PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN

was

born

in in

small

village

Dheram

on

20th

October

1947

The village is situated

district Pilibhit, Bareilly division ,Uttar Pradesh India. It was post

independence period immediate after the emergence of India &Pakistan as two independent states all the matters were topsy turvy , there was great turmoil and tribulations in the Indian sub-continent, both the countries were bathing in blood. The British , giving top priority, to their own safety & security left the country in haste without ensuring law and order resulting in untold mayhem, miseries and

migrations. The communal riots hit the Punjab, Bihar, Calcutta(now Kolkatta) and Delhi worst. In north India the United Provinces commonly known as U.P (now Uttar Pradesh) , was comparatively less affected by the communal riots, but people in big cities were still scared of each other, although the rural areas were peaceful. My father, who served the in Indian Army from 1942 to 31st Dec 1944 and got release soon after the World War II which came to end after the cruel dropping of atom bombs on Heroshima & Nagasaki by the victorious & the newly emerged super power USA. My father was

reemployed as a civilian in the same unit as a Assistant Rehabilitation Officer in ASC Centre Lucknow, he was living there,in a rented hose in a Muslim mohalla near Nakhas, with his wife and two years old daughter, Fatima, my late sister. The bomb of communal riots was ticking but not exploded but the atmosphere was generally tense so he resigned the service and left Lucknow for his village Dheram. Before leaving he purchased edible Attar from famous whole sale distributors Iqtida Khan Muqtida Khan to sell locally to the sweat meat marts of Pilibhit and meet his day to day expenditures.My late mother always cherished two things about her very short stay un Lucknow one was her going to watch movie for the first time in her life perhaps the film was Zeenat of Madam Noor Jahan and the second enjoying the walks on the river Gomti.

Pilibhit is the north-eastern most district of Rohilkhand division which is situated in the sub Himalayan belt on the boundary of Nepal. On the north are the district Udhamsingh Nagar and the territory of Nepal, on the south lies the Shahjahanpur district, on the east the district is flanked for a short distance by district Kheri and for the remaining distance by the Shahjahanpur district and on the west the district of Bareilly. Our village is situated on the bank of a small stream known as Absara and small canal is flowing on the Eastern side of the village. The present population of this village is about thirteen thousand people living in around 200 houses. The village is a Muslim majority village, the population predominantly inhabited by Rayeens, a caste of farmers who migrated from Haryana & Punjab in the last quarter of 18th century and settled there & has been living since then. The en masse migration and the compulsory exodus was the result of long and recurring famines. Majority of people migrated from 30 villages Tehsil Sirsa Distt Hassar and later on some of Rayeens also came from Powhad ,a region of Punjab near district Ambala. Now Sirsa is itself a district of Haryana Province of India and also an Indian Air Force Base.

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN The Rohilkhand region , to which the Rayeen migrated & settled, was with a renowned region of North West of Uttar Pradesh with its capital at Bareilly, it this name after Rohila Pathans , a conglomeration of various Afghan tribes settled there, majority of them were Mandhar Yousafzais of Swabi & Mardan.Actually these Afghans started settling there in the beginning of 17th century as they were encouraged by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, they mainly the fertile tracts of land in Bareilly,Pilibhit,Rampur & Shahjahanpur .The purpose of settling them was to discourage & suppress the local Rajputs ,who frequently rose in revolt against the Mughal rule. These Pathans were generally termed as Rohilas which literally means the inhabitants of the hilly tracts. and after the death of Aurangzeb, during era of the weak Mughal rulers, turned into rulers of this region. They almost ruled for 70 years and their rule came to an end after the defeat of Rohilas in the battle of in Katra Meeraan near Shahjahanpur, fought between the Rohilas,in 1774, the Rohilas were under the command of Hafiz Rehmat Khan Rohila an able and dauntless leader and the Awadh forces were led by Nawab of Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the Nawab of Awadh was also assisted by the forces of East India Company under Lord Warren Hastings ,the then Governor General. Later on Warran Hastings was impeached in the British Parliament and Lord Edmund Burke,the famous paliamentarian condemned him for indulging in Rohila war unnecessarily. As referred earlier Sirsa,our original homeland, now in Haryana, was situated on Ghagra river, the name Sirsa itself is derived from the name of famous river ''Sarasvati which is also mentioned in in Rigveda,the oldest Ved of India. . The river used to flow between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and ,as mentioned in Mahabharata, the river dried up later on. The goddess Saraswati or Sarasvati The godess of Wisdom in Hindu mythology was a personification of this river . The river Sarsavati used to flow into Ghaggar river, . The Ghaggar rises in the Siwalik (Shiwalik) Range, in north western Himachal Pradesh state and flows about 200 miles (320 km) southwest through Haryana state and eventually dries up in the Great Indian (Thar) Desert. See the map below

