On eve of Independence Day, Punjab Shahi Imam recalls why his family chose to stay in India

Before Partition, several Muslim families lived in the Brown Road area of Ludhiana. Almost all migrated to Pakistan in the aftermath of Partition and communal violence. Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman, however, stayed back.

According to Ludhianvi, his great-grandfather had appealed to people to remain in India, warning that Partition would leave behind painful memories for generations. But when riots engulfed Ludhiana, his family found themselves virtually the only Muslim family left in the locality.

It was then that the bonds of communal harmony became their shield.

Shahi Imam recalled how his great-grandfather’s friend, Bachittar Singh, protected the family from violence by guarding their house. Freedom fighter and local resident Prabha Devi, meanwhile, safeguarded historical literature and documents associated with the freedom struggle that were in Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman’s possession. He was temporarily advised to shift to Delhi until the situation normalised.

Returning to Ludhiana

The family eventually returned to Ludhiana in 1950. Their ancestral house on Brown Road had been occupied by a refugee, but after the refugee was allotted another house, the family returned to its home. The house remains with the family to this day. Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman, however, died in the Delhi house in 1956.

“Communal harmony was what saved our family. We cannot forget the role of Bachittar Singh and Prabha Devi in our lives. That is why today, I am part of the fourth generation living in Ludhiana as a proud Indian,” Ludhianvi said.

His father, Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman Sani Ludhianvi, who was also Shahi Imam of Punjab, was born a year after Independence and died in 2021. Usman Ludhianvi said, “Our grandfather Maulana Mohammad Ahmed, who was a teenager at the time of Independence, used to tell us enough stories of India before Partition, and even our father passed on that knowledge grabbed from him. That’s why I wrote a book, Dastan-E-Ludhiana, revealing the Partition memories, Independence struggle and Ludhiana after Independence recently.”

For Maulana Usman Ludhianvi, the decision taken by his great-grandfather in 1947 has only acquired greater significance with the passage of time.

“When we sit back and relax, we thank our great-grandfather for staying back in India when Partition happened and for not detaching himself from his roots,” he said.

A freedom fighter and national president of the Majlis-e-Ahrar Islam Hind during the British Raj, Maulana Habib-Ur-Rehman had met leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru during the freedom struggle, said Maulana Usman Ludhianvi.

But the family’s Partition story, he believes, is not merely about choosing one country over another. It is also about remembering those who protected neighbours when hatred and violence threatened to destroy social bonds.

“The lesson from Partition is that bitterness between the two nations must end and we must move forward,” he said, while acknowledging that strained relations between India and Pakistan continue.

August 14 has been observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day since 2021, a day intended to remember the millions displaced and the countless lives lost during the Partition of 1947.