Another point. Every thing (humans, animals, plants and inanimate things or rather the whole existence) is a gift from God. It's only in Muslim majority countries that people think that they are the "only" gift of Gods. I think that one should realize that religion was created by humans and not by God - it's only the religions of the "Book" who think so otherwise.

Razak and Abdul. once you are done patting yourselves on back for commenting on a Pakistani Newspaper to make Pakistani's look bad. crawl back beneath the rock you came out from :) It is indeed a gift. Just like you were a gift to your parents. Trying to belittle other's just to satisfy your own ego? seriously are we in 5th grade? It is easy to sit behind a keyboard and insult other's feelings. So your parents stayed in India. Good for them. I have cousins in India. Good for them. And yes being a Muslim, Everything we get is a Gift from God. We can only try our best and the result is in the Almighty's hand. So it is a gift.

thanQ., Mr. Razak. I also expect Mr. Nadeem Khan to react.

Keep it up. You and your fellow ilks will take pakistan to the hell

I think we all are human beings first and then comes religion, whether Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jew, Budhist, Taoist etc. It's like clothes, we are all born naked but then we are clothed by different coloured dresses - green, safron, white etc. and are asked by the so called "religious" leaders to hate and kill people wearing other coloured dresses.

Sir, thanks for writing on both sides of the issue.....I read your comments in The Hindustan Review......your very clever

Thank you for writing something that is neither true or as you mention so rightfully, never been recorded. Can such people still exist? Can you make your own history now?

I respect and pray for every freedom fighters of Indian subcontinent who fought with the colonisers for the freedom of India. Whether they be Hindu, Muslim , Sikh etc. I hold them dear to my heart. Each time I read about them I shed tears. I am neither Indian nor Pakistani but descendant of a Pathan who came to Australia over 120 years ago. Pakistan was created for the safety of Muslims because the future would have brought anti muslim political parties like BJP and militants like Shive sena and Bajrang Dal etc. My appeal to both Indians and Pakistanis, please do not let the freedom fighters sacrifice go in vain.

To all the Indian's commenting on this site with an anti Pakistan view and liking all the anti Pakistan comments. Get a Life. Think outside the box and stop listening to the stuff your politicians keep pumping in you. I as a Pakistani who learned long time ago that our politicians are no good and they spread nothing but Hate. Both sides are using each other as an excuse for Arms race. Stop pretending you don't see the injustice with poor that occurs in your country. We Pakistani's accept our short comings at least. We know whats wrong in our country and are trying to fix it. Grow up.

i think that pakistan was viable and it was created because hindus and muslims could not get along on any issue...hindus considered eating from a muslim plate as palit ....and even now protesting muslims in india are beaten up while protesting hindus do it under police protection...how muslims are treated in kashmir is still the same...however what i would like to project here is that teh divide though troublesome was because of centuries of muslim rule as a monarchy in which hindus were excluded...teh same happened under the british era as muslims were excluded...the same has happened in sudan, and timor and to a more bitter extreme in israel...also in yugoslavia...so it is not isolated and happens all over teh place...the issue of qurbani and giving up is besides the point..u migrate because u want to ...just as hindus and sikhs migrated from pakistan or muslims migrate to teh usa and canada...one sees with regret how mohajirs behave in pakistan...also one has never seen a mohajir whose family died on the way...so teh stories of cruelty and murder are exxagerated...although murders did take place in which whole trains were wiped out and muslims were killed without thought in calcutta and obviously hindus in lahore...most of the protection at that time to muslims came from teh fauj british and muslim...most mohajirs are very well off in pakistan as they took over most of the hindu sikh properties..because of all that muslims and hindus are never good friends anywhere in teh world...what teh indians did than was to project ethnicism in pakistan...it happened in east paksitan and happens in karachi and balochistan and sectarianism in gilgit and balochistan and karachi...and u must remember that are so few muslims in indian parlianment that democracy seems tobe not a word for indian governance...

All I can say is India has moved on . Stories of Partition have not been there in any main stream media . With 200 million muslims , millions of Christians ,Sikhs ,Jains and Hindus coexisting peacefully the vision of Gandhi and Nehru seems to have been realized in good measure if not fully . In retrospect partition was a blessing , with reduced Hindu -Muslim tensions India has grown well .