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN

. There are two sub clans of Rayeen in this area namely Sarsawal and Pohadias .As obvious from the name of the sub-castes the Sirsawal came from Sirsa and Pohadias came from Powahadh region in and around district Ambala. The Sirsawal came early and occupied better lands and Pohadias came 50 years later and settled in marshy areas commonly known as Mar in local language now tehsil Sittargunj of district UdhamSing Nagar in Uttarkhand just adjacent to Amaria Block. But both are pure Rayeens. Prior to the partition of India the Rayeens were divided in to two distinct economic classes i.e the Zamindars & Kissan.The Rayeen Zamidars of Dang,Uddaipur,Kargaina,Mundia,Khamaria etc were demy gods whereas the Rayeens of the same or nearby villages were their tenants.But every rise hath a fall, so ultimately with the abolition of Zamidary under the Congress rule in 1951; brought about the end of zamindari,the paupers turned into princes and princes into paupers. It was a kind of French Revolution but with out violence The cultural and economic changes brought about by independence of India and agrarian reforms and technological revolution introduced and establishment of Agriculture Uiversity really benifitted the people. The credit must go Pandit Panth the Chief Minister of UP soon after independenc. According to The Imperial Gazetteer of India published in 1900AD

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN ,the population of Rayeens in district Pilibhit, and Barielly was about 5000 people and they were mainly classified as cultivators. Immigration of Rayeens from the Punjab took place up to late 19th century. Within a short period of fifty years this small community cultivated large areas of land and established their own villages. Within a short span of time many of them established themselves as big landlords of the area. Rayeens were known for their hard work. They were able to get allotment of big share of agriculture land by working hard and favors shown on them by British administration. At the time of Independence & emergence of India & Pakistan, Rayeens were one of the prosperous and educated community of the Muslims of Bareilly, Pilibhit Tehsil Sttargunj of District Nanital keeping in view, their proportion of nearly 5% of the total population. . My father had had many firsts in his life for example in his native village he was the first to get admission when a lower primary school was opened under a banyan tree in his village in 1927. He had been enrolled among the first batch and he used to credit his late mother for evincing keen interest in his and his younger brothers education. But just a few months, as the luck would had it, the school was not approved by the education department and shifted to another village Madhopur some three kilometers away. So my father was the first and the only child willing to go to Madhppur not minding the distance, the canals and streams he had to cross particularly in monsoon weather . He happened to be first matriculate and first graduate and first attempting master degree . He was the first from his village rather from his whole Rayeen caste to put on the uniform of Indian Army and he was the first inhabitant of Dheram to change the grass thatched roofs (Chappar) to pucca Khaprail building and first to migrate to Pakistan. He braved the extremes of the harsh weathers and he attended this school till class three. After passing class three he was admitted in Government Vernacular Middle School JahanAbad , a town 10 kilometers from Dheram The school was with the provision of semi hostel; semi in the sense that lodging was there but the students had to bring uncooked food stuff i.e cereal& pulses etc from their villages and Hindu and Muslim cooks respectively cooked the food for them and if you liked meat that has to be arranged from local bazaar .The expenditure on kerosene oil burnt in the lamps for the studies had to be borne by the students as well. My grandmother Mst Najumnissa Begum( Allah may bless her soul) had a great determination to get his two younger sons educated as his two elder sons were absolutely illiterate and used to plough the fields. The basic reading of Holy Quran was , however, arranged in Muslim homes where the elderly ladies took upon themselves to teach small groups of male and female children at their residences these ladies were known as Mullanies So for family support to my father from his family, the basic support was from my grand mother but his elder brothers Ms Habib Ahmad and Mr Latif Ahmad helped him also, for example whenever on their way to Pilibhit city riding their bullock carts they would also carry the cereal for my father and drop it in his school. My grand father Mr Barkat Ali died in 1935 when my father was in class

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN

five. It was 1937 and football tournaments were being played at Jahanabad School, during a disputed match some boys led by my father closed the PTI of opponent team in the nearby bath room which consequently resulted in expulsion of my father from Barreilly division schools and he was debarred from admission in any government school in that division. Although poor and depressed he did not give up courage ,he managed to get admission in a nationalist school run by All India Congress at Ettawah a district ---------miles away at his own but could not adjust himself over there and directed by some well wisher had to go to Islamia High School Muzaffar Nagar in Western UP. But the catch was there he was to be admitted in class 6 as he was coming from Vernacular i.e pure Urdu Medium and had no back ground of English language .He got himself admitted in class 6 in 1939 at the age of 17 and to be financially viable started coaching students in Maths and Urdu and also brought his younger brother Shafiq Ahmad and got him

