“LET US have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality or religion. “
I came across these few lines which reminded me of the simple goodness of our Sikh neighbours in Calcutta who befriended our large family during the senseless riots that broke out on Direct Action bay on August 16, 1946. These tragic riots were a prelude to the creation of Pakistan. Even after fifty-seven years the memories of these riots still haunt me.
We normally lived in Rajkot, in Kathiawar. I had recently turned fifteen. My father brought me to Bombay where we were later joined by my mother and we proceeded to Calcutta to meet my elder brother.
My cousin who looked after the business in Calcutta, resided with his family in a large house in Hindustan Park - an affluent residential locality, on the outskirts of Ballygaunge.
In July of 1946 the Muslim League Council had taken a momentum decision and sanctioned direct action to achieve Pakistan.
“We want peace. But if war is forced upon us, we accept it.” With this couplet from the immortal Firdausi, the Quaid-e-Azam had closed his memorable speech to the Muslim League Council in Bombay on July 29, 1946.
The League Council had called for a complete strike in Calcutta on the 16th of August 1946 and consequently the entire city had been shut down. A large public meeting had been held in the evening at the evergreen Maidan and after some fiery speeches, the strike had unfortunately turned ugly - resulting in much carnage and bloodshed.
With the city closed, my elder brother and myself came out on the streets in the evening for a walk. Things had been quiet so far. But as we reached the main road, we saw small groups of people pointing to the smoke in the distance. Someone in the crowd said that Muslim houses and shops in the Hindu localities were being burnt.
That was enough to send us rushing home. We broke the news to the family, who immediately switched on the radio to get some news. The trouble soon spread all over the city like wild fire and since we were living in a predominantly Hindu locality, we prepared ourselves for the worst. By now, it had turned dark and shutting off all the lights in the house, we barricaded ourselves in a few rooms at the rear of the house.
On the second day the riots intensified and Muslims stranded in Hindu localities were slaughtered like animals. All India radio reported that thousands of people were missing from their homes. All the telephone lines in our area were down and we were glued to the telephone, frantically trying to summon help from our friends living in Muslim areas. It was a long day and very soon, it would be dark. We were preparing to barricade ourselves for another bad night.
Our immediate neighbours were a Sikh family, but we were barely on cursory terms with them. Like packs of wolves, the hooligans in our locality were targeting Muslim shops and homes and sooner or later, they would be reaching our house. Realising our danger, our Sikh neighbours offered to move us into their own house for protection. We shared a common compound wall, which had a small gate connecting the two houses.
Under the cover of darkness, we broke the rusty lock on the gate and one by one, slipped into their house. For optimal safety, the Sikh family decided to hide us in their prayer room, where they stored their precious “Granths” and religious paraphernalia.
During the middle of the night, a group of hooligans finally came around to our house with torches of fire but finding it in complete darkness, believed that we had managed to flee from the locality. It was drizzling and the crowds were of two minds as to what they should do. All of a sudden, the drizzle turned into light rain and they decided to disperse.
It was a wretched night for the family. Huddled together in one small room, they spent the night praying. At dawn, the Sikh neighbours requested us to return to our own house, since they feared for their own lives if it somehow became known that they were sheltering us.
It was much worse, the next day. The telephone lines in our area were still down and in vain, we continued our efforts to contact our Muslim friends living in safer localities.
At that time, Khan Bahadur Gulamhussain Dossani was the incumbent Sheriff of Calcutta. He was a very close friend of the family and was extremely worried about us - he had been trying to reach us on the telephone but with little success. In the afternoon our telephone suddenly came to life for a few minutes and we were able to apprise him of our precarious condition. He pacified us and said he was coming with a police force - and advised us to be ready to leave in our own car, as soon as he arrived.
In practically no time he arrived at our house in Ballygaunge in a police jeep, with an escort car carrying some armed police. Hurriedly, we scampered out of the house and got into the car. The police jeep and the escort car with its blaring siren, took off at full speed. We were told to follow closely and had been warned not to stop, whatever the circumstances.
We literally flew through Ballygaunge and were soon in Park Circus, which was a purely Muslim locality. So far, so good. We were headed for Khan Bahadur Dossani’s residence in Gaulston Park.
But to reach Gaulston Park, we had to drive through the wide Outer Circular Road, which had been the scene of much carnage during the past three days. The bodies of scores of unfortunate Muslims were lying scattered along the street and putrefying corpses were heaped on the pavements. These poor Muslims were probably trying to reach Park Circus and were massacred in their attempt to reach safety. It was a gruesome sight. When all of us finally arrived at the gates of Gaulston Park, we gave our thanks to Almighty Allah. If Khan Bahadur had not come to our rescue in time, it could very well have been us, lying dead in those gutters of the streets of Calcutta. He had been our saviour and all our life, we would never be able to repay our debt to him.
I remember reading : “That whom so ever saves a human life, will surely find a place with Allah in heaven.” Khan Bahadur Gulamhussain Dossani passed away peacefully in Calcutta in 1968. Surely he has found a place with his Creator in Heaven - for all the good deeds he performed during his lifetime and for having, saved, not one life but the lives of our entire family, during those terrible riots in 1946.
