After 300 years of cruel rule in India, British Army managed to march out of the country with a shot fire and seven casualties. A shot fire and seven casualties. But! Indians ended up uprooting 15 million of its own population, killing 1 or 2 million of its own people, raping 75,000 women of its own land and partitioning its own country.  1947 was that candle in Indian history, that lit up the sky with freedom from slavery but put its grounds in dark killing its integrity. 1947 killed the coexistence in India, at a glance.

I was eleven when one morning pitaji rushed to my bedroom. I was seeing him after two days. But he did not care to me and was walking here and there. Soon, he got the sandook from the almirah, and started packing. Before I could ask him the reason maa and chichi came in with her jewelleries and other belongings. We were going somewhere I knew but where and why? And what was the reason of the rush. Things were not right as we were at the edge of getting freedom from British rule, I had learnt from the elders. Before I could utter a word, maa caressed me and said, “beta, we cannot tell you the everything now… we have to leave Karachi, we will go to some other part of the country, that is the thing for now.”, that was enough to shake my grounds, “maa, we got independent, then why are they making us move?” maa was terrified. Never in the past years had that I had saw her worried like this. After Second World War, independence became our fate as British Empire was out of resources to run the cruelty and the fight for freedom had ignited. We were going to be a democratic country after 300 years of slavery. But I saw no happiness in her eyes; her words were shivery instead, ”it is not the British, we failed to keep good relations with the other religions of our country, we will be divided into two countries from now on, don’t you remember me telling you about the new region, Pakistan?”, Maa tried to wrap the conversation but I was confused, “ yes, you had told me but why we have to shift?,” I wanted the ask more but the noises  outside interrupted me. Maa sensed my insecurity somehow, “this is a land of muslims and we are hindus we cannot stay here any long, this is going to be Pakistan and we are Indians.” Pitaji joined us but not for talking, “betaji, we will let you understand each and everything but not now, this is a crucial time, people are killing each other,,,, we are not safe here.” He was stressed and so were the other family member but I could not really get the reason, “I obey you, pitaji,,,, but this is our hometown, I have lived here with ashfaq from the time I was born, why would he kill me?”, by the time I completed my question wiping my tears pitaji was gone, he was busy. Maa promised to tell me about it on our way and left me to get ready.

But I wasn’t happy. But then! I had to follow my elders. I stared my room for some time and then I went to close the window, I did not want dust to fell in. site of the street had all my answers. There were dead bodies and… blood. That was all I could see. I was unaware of the reason again, but I got the fact that we were not safe. I locked the door of my room, kissed it and promised to come back, one day.

For next 15 minutes, we waited in the hall. Pitaji and chachaji went to check for safety. We were strictly told to stay home. maa, chichi, rupa, dadi, ashwin and me. I was crying, all that while. At one time when the riots outside accelerated, Maa sat down to match my height and held my shoulder tightly, “promise me one thing,,, you will not leave my hand. Our own people are going to be harsh on us, they will attach us,,, there is chance,,, but you won’t lose the grip on me, promise?” I promised and she hugged me with her lively smile and teary eyes. I was strengthened.

“paras, you go with chachaji and your cousins, we will come in the next trip.”, Pitaji said when he came back. “but why?”, I was anxious. “betaji, we have got only one tanga, you people leave and we will follow.”, he made me understand but that was not enough for me, “I will come with maa, I won’t lose the grip”, I announced.  Maa held me again, “yes, you never will. But we are family and we have to act according to what comes forth.”, she advised but I was stubborn, “I will not…. Leave your hands,”.   She, with all her grace, put through her words that were unmatchable, “your safety is my responsibility and my dignity is your obedience. Think of everyone’s safety and leave,,,, I will grab you again once you escape the darkness of today.”

I obeyed… and left. The time I saw her waving from the tanga, she looked divine. We boarded the train but they did not come. My anxiety and fear grew every second. Chachaji told us they would come in the next train. And they did come, Pitaji and his associates. Pitaji did not meet me till we reach our new house in Amritsar. “Your maa and chachi stayed in the camp, the violence had advanced. They will come with the other migrants.” Pitaji told us. He had actually… lied to us. they never came. Maa and chachi. They never came.

Today, after 70 years, I am a historian and a professor. I tell my students not just the fighting spirit of our patriots but the sacrifices done our women. Our own people are going to be harsh on us. my pitaji killed maa that day. your safety is my responsibility and my dignity is your obedience. She died to save me and her dignity. My safety was in moving out of my hometown because few people suddenly thought that our motherland needed division to survive and my mother’s dignity was in dying because all thought it to be better to kill their own ladies than to find them brutally raped by other religion.

Everything was done by everybody for religion, regardless of being a Hindu or Muslim. Both killed, raped, looted and separated their ways. They fought for freedom together for ages, and then they fought with each other to feel free. And that is how we got independent… independent of?