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN admitted in some lower class, boarding and lodging of both the brothers was sustained by the people whose wards they coached. Despite all these odds he passed his Matriculation examination in First division which was very rare in Islamia School Muzaffar Nagar. But by now he was tired of teaching tuitions etc and wanted to be self sufficient . It was the middle of World War II ,and in haste misled by a recruiting agent joined India Army as a Havaldar Clerk. it was the climax of Second World War and the War had opened many vistas of opportunities for Indian people both in civil and military life .In my opinion he could go to Aligarh University etc.It would be rude to pass judgment on the decisions of you elders; it is just a passing reference. Actually by the time he was already twenty years of age. After enrolment in army in Army Services Corps he was sent to Bareilly for initial training of four months. . Our rural area being a non martial area it was a news that so and so had joined army that too during world war. Many people told my grand mother that her son might be dispatched overseas because it was a World War and majority were dispatched there and becoming war fodder., My grand mother got so much perturbed by the induction of his son in the army that she accompanied with some relative went to ASC Centre Bareilly and wept that his son should be released from service. My father Platoon Commander a native Sikh Captain convinced my grand mother that his son was in safe hands and she came back to her village convinced that her son was in safer hands and had progressive career .After basic and professional training he remained posted on Bareilly Station which happened to be just forty miles from his home town. By the month of November his mother had arranged his marriage in nearby village Kargaina because getting her son married was her first priority in advancing age. My late mother Qayyum Alnissa begum was only fourteen in 1942 but in the villages that was the right age to get a girl married. My mother,s father died when she was only four years old and her younger sister Farooqi Begum happened to be one year old only but she had two elder brothers to look after them but hard luck to my maternal grand mother both of hem also died in the prime of their youth Mr Altaf was stung by cobra snake while searching some thing in earthen improvise store known as Kothia and the eldest one Mr Ashfaq Hussain was married and had a small daughter named Tahzeebun, he went to nearby forest to reap some grass to prepare thatched roofs before the setting in of rainy season and he was hit by scorching summer wind known as loo in local language and died of heat stroke when my mother was just ten years old so my maternal grand mother Mst Saira Begum was without any male member in her house and depended on her agriculture land to be cultivated by tenants. My mother was taken under the protection of her paternal aunt wife of Hafiz Abdul Rashid who was quite well of and had had big haveli in the village and had four daughters some elder and two of my mothers age .It was more a social rather than economic protection but my mother told us the whole family was just like her parents and siblings. I must mention here Hafiz Abdul Rashid was almost second biggest landlord in my mothers village Kargaina but quite upcoming and progressive in his ideas.He was very much impressed by Sir Syed Khans Aligarh Movement and his two sons and one nephew were the first batch of students to be sent to Aligarh University . His eldest son Mr Abdul Hafeez Naeemi became prominent lawyer in district Pilibhit and younger son did MA B T and joined Military Accounts Deptt and retired as Deputy Controller of Accounts and his nephew Mian Fahiuddin also joined

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN Military Accounts Deptt after doing MA English from Aligarh and retired as Military Accountant General Pakistan. I was narrating the marriage of my father as it was middle of World War II granting of even casual leave was a difficult option so when he applied for leave for marriage his incharge advised him there was only one optional the birth day of Baba Gru Nanak the founder of Sikh religion was available you can go and solemnize you marriage and come back same day and late on when ever your P Leave matures you will be granted what was permissible under the emergency rules.So my father got married on 19th November on Gru Nank Day. We used to cut joke with our father we all siblings had Sikh temperament traces in us due to his date of marriage. He was posted to Ferozpoor and then to SSD Kala in Jehlum. He liked the people of Punjab as they were quite lively and had generous attitude towards life.This was the time he was very religious and discarded his ancestral Bralvi school of by virtue of living in Muzaffar Nagar which is close by Deoband . According to my mother he would not miss a single prayer and very pious. In Ferozpoor his two roommates were Sikh on Sunday when he would go on outings the Sikh roommates would booze heavily but before his arrival clean the room etc and would say jinni peeni ay Moulvi de anay taun paylay peelo which roughly can be translated enjoy your drinks before the arrival of that religious fellow From Ferozpur he was posted to SSD Kala near Jehlum and in 1943 transferred to SSD Karachi near Kalpul .He used to tell us that Karachi was a beautiful city of Parsis ,the Municipal authorities used to wash the city practically to keep it clean. His living barrack was in Bazarta lines where he helped to built a small mosque. I am planning to visit that mosque for the last twenty years in Karachi but I am a man of so weak will power that till today I failed to visit it . The story of building this mosque goes like this that there was a a welfare Darbar of the Unit and CO asked for any welfare measures for the Jawans and my father suggested that was no mosque for the Muslim soldiers in nearby vicinity so CO helped to construct that small mosque. He also told us this was the era when Mr Jinnah was at the peak of his popularity, although as a man in uniform he was not permitted to attend public meetings but the Muslim League bug had also bitten him, so he used to attend any political Jalsa if it was on Sunday. He narrated to us that in a public meeting of Khaksars in which the Khaksar leader Allama Inayatullah Mashraqi was addressing the meeting when a Muslim Leaguer threw a burning cigarette on him and instantly all the Khaksars surrounded the meeting with the spades (bailchas) and my father hardly escaped. He told us that although Malir Cantt was established and it was so far away and there was only RIAF Station Drigh Road ,Ordinance Depot and Kala Chappra the would be Karachi Air Port and they had to return to Karachi in the evening. Malir was mainly a POWs Camp in 1943.My father was transferred to Lucknow in 1945. This was the year when my elder sister Fatima was born on 1st January .My fathers experience of army was not very pleasant one being educated person he detested saluting business and frequent movement involved and non family station life. It was 1945 and war was coming to end and finally with the drop of atom bombs on Heroshima & Nagagasaki in Japan on 6th August and Indian Army soldiers were also permitted to apply for release from service voluntarily as a matter of general demobilization .My father told us that his first action was to apply for release so he could be out of uniform. He was not only released was also rehabilitated as civilian Asstt

