This year India is celebrating the 79th anniversary of its independence. The more this festival makes us feel happy and patriotism, the more emotional memories related to the partition of the country make them as emotional. We got independence on 15 August 1947, but many people had to move away from their birthplace. When the country was partitioned in 1947, many families left their jobs and home and settled in Pakistan or India and were victims of violence during partition. Let us tell you the story of one such woman Sudarshana Kumari.
Who is Sudarshana Kumari?
Sudarshana Kumari was born in 1939 in Sheikhpura, a district in Pakistan, now part of the Punjab province of Pakistan and about 24 miles from Lahore. Sudarshana was 8 years old at the time of partition. At that time communal violence in both countries was at its peak.
Fire near the house, saved life by jumping from roof walls
In an old interview to The Partition Museum, she remembers how her mother was baking the rotis on the roof for the evening, when one of her neighbors Satpal gave her a voice and told that the rioters have set fire to the nearby wooden factory. The factory was very close to Sudarshana’s house. Seeing the strong flames rising from there, her mother left the rotis there, quickly placed some goods and utensils (a mile, karchul and pan) in a box and jumping from the roof walls, both came out of their house. She reached the citizen headquarters of Sheikhpura. However, the headquarters walls are very low, they felt that rioters could easily reach there, so it would not be right to hide there. But due to the government building, the headquarters did not suffer any damage.
Hide on the roof of the house
Sudarshana further states that she hid in another house in her city. He was hungry for two days. On looking at the roof holes of the house, they saw rioters – wearing thick turbans, tied clothes on the mouth, spears and guns in the hands. The houses were burning, looting and killing whoever came in front of them.
Uncle’s family was killed, a daughter survived
He remembers how the rioters killed the entire family of his uncle in front of his eyes. He did not spare his one -year -old innocent daughter. However, a daughter of Sudarshana’s uncle managed to escape, she was shot by rioters, but she fell on a hospital road while running away. The doctors treated him there. The bodies of many acquaintances of Sudarshana were lying on the road, which were rotting due to rain, and smelling rapidly.
Looted goods from burnt house
Later, running with her mother, Sudarshana reached an old valley. There, both of them hid in a pucca house. There were other people who ran away, and they created a convoy. A few days later, they reached the company Bagh, where officers used to be homes in civil lines. Sudarshana says that she started playing with her friends in one such burnt house.
The children looted the stuff from there. Sudarshana found two wooden baskets (lid wooden baskets) and a small box. She brought them with her. She thought that by reaching India, she would protect her new dolls and her clothes, her old dolls which were left in Pakistan. She says that she kept her dolls in these boxes and boxes till the eighth grade. Even after marriage, she took these things with her. He gifted the plates to his sisters and kept the box with him.
People were being stuck like animals in a truck
Sudarshana said that she started waiting for the convoy truck, which was about to take her to India. More than 300 people were left in two trucks like animals and left near the Wagah border, from where she reached India with her mother and spent a lot of time in the refugee camp.
