| Lahore
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 a quiet place for reflections |
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When the
Indian subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan, the birth of the
two nations was accompanied by a holocaust - at least 500,000 people died
and more than 12 million were uprooted in the largest, most horrific exchange
of population ever. Pakistan was conceived by politicians as a homeland
for the subcontinent's Muslims, but its creation bisected the Punjab and
unleashed a medieval-style religious frenzy. Lahore, the genteel capital
of the Punjab, was the epicenter of this catastrophe. As the forced migration
and slaughter began, Hindus and Sikhs fled in one direction, Muslims in
another. Trains filled with the bodies of massacred Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus
crossed the newly created border in both directions. Still nowadays, acts of politically motivated violence are the daily bread of life in Pakistan. One day when resting in hotel our room, we heard a great blast and later saw the street outside the next block strewn with bent metal parts. Luckily, the bomb had claimed no lives, though two people got insured. |
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