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN Rehabilitation Officer in non gazetted grade and placed as Lucknow. He took his wife and daughter and started living in civil area now he was24 years of age and for the first enjoyed civil life. Our mother used to narrate to us her experiences for the first time out of village life and coming to provincial and civilized city like Lucknow for example seeing a movie for the first time in a local cinema titled Zeenat and she lked the Qawali Ahen Na Bhareen Shakway Na keeayher strolls on the river Gomti and many other beautiful and knowable experiences of that city. It was the month of July 1947 and the communal disturbances had started through out India and they were more violent in Dehli and Punjab although UP was also hit by it but mainly in the city rural areas were still amune.My father had to go on some official job to Jehlum and he was expected to come back within a week. I t was the time telephones were not common and further broken due to disturbances and my mother with a daughter of one and half year old and expectant as well was alone in the home. Thank God it was a Muslim Mohalla but her worries were unbearable. My father after completion of his official job with in a day or two from Jehlum instead of returning home straight went to his native village to solve a few domestic problems mainly remained busy to arrange engagement of his sister in law i.e my mothers younger and only sister Farooqi Begum as my nani was widow and left assign this task to my father. One of his friends and class fellow from Jahanabad school Mr Amir Ahmad who had adopted teaching profession after doing Middle JAV(Junior Anglo Vernicular) and after passing away of his wife in recent past had turned widower was from the same village as my mother namely Kargaina, the only negative point was that his deceased wife left two minor children aged three and two years old. Nevertheless my father put the proposal two both th parties and made all efforts to arrange for engagement thus it took him almost a fortnight. According to my father when he retuned back to his home in Lucknow each and every inhabitants of the neighborhood curse and criticized him for being so cruel to be away from the family keeping in view the communal situation prevalent in the country. He did realize his mistake and was repentant. It was the month of August keeping in view the pending communal situation in big cities,he decided to resign from his job and to go back to his native village Dheram and start some small business or shop. He decided to purchase perfumery used in sweat meats from famous distributers in Lucknow MS Iqtida Khan Muqtida Khan and arrange its sale in Bareilly and Pilibhit area. Thus he left Lucknow for his native village. He settled in the house which he had renovated earlier. According to him the perfumes became very popular in the local market and he earned a lot of money and during his stay in Dheram I was born on 20th October 1947 and my aunt Farooqi was also married to Mr.Amir Ahmad(who after performing Hajj in 50s was always known as Haji Amir Ahmad).It was occasion of Eid ul Azha. There were a few sad interactions with his relations which compelled my father to bid farewell to his village and go to Pakistan which was still his ideal new born Muslim majority country. I must bring on record that there were hardly any communal riots particularly in our rural areas,Our village Dheram was known as Pakistan as there were hardly three to four hindu schedule caste families and Rayeen having feudal back ground had good grip and generally scared and influenced by them. Although majority of Muslim govt servants had opted for Pakistan but generally people neither had the desire nor economic, social or political compulsions to leave their home and hearth for Pakistan. Earlier in August to leave were Mian Fahimuddin Asstt Comptroler of Military Accounts

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN designated as ACAF and attached with Royal Pakistan Air Headquaters Maripur Karachi ,He left with official contigent by air from Delhi and his brother in law Abdul Khaliq Jillani also a subordinate office in Military Acconts Deparment came to Pakistan. Both of them related to us from mother side and I had already mentioned them in the preceding paragraphs. One of our relatives Mr Manzoor from the nearby village Tukunia was an Aligharh graduate and employee of CMA was coming to Pakistan as an optee. He was a distant cousin of my father and my father used to address him as Manzoor Bhae ,he agreed to take my father along with him declaring him his son along with my mother and two infants in an official train leaving for Pakistan in the last weak of December from Bareilly. Thus my father with his small family decided to go to Pakistan to an unknown destination and unknown livelihood.Although it was month of December but as my parents told it was a heavy down pour and in British era from 24th Dec to 2nd of Jan used to be winter vacation. My father told me a very interesting incident that on 28th December when he reached Lahore Railway Station he wanted to get himself registered as a refugee with the officials over there according to him a Pakitani local Christian who was the senior most told my father in chaste Punjabi gentleman have a patience as majority of Muslim staff is enjoying Christmas holidays After registering his self he along with uncle Manzoor went to Rawalpindi where uncle was officially posted.The platform was badly slippery due to heavy downpour and my father was holding me in his lap as my elder sister on foot was accompanying my mother who was naturally a burka clad lady my father on platform had a very narrow escape otherwise perhaps I would not had been eriting these lines.My father stayed for couple of days at Rawalpindi and then proceeded to the his parent Supply Unit at Jehlum just to inform them a retired havaldar clerk was available if he could be any service to the newly carved Muslim country. He was informed that his Record Office had yet not sent all the documents to Pakistan but they were very cooperative and informed him that Punjab Government was in need of an experienced clerk in their industries department at Lyallpur(now Faisalabad) so he can be officially sent there. He agreed to the proposal and wanted to set out for Lyallpur but according to him there was acute fuel shortage and there was rationing on travels but one kind lady who developed intimacy with my mother in refugee camp Jehlum managed through her husband who happened to be a bus driver. Thus they started their journey to their new destination.When they reached Lyallpur city the rehabilitation department through evacuee property procedure temporarily allotted them a house in Mohalla Khalsa College vacated by some migrating non Muslim professor of Khalsa College(Now known asGovt. Municipal College).My father started going on his job in industries department at a place known Mae Di Jhuggi near a canal.Now a few words about our new habitat Mohalla Khalsa College: the majoriy of new settlers in this area were the Punjabi speaking Pathans who had migrated from Amritsar, a few Jallandhry Arains. We were the only Urdu speaking refugee. There was also the house of mother of now deceased Gen Abdul Rehman who died in famous Bahalpur crash with Gen Zia ul Haq.He was a serving Captain then whenever he would come on leave to visit his mother he would had long sitting with my father perhaps due to old army bond between them. My father told me later in life that late Gen(ThenCapt )Abdul Rehman had been back from Kashmir Comaign 1947-49and and was vocal against ceasefire agreed by the then Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan. Among the other names I remember was a retired police inspector Saadulla Khan and Khuda Dad Khan,

