Re-reading history to 'bridge' the Partition

MUMBAI: He was only 18 years old when he was forced to summarily pack up his life in Lahore and cross over to India during Partition in 1947. It has now been 63 years and he leads a comfortable life in Mumbai but his tired eyes can still vividly recall the day at Bhatinda station where he saw Hindu rioters attacking truckloads of Muslims travelling to the other side of the border-he pleaded with fellow Hindus to spare two aged Muslim men who were bleeding but the rioters did not relent. They had already stripped the ailing men off and had found out that they were Muslims, so they "could not be allowed to go".Such heartrending personal accounts ofthe Partition are being documented by a group of students of Cathedral and JohnConnon School, J B Petit, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, H R College andJai Hind College to help the youth have an unbiased understanding of thehistorical event. "We belong to the second post-Independence generation. Wearen't directly affected by Partition but are suffering its after-effects in theform of wars and insurgency. Most young people are limited by the scope of theirhistory textbooks," says Ria Mirchandani, who along with friends Zara Rustomji,Kunal Mehta, Niyati Mahimtura, Raghav Sawhney and Shawn Wadia, hopes to generatean unpartisan view of the tragedy.The students have been busydocumenting accounts of Partition survivors from both sides of the border toscreen them at Remembering Partition to be held on World UN Day (October 24), atthe Indian Merchants' Chamber. The event will be held in partnership with anNGO, Citizens of Peace. The accounts from the Pakistani side will be sourcedfrom an NGO, called Citizens' Archives of Pakistan. Writer and socialcommentator M J Akbar will moderate a students' discussion on how Partition hasaffected the current generation, whether the scars of the tragedy are permanentor not and how to move forward."In most accounts, there is a themeof hope. Someone somewhere helped, like in the case of the youth at Bhatindastation. Most survivors want to forget the hatred and move on," says Kunal, oneof the students. There is also the story of another Hindu from Karachi who nowlives in Mumbai. "Her family would let out a room to a Muslim family.When a mob of Muslim rioters came looking for them, the tenants gaveher and her family refuge," says Mirchandani.The students hope thatthe Remembering Partition project will be a stepping stone towards theestablishment of a permanent museum on Partition. "The museum will help documenta tragic, yet important part of our history for future generations to learnfrom. It will also commemorate those who survived the event," addsMirchandani.