‘A Sikh magistrate came to my father telling him that a mob was coming to kill Muslims’

Saleem Murtaza Qureshi, 84

Son of an army man, Saleem Murtaza Qureshi, 84, was born in Karachi in 1933. In August 1947, his family was living in Simla, now Shimla, capital of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Simla was the summer capital of the British government where his father, Ghulam Murtaza Querishi, was stationed for 30 years with the civilian personnel of the Indian army.

“At the time of Partition there were two options for Muslim military officers: either join the Indian or the Pakistan army. My father opted for Pakistan,” Mr Qureshi says.

“My brothers and I attended the prestigious St Edward’s School, and most of my friends were Hindus. One of my classmates, Satish Kumar, was from a conservative Hindu family who did not allow him to eat eggs. We used to exchange our food and I would give him egg omelettes with achar [pickles].

“After partition, my family stayed in Shimla and we celebrated Eid Al Adha in September, sacrificing two goats.

“A few days later, we were having lunch at home when our neighbour, a Sikh magistrate, came to our father, informing him that a Sikh mob was coming to the area to kill Muslims. Without delaying, my father asked everyone to start packing and get ready.

“My mother collected only her jewellery, cash and some valuables and walked hurriedly to a hotel, where arrangements had already been made by families of about 20 Muslim military officers. For more than 15 days we lived in that army-run hotel compound, guarded by he Indian and British military, but in constant fear of attack by Sikhs. I witnessed several horrifying scenes – Sikhs attacking Muslims with swords. The memories still keep me awake at night.

We marched to the railway station and, under military guard, travelled taken to Kalka (in Haryana). We couldn’t go to Lahore directly because the security situation was even worse. Our train took a long route and took two weeks to reach Bombay via Agra.

“Because of our military affiliation, we had guards from the Indian and British armies on our trains. Two other trains, which left three and four days after ours bringing Muslim civilians to Pakistan, were attacked and a large number of Muslims were massacred in Patiala [in Indian Punjab] by Sikh mobs.

“We stayed in Mumbai at Kalyaan military camp for a week and finally reached Karachi after a three-day voyage. The journey from Simla had taken seven weeks. When the ship docked in Karachi, passengers started kissing the ground.

“After four days in a makeshift camp near Napier Road in Karachi we took the train to Rawalpindi where the Pakistan army was headquartered. My family was allotted accommodation and my father resumed work with the army.

“Our life was happier before the Partition. But after seeing life today, I think Partition was the right decision but the violence that surrounded it could have been prevented.”