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN there was also a gentleman known as Mr. Alvi.My father had an aptitude for business and after settling he thought about purchasing a few buffalos andto supply milk in the market,there was a vacant place known as ahata, he hired it and also hired the services of a milkman and thus by 1949 he had four buffalos and pretty well established in his business along with the service. There was no mosque in this area as before independence it was totally a non Muslim locality. My father and few people were prime movers to construct a mosque. A mosque was thus established and services of Immam were engaged. Once my father expressed the opinion that the reputation of Immam had some blemishes for example it was in the air that he was having illicit relations with his sister in law. The opinion expressed by my father was bound to reach the imam so one day after Isha prayers he asked some people about the allegations being leveled against him. Two of supporters of imam openly blamed my father so a scuffle ensued between them . My father used to carry a knife, as per his statement as he had hired ripe turnips crops by cutting and peeling them etc for the cattle so he used to taste at times , but on my further enquiry it revealed that he had picked some quarrels with in that locality so he would carry the knife as a weapon. He was young man of27 years old and quite emotional. When the imam slapped him he stabbed the imam and consequently imam turned unconscious . the injured imam was taken to the nearby hospital and by the time the my father reached home and changed his blood socked clothes the police had arrived and arrested him and seized the knife. He was remanded to jail and my mother with her two minor children i.e my elder sister Fatima aged 4years and myself hardly two years old and expecting a third child would keep on sobbing &crying day and night the worst scene was that none of our relations were nearby. Two families i.e second cousins of my mother namely Mian Faheem ud Din was Asstt Controler of Accounts in GHQ & Abdul Khaliq Jilani was Suptd in CMA in Rawalpindi and they being civilian officers in military departments were also scared to come to such far-flung place like Lyallpur. It must be borne in mind that Pakistan was just two years old and things were not well routed including transport and communications but my father would off and on mentioned in his talks that local Punjabis like Mr Alvi supported and helped him more than my relations. Among the relations one distantly related gentleman Mr Zia ur Rehman came to see us from Mardan. After this untoward event reason dawned upon my father and he decided to dispose off the buffalos and enter in a agreement with the said Pesh Imam outside the court & subsequently the witnesses of prosecution turned in my fathers favor which resulted in acquittance of my father honorably and his government service also remained intact. This incident also compelled my father to take another important decision in his life, he decided to study further privately. His previous academic record was good enough i.e he was first division Matric from Islamia High School Muzzafarnagar(UP) in 1942,had served as a clerk both in Indian Army & civilian department. The problem with the appearing as a private candidate was that you could appear as a private candidate in FA only if you were a teacher in government school or serving as a uniform personnel in armed forces of Pakistan.My father did his B.A(Bachelor of Arts) in 1952 at the age of 30.He went to Sialkot a nearby industrial town because there the famous Murray College was situated over there. Government Murray College Sialkot was established as Scotch Mission College by Scotch] Mission in 1889 It was initially started in 1868 as Scotch Mission High School, situated in Kanak Mandi, Sialkot, but was in 1889 up-graded to the status of an

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN Intermediate College at the request of Punjab Govt.In 1952 the college was running regular classes o MA English Literature so my father had to find some part time evening job in order to sustain the family of 6 individuals. He found the job of Accountant in a local surgical firm and got admission in MA(Previous) and in 1953 we came to Sialkot Cantt in a rented house.It was an upper storey of an evacuee house,I do not remember the street or road as I was hardly seven years of age.What I remember very vivdly that a lunatic used to roam about in almost naked condition and children were damn scare of him perhaps his name was Mannha because when he used to be fairly away ,the children used to tease him by saying Mannaya teray peer no na mannya I do not have any other event worth retention in my mind while living in Sialkot Saddar,I dont know but my father decided to shifting residence to a nearby village Ghazipur Talwara, a branch railway going to Narowal from Sialkot used to pass between Ghazipur and Talwara.For the first time I happened to live in rural areas and I liked it very much,there were open fields,the village belonged to Punjabi Jutts and there was a big havali of lambardar, a lot of potatoes were grown in the village and the children used to pick up left over small sized potatoes and rainy season we used to enjoy fishing not with any instrument but simply by holding sheets . My late elder sister Fatima used to be my partner in all these little enjoyment.Our parents till then sent me to any regular school they used to teach me fundamentals of Urdu & Arithmetics at home.We spent less than six months in this village then my father left for Rawalpindi,the details of it I came to know later own was that after completing his MA(Previous) from Murray College ,he felt the financial hardships so decided to find some government job in Rawalpindi and attend the evening classes of MA(Final) in Gorden College Rawalpindi.He was accommodated by the cousin of my my mother Mr AK Jillani,who was serving as Deputy Controller of Military Acctts and used to live with his family in Hut Number 32 Race Course .He did appear in his MA exam but found service in Govt High School Akora Khattat in district Nowshehra as untrained senior English teacher so we all the family members shifted to Akora Khattak in 1954. In this way we, temporarily, came to live in NWEP(Now Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa) .Our home was in the internal part of Akora ,it was a big bazaar abandoned by Hindu shopkeepers who per compulsion left for India in 1947.There was abundant evacuee property in Akora Khattak some allotted to the Urdu speaking refugees and rest still vacant and unattended, some jobless people used to remove wood etc from these houses and also use them as toilets. Our home was on an upper storey of a goldsmith shop and sister in law of our uncle Shafiq Ahmad,Ms Jamila Begum, used to live in neighbourhood,her she was a spinster lady and school teacher in government girls primary school and an other Pathan lady teacher from Pirpiai used to share the house with her. The best thing about Akora I liked was the Kabul river flowing nearby in local language the river was known as Lunday meaning short thereby. I was seven years old I used to stroll on the river bank and try to swim as well. The boat ride was also a source of enjoyment. For a few days I went to Government Primary School Akora Khattak in class three but I was declared a misfit and lagging too much particularly in Arthmatics,so I used to go with my father to High School and he used to assign me some writing task and I would come back after half time recess. Our stay at Akora Khattak was also destined to be for two years only.My father used to discuss in open that the school account was maintained by a eight class pass Urdu teacher who could not even spell the items

