MARKING 75 years of the partition of India, people across the district will celebrate but not without reflecting on ‘one of the most tragic events in the history of humanity.’
The partition of India happened in August 1947 to create two countries - a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.
As people celebrate 75 years of Pakistan’s independence, the people who witnessed this historic moment are dying out.
When the line was put through the map, dividing up the area into India and West and East Pakistan, millions of people ran to the new borders.
Looking back on the atrocities witnessed by those who were alive at the time, many of whom carry the trauma of the partition, one Bradford man reflected on this time.
Mohammed Ajeeb, former Lord Mayor of Bradford and the first Muslim Lord Mayor in the UK, reflects on his life during the partition and how it impacted the person he became.
He said: “75 years ago partition happened, and it was one of the most tragic events in the history of humanity.
“Over three million people lost their lives, in the name of the partition and I will always carry those memories with me.”
Mr Ajeeb was around eight years old when talks of partition began and he listened in on the stories elders were sharing about rumoured attacks on Muslim villages across the country.
“We were keen to listen and hear about what was happening, people were being killed in larger towns and cities in Pakistan due to the communal strife and religious hatred that was being fanned further by some politicians.
“It was a difficult time, people were being lynched, murdered, and butchered just because of their religion.
“But 75 years on there is still strife and animosity between the two nations.
“The violence hasn’t come to an end, and nobody benefits from violence.”
Mr Ajeeb came to the UK at the age of 20 in 1957, first coming to Nottingham and then moving to Bradford in 1973.
“We can’t forget everything what has happened, but we can move on from it.
“People went mad.
“People who had lived together for centuries became enemies because of faith and religion.
“Here in England, we have so many communities living together and we don’t see that animosity or violence, why can’t it be like that there?
“It was very saddening being a child during partition, but I think everything I saw impacted who I became and what I did.
“I worked in politics and worked to erase social injustice, racism, and religious hatred, and that was because of everything I went through.
“Partition was based on religion, and it cost a lot in terms of human lives.
“75 years of partition hasn’t proved to be a means of helping peace in the sub-continent, there’s been wars and violence but it’s important that we remember the partition and what happened, and the lives that were lost, in the name of creating a separate country.”
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