Jashan-e-Azadi, Celebrations of Independence

14th August marks the Independence day of Pakistan.

My own memories as a child are of running around Race Course Park, Lahore, waving mini Pakistan flags. With a day off school and work, my family and I would be attending the annual summer fair at the park on this public holiday. Colourful styrofoam floats decorated by local artists would bob in the lake, festoon lights would be wrapped around trees and strung along lampposts. Countless street food stalls would serve all my favourite snacks from pani puri to luminous pink candy floss. At night, stages would draw audiences to see local pop stars bang away at their Yamaha keyboards, performing songs to induce national fervour.

The day is always a festive affair, marking our freedom from British colonial rule and the formation of our independent state, Pakistan. Back at school, my Pakistan Studies class would recount dates in the past signifying the treaties and speeches by political figures. The Partition of Ancient India was reduced to numbers memorised for exams. The real impact of the historical fissure was limited to the oral tradition of storytelling, the few moments when grandparents would open up about the past.

To give a brief overview, after years of oppression under British colonialism, the people of Ancient India were demanding their freedom. A combination of peaceful negotiations and physical protest on the street finally drove the English to relinquish control of the Indian jewel in their crown (Queen Elizabeth does however, have the Koh-i-Noor diamond fitted in her crown to this day). But a lesson we all must learn in this life - nothing is free, not even our freedom.

(Photographs: Archive pictures)

Independence from the British came at a painful cost. The Muslims of Ancient India felt they needed an Independent country and so Pakistan was created. This was a nation was split into West and East Pakistan, with India between the two. East Pakistan went on to become Bangladesh in 1972, which is another heartbreaking story.

The fracture of the sub-continent runs so deep, the trauma haunts the desi people across the world till this day.

It was as if time itself was split in two. The moment before the partition of Ancient India and after, the formation of new countries, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

20 million were displaced, with caravans of people on foot or train travelling to their chosen newly formed nations. This chaos and violence across faiths cost over 2 million lives, men, women, children all perished. The newly formed nations were left in disarray with the politicians scrambling to form new governments.
(Photograph: Archive pictures)

The story has recounted time and again in South Asian literature, film and art. No matter how many times the story is told, it’s never really enough. I’m shocked (horrified is more fitting to describe my feelings at the ignorance) when people tell me they didn’t know Pakistan and India used to be one nation and that so many lives were destroyed in the process.

The generation who experienced this trauma themselves never really had time to process their grief. Distracted by the necessity of rebuilding their lives from scratch, they focused on their future. Much like their homes and earthly belongings, they left their memories of their previous life behind. Little time was spent dwelling on the past. But it played out in their lives in other ways.

Trust me when I say, the inter-generational trauma is real.

(Photograph: My maternal extended family. My nani jaan is on the extreme right in the patterned kameez)

My own grandparents have rarely spoken about their personal experiences. Over the years my parents have made the real effort to record this part of our family history. for fear that the generation ahead will never know everything our family went through in order to get where we are today.