Asma Mirza
The video to the right is from BBC urdu and is making runs on Internet these days. It shows the Independence Day events of August 14, 1947. One can see rare glimpses of people and events here including Mr. Jinnah, Lord Mountbatten, Liaqat Ali Khan, Fatima Jinnah, Lady Mounbatten etc.The video does not have any audio. I wish there was some sound to it too.Other historic videos of 1947 and Pakistan’s creation can be seen in earlier ATP posts, here and here.
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Rafay Kashmiri & Watan Aziz: The specter of contrast is raised by this video and the previously seen documentary material on 1947. Great Britain responsible for law and order in period leading up to the independence failed in her responsibilities. And lets not sugar-coat it. Marauders and vigilantes of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh gangs ran rampant picking and butchering those from faiths not of their own. And yes in Punjab, Punjabis killed each other mercilessly, those who did not or helped others to escape not withstanding.
The subject of comments here is the contrast between the calculated steps of Lord Mountbatten in septic environment of Karachi and the murderous chaos in Punjab. History will never forgive him and the government he represented for its failure to protect precious lives of its subjects.
Punjabis of all faiths did made great efforts to protect Punjabis of all faiths. There are too many examples of Sikhs protecting Muslims neighbors and Muslims protecting their Sikh and Hindu neighbors. Though this too is checkered and less than desirable.
What is not checked is the bloodbath was indeed on the hand of the muhajirs of all faiths and all sides. Penniless, they got killed and killed in vengeance. The blame is universal in both East and the West. Especially in the East, where Gandhi had to actually travel to stop the killings.
There were no Punjabis there.
All of this could have been avoided with better planning and control.
However, the aftermath, the muhajirs of Pakistan were accorded historic and unprecedented welcome and resources considering the scale and indeed the resources of the new nation. It is sad however, that the muhajirs of India got nexy to nothing from GOI (few thousand rupees, per head and no property, jobs, etal).
In the end, muhajirs or PK were in much better condition than the muhajirs of IN.
Pakistan Zindabad
Pakistan Paindabad
@Adnan Siddiqui,
on your uncontestable references,
ghaur talab hay, !!
Wo jo Haq ko chuppatay hein, sar-e-aam yahan,
unki hasrat-e-beja ka, ta’za hay mulamah bohat
@Pervaiz Munir Alvi
“Panjabis of different ‘faiths’ were butchering each other …”
are you sure there were faiths or fabricated Political sects ?
Jinnah & Mountbatten were outpacing each other with civility at the shores of the Arabian Sea and at the same time Punjabis of different faiths were butchering each other with every conceivable weapon. The contrast is too vivid to be ignored or to be forgotten. We have paid heavy price for our freedom. We must salute Jinnah and his comrades for their selfless dedication and hard work. And we must do our part for the defence and prosperity of our fatherland.
Pakistan Zindabad.
Pakistan Paindabad.
Thanks for sharing this jewel. What one reads about Jinnah’s dignified manners can clearly notice them in this video. Pakistan would have been a different country had he lived for an other few years. The country still hasn’t recovered from the loss.