At Temple Road in Lahore (Pakistan), as I stared at the locked gates of the Mozang Gurdwara, built in the memory of the visit of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, I recalled the testimony of Mujahid Taj Din on how during the partition of 1947, religious sentiments were nudged by political leaders to achieve nefarious objectives. In the spur of the moment, Punjabis who for ages had lived in harmony, turned in hate against each other on account of different religious beliefs. Mujahid Taj Din’s testimony in the book entitled ‘The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed’ by Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed, reads as,
“The attack on the Sikh Gurdwara Chevein Pathshahi at Mozang was masterminded by Thanedar (inspector) Malik Maqsood of Mozang Police Station. He trained some of us for four days. We were to take possession of important Hindu and Sikh places when partition was to be announced. He told us that if we died fighting against non-Muslims, we would be Shaheeds (martyrs) and if we survived we would be Ghazis (holy warriors). When we attacked, there were not more than 20 to 30 Sikh men and women in the gurdwara. All of them perished in the inferno.”
It’s what Mujahid Taj Din says thereafter that calls for a deeper reflection,
“It happens quite so often that I pray to God to give me mafi (pardon) for the murder of Sikhs and Hindus. I have a feeling that Allah understands me and has forgiven me. We were misguided and used by our politicians.”
Indeed, guilt of any wrong action will hound for a lifetime but redemption is in the act of pardon!
It has taken seven decades for the ‘Partition Museum’ to be set up at Amritsar and early this month at the Panjabi Bhawan in Ludhiana, for the first time a prayer meeting was held to seek forgiveness for the sins committed on both sides of the border during partition. Such affirmative actions are the only way to put the past to sleep and move forward with respect for all communities.
Photographed in Oct 2014, during the research for the book “LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”
