NEW DELHI: An eight-mile column of Muslim refugees trudging from the East Punjab to the West Punjab, a 40-mile non-Muslim column of refugees moving from the West Punjab into the East Punjab … were the main highlights of scenes witnessed by a party of pressmen who flew 600 miles this morning over the East Punjab and part of the West Punjab in the Governor-General’s Dakota.

The flight was to have been made last week but was delayed … . An API correspondent in the party writes: “Leaving Palam Aerodrome at 7 a.m. we had an uneventful flight over the green fields of the East Punjab … until we reached Ludhiana. Here we saw two large groups of refugees who had camped in the open space… . We went on to Jullundur and sighted the first train, packed to capacity and with people perched on rooftops as most of the refugee trains are. … Only a few days ago, as a spokesman of the East Punjab Rehabilitation section pointed out, they were among the most prosperous of people in India, but now they were fleeing destitute, dependent on Government or public aid. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2022