drkhalsa
SPNer
- Sep 16, 2004
- 1,308
- 54
Rawalpindi’s Muslim tenant remembers his
pre-Partition Sikh landlord
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service
pre-Partition Sikh landlord
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service
Bhupinder Singh
It was a chance meeting with Muslim brethren in one the busiest Sardaran Wala Bagh Chowk at Rawalpindi that Mr Bhupinder Singh came across this instance of human sentiments at their best. One of the men, Mohammad Hassan, who had been a tenant of Sikh landlord at Rawalpindi, told Mr Bhupinder Singh that he had been waiting for a Sikh to take away the original rent deed, which he had preserved since the time of the Partition. "This is my way of paying the debt to the Sikhs," the erstwhile tenant said.
The rent deed
As per the rent deed, written in Persian script, the shop was rented out on Rs 7 per month to Mohammad Hassan. As an advance amount, Rs 35 had been taken. Two witnesses had also signed on the rent deed. Mohammad Hassan told Mr Bhupinder Singh that Sardaran Wala Bagh and Krishan Pura areas were dominated by Sikhs and Hindus those days. However, the Partition had compelled them to leave Rawalpindi.
During his visit to Pakistan, Mr Bhupinder Singh also visited the Pakistani hill station Murri. "Unlike India, colonial buildings and scenic beauty of the hills and other parts of Pakistan have been preserved," says Mr Bhupinder Singh.
He gives another interesting account of his visit to the office of the deputy commissioner, Shekhupura, near Nankana Sahib. "The deputy commissioner of Shekhupura was holding an open-darbar outside his office. Under the huge portrait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, it was written - Nobody in the holy land of Guru Nanak tells a lie; they always speak the truth."
He adds that he was impressed with the preservation of Sikh art and heritage in the fort of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.