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN properly and there was something fishy fishy.He perhaps wrote an anonymous letter to education directorate .The headmaster was Mr Abdul Rauf BA BT from Muslim University Aligarh and belonged to Buffa in Hazara.He called my father in his office regarding the letter and ultimately there was physical bout in the Headmasters office.Mr Aslam Khattak from the famous political family was Director of Education in those days,he later rose to be Governor NWFP, he happened to be class fellow of Mr Abdul Rauf so he went to Peshawar and brought the service termination order of my father. To terminate an untrained teacher is far more easy than a trained teacher.That was really a sad day in our home I very vividly remember my parents were very sad and gloomy .After a few days my father went to Wah Cantt ,where my uncle was serving as aSenior English Teacher in Cantonment High School Wah Cantt and with some effort found for my father also the job of a English teacher over there.We also shifted to Wah Cantt and shared accommodation with our uncle.He used to live in official accommodation near GT Road,the quarters were known as CV it meant C type with verandah.In those days Wah Cantt was a extra ordinary neat and clean place and worth living.We lived over there for almost six months then my father applied in response to an advertisement for the post of office assistance in GHQ through Public Service Commission although it was no-gazetted post of grade 14 but a permanent post as compared to post of untrained teacher in Cantt Board High School.Thus we shifted to Rawalpindi and rented a house in a semi suburban area Tench Bhata,there were good number of kilns for preparing bricks so the place was known as Bhata. We lived there for almost one and half year and changed three houses later on we used to recall these houses by different names for example baees(22) rupee wala house,Makhni wala ghar,Subedar Major Musahib Khan wala ghar and Razaq wala ghar and there we moved to another nearby abadi known as Adra where in those days was Army Apprentice School and now there is Army Medical College.In Rawalpindi I was admitted in a private school run by a local welfare organization run by one Mr Iqbal the school was known as Iqbal Middle School Tench Bhata .After a test I was admitted in class four but my stay in this school was also very short as my parents had not been to India to see their nears and dears since 1947, my father being in defence service was not allowed to visit India so he managed a visa for my mother and rest of the family for visit to India.In March 1957 we left for India our father conducted us up to Lahore and our conducting was done by one Mr Iqbal and family,Mr Ibal owned a vegetable shop in baees number chongi and was going to meet his father who had converted to Sikhism during the communal riots of 1947, The whole family was very supportive from Lahore to Ambala.I being the eldest male member ,although only 10 years old,also conducted my mother and enjoyed the journey very much.It was the first time I have seen turbaned Sikhs and dhote wearing Hindus for the first time in my life and on interaction found them very gentle and caring.After cutom formalities we left for Bareilly by Hora Mail which used to run up to Calcutta know Kalkota.After night journey we reached Bareilly railway station by the day break and our uncle (khaloo) was there to receive us.We further travelled on branch line up to Shahi on train and there cousin of my mother late Mr Ejaz was there with his light bullock cart known as rahloo in local parlance which carried us up to village Kargaina ,the ancestral village of my mother.The stay of a ten years boy for three months in India is not a very significant event because his observation are childish or at least childlike.It was my first to be outside Pakistan,in Pakistan I had spent my childhood in cities like

