A country torn in two
Pick of the day
MY FAMILY, PARTITION AND ME: INDIA 1947
BBC1, 9pm THERE are so many tear-jerking moments in this Who Do You Think You Are?style documentary that by the end you’ll feel emotionally sucker-punched.
Anita Rani looks at the stories of four British families – one Muslim, one Hindu, one Colonial and her own Sikh one – who lived in India at the time of Partition in 1947.
It’s a fascinating and shocking history lesson from the point of view of those caught up in the horror of what happened when 200 years of British rule came to an abrupt end.
Anita said: “The vast continent was divided between an independent India and the new Muslim homeland of Pakistan.
“But it became one of the most catastrophic events of the 20th century as millions of people were forced to flee their homes.”
Her family, like so many others, was torn apart.
Anita and representatives from the three other families travel for the first time to see the homes their relatives fled in terror in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
They also meet long-lost family and friends, some of whom protected their relatives at huge personal risk.
Watch out for the amazing moment when Benita, from Cheshire, hears of the man and young boy who risked their lives to ferry her family to safety.
The young boy is still alive and when she meets him, she hardly knows how to thank him.
We also meet a woman whose grandfather worked with Mahatma Gandhi to end the bloodshed and violence.