Writer Salman Rashid narrates the story of his family’s sufferings during partition. He said during his visit to Jullundur in 2008, he came face to face with the son of the man responsible for killing his family members. Rashid narrated 74 year old Mahindra Pratap Sehgal’s description of communal tension in the city of Jullundur in 1947. Sehgal’s father had killed Rashid’s grandfather at this time. Rashid said he could not feel any anger or hatred against Singh, who had witnessed the events as a 13 year old boy.
“He wanted to speak about the events that unfolded during partition, particularly about the killing in my grandfather’s neighborhood. It was as if he wanted to shed his guilt, and perhaps even his father’s”, Rashid said.
Sehgal described in detail how Rashid’s family had gone into hiding and were eventually killed by their neighbours. Often calling his own father as ‘foolish’ and ‘cruel’, Sehgal described the brutal murder of Doctor Sahib – Rashid’s grandfather.