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN Lyallpur,Sialkot,Akora Khattak,Wah Cantt and Rawalpindi.It gave me spectrum of both rural and urban life so I observed and enjoyed my ancestral motherland with keen eyes.I mainly visited two villages that is Kargaina ,my mothers village and Dheram,my fathers village.Now the question arises why did we spend more time in Kargaina than in Dheram.There were many ground realities first of all ,my grand parents had expired, and my fathers two elder brothers families and his two elders sisters families were hail and hearty and enjoying their lives in their native villages and had no desire to migrate to Pakistan rather they were sad on leaving our native land.People were generally happy with the reforms particularly land reforms introduced in Uttar Pradesh I found my relations and other people praising attitude of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in general.My paternal relatives being small land holders were not economically not very well off rather they were just average except my elder phopa Mr Fakharuddin who was saiva patty i.e lumbardar of Dheram.My mothers brother in law Haji Amir Ahmad of Kargaina besides tending his cultivable lands was also a Primary school Teacher in the nearby village Harharpur.When we went to India it was summer vacation time but in July the schools opened and I also willy nilly used to go with my khaloo primary school with him.The school was situated in an open mango orchard with a single room and a raised brick terrace. All the students used to study there in Hindi script my uncle would give me some assignment from my books which I took my text books with me from Pakistan.For complete two months that is May & June 1957 I spent the life of a vagabond just roaming about with the children of my age in the agricultural farms and my mother and grand mother were sick of my activities rather they named me shepherd ,but thank God, there were no criminal elements around and no fear of kidnapping etct.Majority of people were our relatives .We had a dream to enjoy a lot of mangoes as Pakistan had by then not less orchards of mangoes but that year in India also the mango crop was not as good as was expected, so we did not enjoy the fruit much. Now ,by the grace of Allah,Pakistan is very much both in variety and abundance of mangoes rather we manage export of mangoes. In early August 1957 we returned to Pakistan now my father thought very seriously to get me admitted in some good school.Previous as he was roaming throughout Punjab and busy on many projects he used to teach me in the afternoon and his line of argument was very simple that he could not afford to send me to Presentation Convent or St Marrys so he would not send me to Tat (rag) school as Govt Primary Schools did not have desks and chairs rather had jute rags for sitting and my father would at time say you would turn into hunchback but my mother would not agree she would rather retort by saying that the all the students studying in these schools had not turned hunchbacked. One fine morning my father took me to Cantt Board High School Lalkurty(Tariqabad) on bicycle and submitted an affidavit that my son had not studied in any school and he should be admitted in class 6 if found suitable.So I appeared in admission test inUrdu & Maths and was admitted in class 6 Section B in last week of August 1957 at the age of 10 years but my date of birth was intentionally enterd in the admission form as 10th of may 1949 as my father had suffered a lot due to his over age and despite being a first division in all exams could not compete so he thought it to be wiser to reduce my official age by one and half year but I being a nincompoop failed to take advantage of it.Cantonment Board School was not only

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN newly constructed school having a big hall two vast play grounds and airy class rooms and was also highly organized in educational & extracurricular activities .The teachers and taught both were well disciplined. In 1950s in Rawalpindi Dennis High School had a reputation in hockey,Muslim High School in football ,Faizul Islam High School in band and C B High School in scoutingMr Ansary was the headmaster. I spent three years in this school but I was not outstanding in any subject and Mathematics was my weakest area I had a great liking for the subject of History and liked my history teacher Mr Riaz Amjad very much ,the history of the arrival of the Brirish in India their rule & colonizing the sub continent that is from 1600AD to 14th August 1947, the subject fascinated me very much and remained a passion with me till today. Rawalpindi was a fascinating place no bias ,no language discrimination we hardly knew the difference between Mohajar,Pathan,Pothwaria or Punjabi it was a mix culture even there was no discrimination between Christians and non Christian.In RA Bazar&Lalkurti there were good number of local Christians and we used to have combined teams of cricket and other sports we were friends & foe not based on religion or language but simply based on liking and disliking. I do not find that Pakistan both mulla and politicians had defaced it just to grind their own axe.We used to live first in Tench Bhata then in Adra and finally my father was successful in getting allotted a JCO Quarter of three rooms it was converted from military barracks but had all modern facilities like electricity ,running tape water and situated on a prime place just opposite the Presentation Convent School whenever I go to Rawalpindi the ,although the Victoria barracks are demolished and a big CSD is constructed there,but it still fascinates me.There was Services Cricket ground in the back and we used to frequently enjoy the test matches between Pakistan & England and at times between Pakistan and West Indies without ticket it was open for all and sundry.The names of West Indies players used to be very funny for example Butcher ,Tailor etc.Pakistani cricket players like Hanif Muhammad,Mushtaq,Fazal & Kardar were there with out helmets in those days. While going from home to school the bill boards placed on Tasveer Mahal Cinema were very attractive as our parents although quite libral but some how not fond of going to cinema,so I missed that golden era of Indian movies I still remember that Baijo Bawra an Indian movie was displayed for 52 weeks in that cinema.I have some untoward incidents during my stay in C B High School but they were the result of not speaking the truth and blaming my respected teacher unnecessarily.I n those days in Cantonment Schools the civilians were charged full fee but the wards of uniform personnel or ex defense personnel were charged on 12 annas or 75 paisa and fee was to be deposited latest by 10th of every month otherwise you were imposed fine of one anna every day and on 20th your name was struck from the school register.My father gave me one rupee for school fee and pocket money.The rupee usally used to be coin of nickel people used to call it chandi ka rupeea,I purchased ice cream and paid perhaps one anna and kept the rest of the coins in in the shirts pocket but in the evening while playing I lost it while running or jumping.For twenty days I could not muster the courage to tell my parent that I had lost my fee amount.As was quite natural my name was struck and the class teacher Mr Sabir asked me to call my father otherwise dont come to school.So struck by the evil hour I went to GHQs gate called my father that my name had been struck off the school attendance register but still did not tell him the correct reason simply told him as I was sick so didnt send the application so they struck my name off. My father just came

