pride for both Pakistan and India and neither wants to give their piece of the pie up to the other. The year 1949 also brought with it the demarcation line that is now better known the world over as the “Line of Control.” For an interesting look at this tense area, I recommend checking out Eric Segalstad’s dispatches from the hot zone during the not so hot winter of 2006-2007, when he lived and skied in the Gulmarg area (www.thelineofcontrol.com).
This is a deep history that I can only really nick the surface with here, many harrowing first-hand accounts can be read about in a variety of books, so I won’t try to cover it all here. Where is all this going now that I’ve led you through India Partition 101? It is only a piece of the puzzle that eventually led to the creation of India and Pakistan’s daily celebration in peace, friendship, and the festivities of national identity. Approximately 25 kilometers from Amritsar and about 25 kilometers from Lahore, Pakistan, you’ll find the Attari-Wagah border crossing, which is also the only overland port of entry between the two countries.
Every night, the border heats up for what amounts to a sporting event as each country’s border security forces high-step down the road that connects the two countries, tumultuously clacking their heels against the cement with fierce determination in their eyes. Since the border closes at 4 p.m. everyday, they begin allowing people into the “stadium” around 4:30 and as everyone finds their proper seating area, mixed, males, females, and the VIP sections where foreigners are able to sit on the Indian side (I am unsure how the Pakistan side works, though it seems with recent political unrest and lacking India’s billion strong population, their side didn’t have the turnout India did). As everyone settled into their seats, the Indian flags came out and participants raced each other up and down the roads in front of thousands that turned out to witness the ceremony on this particular Friday evening. Women, children and of course the many men fought over the flags to show how fast they were before the music kicked in and the chains were stretched across the road to keep the men where they needed to be and the women to be where they needed to be. Everyone dances their heart out and the street turns into a dance floor. Men and women lacking the rhythm and the moves of their favorite Bollywood stars struggle to reenact dances from the silver screen and many are doing my favorite Bollywood dance, the screw in the light bulb. It is a dance that consists of putting one hand on your hip, the other in the air, do a little head bobble, a gyration of the hips, and a twist of the hand like you’re screwing in a lightbulb.
Everyone is having a great time and doesn’t have a care in the world, chanting Hindustan on occasion and waving their India flags high. Their patriotism is like none I’ve ever witnessed and I can assure you that in all the time I have spent along the northern border of the United States covering immigration and border issues there, I have never seen an event even remotely close to this! After the dance party, they move on to the serious business.
On their respective sides of the gate, the two sides line up, march down the road, meet at the gate, then eventually open their respective sides of the gate, face off with one another, and scowl, before high stepping again and preparing to lower their flags. The sun sets behind the Pakistan side creating silhouetted figures against the mystical middle eastern skies, and the pink and purple hues of the sun’s final rays of the day fall upon India making for beautiful light. The two groups close the gates again, march back with flags in hand and the ceremony finishes. These men are some of the tallest Indian men I have seen, and their mustaches are often bigger than any I’ve seen! It is a sign of their honor, and therefore they always keep them turned up. It is often said that turning a man’s mustache down is the same as taking away his honor.
It seems an oxymoron for the two countries to be celebrating their peace and friendship when such a violent past has stood in their shadow, and still remains to this day. Pakistan itself is still battling internally with the distaste over Pervez Musharraf, the assassination of its former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and recent elections rekindling violence throughout the country. The two have also spent almost 60 years clashing over the region of Kashmir and neither can find a way to compromise. While India currently possesses about 2/3 of the territory, they have equal patriotism over this vast area of mountains and desert. Friends always have their quarrels and no relationship is perfect, so as long as there is a reason to celebrate, they will continue to keep the thousands entertained each evening in what I’ve found to be the quirkiest border in the world.
Topics: Travel, Photo Galleries, Immigration, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh |
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