"There, I saw HIM. HIS Big soft footsteps fell on the top, top of that dome and made it beautiful... HE has chosen me, us to claim his territory, the territory which has been stolen years back. It is time." A preacher announced his dream to the followers of the deity. Then the creatures decided to gift a piece of land to the creator HIMSELF. They placed the idol of the deity in the mosque. And what happened next is a history no one wants to turn and see. For years several lawsuits, politicians and the legal authorities tried to resolve the matter and failed. Then! The followers from all over the country gathered to do the justice and they demolished the piece of land they had once offered their deity. The event left humanity dead when the mob itself killed thousands and divided way for two religions for thousand more years…

Tara gazed her own words for a while and then mailed it. It was 2:30am. Next day the office was as usual for her till the time she was summoned by the boss. “Tara, your article summary itself has impressed our clients, and they are satisfied with the full story. Congratulations! For the great work and now I am going to get you more engaged with your next assignment.” Boss applauded Tara that overwhelmed her, “Thank You boss. And what is the next assignment? “, “You have to continue with the after effects of the mosque demolition, for that you will be sent to Mumbai for your next research work.” boss explained. “That would be great. When do I have to leave?” asked Tara.

Days in Mumbai kept Tara excited to the fullest. Meetings with different people, unfolding facts, and new theories kept her intact on her work. That day after meeting the Police Commissioner, after a long time she chose to write something for her own blog. 

I was then serving as DCP in Mumbai police department when my whole surrounding got changed in few hours. One blast, then the other, and then another. Form BSE, Mahim, Hotel Sea Rock, Air India to Juhu, Worli... every place.  Every place I visited had turned into a death post. Smoke, blood, dead bodies and cries drenched my senses. But what was more frightening was yet to come. Our investigation unfolded truths that were hard to swallow. Surely, the act was a well-planned destruction by the underworld and was an answer to the mosque demolition by them. But the demolition not just lead to this blast but had given wings to a Home grown terrorism. Yes! We kept inspecting every section and we were shocked to know that most people involved in the execution were Indians. From a reputed family to poor boat holders, from a film star to police constables and from underworld to common man, hundreds were convicted in the case. It took us decades to punish the ones involved and it’s a shame that not every person has yet got punished for this inhuman activity. The ones who planned the blast are still absconding. Yes! It took time because it had involvement of hundreds, because it left hundreds dead, because the executors were more powerful, because neighbouring countries were involved, because….. There are hundreds of reasons. But! It doesn’t change the fact that... we lacked, we lacked to do it on time, and we lacked to serve justice to the one event that originated this act.

Mumbai days were near to end and the research satisfied Tara as a columnist. But then an idea struck her, “How could I miss it.”, she murmured to herself.

She went to meet common people of Mumbai, who were not involved in the blast, were not the victims of the blast, but were just a resident of the city. The only thing that mattered for her was their religion, whether it is the two religions who clashed or the others.

And now she was set to write the conclusion:

Before reading this article, you will have to keep your religious sentiments aside. And if you can, then may be some day this war of religions will end and we will breathe in a real democracy. It all started with a belief. A preacher, a minister or may be someone else from religion A, concluded that there shouldn’t stand a mosque on the land of a Hindu God. And they placed His Idol at the mosque. It will sound ridiculous to the atheist but then I said you have to keep your religious believes aside. They claimed that their Mughal Emperors had constructed a mosque on the place where temple existed. It is okay for a country to have a mosque at the place of temple because it had been under the rule of outsiders for several decades. But it is not okay to forcefully change the culture of a place in a democracy. And being a democratic country that offers equal rights to all religions, it took us decades to resolve this one issue where only few hands were involved and we could not do justice even after decades. And then in this democratic country, devotees around the country appointed them to do justice by demolishing the 450 years old mosque. Now it became a national issue with 2000 plus killings and the political involvement in huge number. A justice system that failed to settle regional issue decades back was now unable to do justice to this national issue for sure. And then religion B took a stand. Next year people from religion B helped execution of RDX blasts in a metropolitan city of their own country. That left 200 dead and hundreds injured. It was an international issue now with involvement of neighbouring countries and the underworld. But the most important term that we got after these blasts was Home grown terrorism. But we lacked the fact that killing 2000 people and demolishing a building by a mob should have also been termed as Home grown terrorism. And then, for no surprise, it took us two decades to reach conclusions for the issue and the case is still running in the court. Yes! It is tough to solve issues like blasts and mob killings where thousands of people are involved. It takes time. Maybe because we lack in appointing enough judiciary persons to handle the hearings on time, maybe because we don’t train our police to handle these major attacks, maybe special forces and army need approval from politicians before acting, maybe because we have politician who are so corrupt that nationalism comes after money and religion for them, maybe because we need education and non-criminal background for any other sector but not for being a politician,  maybe because we lack in infrastructure and technology to monitor our security, and maybe because we are so anti-national that entering our country and attacking us has become so frequent for terrorists. We should realise that killing is not a practice that any God offers for their follower. No holy book, whether of religion A or B or C or D or any other, teaches inhuman and terror activities. They just recite the act of humanity, love, giving, doing everything that is good for nature. We claim to follow our creator but we are killing its creation for our own believes. Bring in your religious believes now and ask yourself, do you practice dos and don’ts from the holy book that your religion offer? We lack because us, all of us, lack humanity.