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN in the rage and took me to the Headmasters office, this was my first time to be in the headmaster,s office it was so impressive full of trophies I was really awe stricken,when headmaster asked me why your name was struk off,I repeted the same story but finally Mr Sabir was called he informed that the student failed to deposit the fee,I still denied and told that I did pay you the fee but you didnt made the entry but my father being experienced saved the the situation not only slapping me with full force rather admitting that he was sure his son is the guilty and asked to touch the feet of teacher Mr Sabir for disgracing and blaming him for nothing. My father had also had to pay admission fee and thus I was readmitted in the school but Sabir Sahib changed my section so that both of us should not face each other after this untoward. As narrated earlier we were allotted a three room JCO Quarter in Victoria Barracks near Lalkurti Rawalpindi rather just opposite famous Presentation Convent School & St Joseph School.It was a very nice place and our shool was also nearby.But then an incident took place, we were the newcomers and a Bihari,a Madrasi and a UP family were living there for the last one decade,my mother picked a quarrel on certain issue and the brawl took a long time and matter went up to Camp Commandant GHQ office consequently my father was allotted another JCO Quarter in Margala Barracks.Although quarter was bigger in size but it was near RA Bazar and a bi at distance from our school.Now my father also started going to Mardan in connection with allotment of land in lieu of our small property left in India, it was Ayoub Khan martial law tenure and Gen Azam Khan was rehabilitation minister and bureaucracy was working very efficiently. We were allotted 3 acres of Chahi i.e irrigated by Persian Wheel and 2 acres of Nahri i.e irrigated by canal land a house left over by Hindu shopkeeper in village Garhi Kapura near Shahbaz Gahi in district Mardan. But all this property was in occupation of local Pathans and it almost took my father one complete year to get it vacated with the support he received from GHQ Rawalpindi.But the authorities told us that you must occupy it physically otherwise it would be reoccupied and all efforts would go waste. So our family bifurcated I ,my younger sister Masooda and father remained inRawalpindi whereas my mother three younger brothers and elder sister with my mother went to occupy our newly allotted house in Garhi Daulatzae,the house was left by one hindu shopkeeper Ram Sing,it was just in the beginning of town bazar, a fairly large house with four rooms and big courtyard but not fitted with electricity which was very common inNWFP,the house did not have a well inside the house so for a long time we had to hire the water and use kerosene oil lamps.Finally my father managed to get himself posted to Air Head Quarters Peshawar because in those day all the civilians in Army,Navy & Air Force were under the command of one GSO I known as Director of Personnel Civilians (DCP). He shifted to Peshawar and we all six siblings with our mother started living in Gari Kapura Mardan.We all got admitted in respective schools.There was Government High School in Garhi Kapura which was established in 1956.Although I had passed eighth class from C B High School Rawalpindi but there was a quite different systems of examination in NWFP,in order to get admission in class 9 you have to clear Vernacular Middle Examination from Board of Secondary Education so I was readmitted in class 8 and my father considered it wise because I was weak in studies due to frequent absence of my father in connection with the allotment of land and ligations ,he could not concentrate on my studies.I was fourteen years of age and no exposture to Pushto language and Pathan culture it was altogether new experience I was only one non Pushto speaking

PILIBHIT TO PAKISTAN student in the whole school rather we were the only Urdu speaking family in the whole village.The best thing about Mardan and surrounding areas is that Yousafzais are the most cultured Pathans and the Pushto spoken by them is considered the language of literature and media. I cannot forget the advice of my father he gave us very emphatically that we must adopt the local culture and language wholeheartedly and love the people who sheltered us on their land. One of my kind teacher also emphasized that the alumnae had to explain important points in vernacular so I should try to pick up the language as soon as possible.All the teachers taught us with great sincerity and their skill of teaching was also quite honed. I really enjoyed my two years in Government High School Garhi Kapura, in class eighth I was third in the school although having good second division and this time again the subject of Mathematics being the greatest hurdle in my grades. Nevertheless the success gave a boost to my self confidence. I fully enjoyed my two years stay in this village . My father has leased out the 3 acre of land to one Mr Diyar Khan on annual basis in the local terminology the system was known as Ijara system,the gentleman was a nice gentle Yousafzai Pathan who himself was owner of good fertile land and in his youth had sometime in Dehli so quite fluent in Urdu,he was unlucky to have no issue although his first wife by force arranged for his second wife as well but the poor man was still issueless,he has adopted his nephew namely Khan Sahib,a pretty jolly fellow he was a class junior to me in the school.God was kind and the six years ceaseless struggle of my father bore fruit and we were financially well off.The piece of land irrigated by the canal was a bit far off and my father rent it out on fifty percent in local language known as brakha or in Urdu nisf battae and it was rented out to one Adam Khan,who was a rustic fellow from top to toe and could not speak a single word ofUrdu or Punjabi so I was made responsible to supervise the whole affair. I was just 15 years old but I really enjoyed this assignment and the cultivator in my genes was perhaps revived .During summer crop of 1962 we asked him to grow melons instead of wheat and I used to go daily in hot afternoons on foot just covering my head with a Chaddar which a local custom of the area ,pick up melons sell them in the local market divide the sale proceeds fifty fifty. As I used to go daily the shopkeepers who were our neighbors as well, my reply would to my field in Mundat (name of that particular area) ,they out of fun gave me the nick name of Mundat which offend me at times .There was a small community of Agha Khani Ismailis in the village perhaps they had converted from Hindus,all of them were goldsmith and spoke Hindko, a dialect of Punjabi,they were nice and cultured people.