My dear. what you wrote is totally false. Muslim protesting for religion issues. You should understand India is a secular country. Religious matters are not entertained in public. There is no such Hindus protest. It was for national interest. hope you understood the difference. We have many Muslim leaders including president of India. Look at Pakistani side. you never had any Hindu is in top post. They are not safe to live in Pakistan because of fundamentalism. recently many Hindus flew to India because of harassment in Pakistan. No Muslim would like to go to Pakistan from India. you should understand why? All above your allegations are just sake of saying. not in real. Please don't talk about religion. It is completely personal matter. Talk about human beings. help you fellow human beings, whole world will be happy. But nobody understand this simple formula.

Pakistan is a gift of God to us. Ask my relatives in India; how much discrinimation they face in their daily lives, including their career within the ICS.

I think Dawn writers should see these videos who now a days are bent on trying to change the history through there articles and trying to show that Partition was wrong. Pakistan is a gift of God to people we should respect it. Pakistan Zindabad.

An excellent narration and beautifully presented.

Mumtaz Mufti book "Alakh Nagri" describes many such stories (eyewitness account) from Pakistan side. There would be stories from the Indian side too.

We muslims are muslims first then only human beings. WE are gift from God.

We have all heard of the rape and murder that took place on both sides repeating these stories only fuels further the hatred on both sides. As a responsible newspaper DAWN should publish stories of how there were people who helped the refugees before they crossed the border. There must have been a lot of such people if not then not a single refugee would have crossed the border from either side.

It is appearing like a gift wrapped bomb, seriously man, read the papers today, or any day!

The pain and anguish that these people felt is evident in their stories.Their sacrifices are enormous but they made these sacrifices in the hope that this country would be their haven and provide them a sence of security , peace and stability.May God give us the strength, determination and resolve to honor thei wishes and make this country the country they envisioned.

To know that these ppl gave up SO much. pause and think. SO much for Pakistan. and ek hum hain jo pakistan se itne badzan horahe hain, forgetting k kitne logon ne is mulk k liye qurbanian din hain. may pakistan prosper under the right rulers, ameen.

First of all, I would like to than "Dawn Newspaper" for bringing history to the forefront for the future generations to see. My parents were from Rawalpindi and came during this period to India. I was born in the 1960's, so all I know about this period of history is through elders in India. Like the popular saying,"there are always two sides of a story" and listening to the Pakistani side pains me dearly. While there were numerous reasons to the partition, it was the innocent people Muslim as well as Hindus who paid dearly with their lives, property and valuables. I live in USA now and have very many Muslim friends here along with plenty of good Pakistani friends. I just want to know, when will Pakistan India be normal partners. One thing I know is that we all have only this planet to live, and nowhere else to go. When are we going to learn to live like human beings, friends again.

goto to youtube and search Partition: The Day India Burned , BBC Documentary which highlights the situation of 1947 incidents

goto to youtube and search Partition: The Day India Burned Documentory by BBC which highlights the situations in 1947 and partition..

"Pakistan is a gift of God to people" pl justify this visa-vis millions of Muslims 'left-out' in India

How much hate we will keep with in ourself for each other. After all we are humanbeings and one day we have to die and after death and before birth all are equal but after birth we get name,religion, citizenship which seprates us. but even then we ar human beings. Please do not politicalize the matters and generate love for each other so that both countries can propurous.

Muslims left out in India are Thankful the were not part of this "Gift"

There was a time when the Europeans countries fight with each other .Now the foe are the friends.There is no problem to travel in the neighbouring countries even their currency the same.Time will cure the differences exist between the two countries.

Folks. The agreement of partition was that NOBODY would cross borders. People were supposed to stay living wherever they were. Non-Muslims were supposed to stay in Pakistan and Muslims in Indian side were supposed to stay there. However one side decided first to throw out the non-Muslims from Pakistan and started a reaction on Indian side. This is the truth that is never written in any newspaper or publication in Pakistan.

Pakistan is definitely a gift. The way the gift is valued and treasured is another issue.

These people sacrificed so much to build a better Pakistan. Is Pakistan any better now or is it worse? Have any of Mr. Jinnah's dreams come true?

very nicely presented. NOW we have to inculcate tolerance, forgiveness, patience and brotherhood now in our community so that we all live together towards a HAPPY DEVELOPED PAKISTAN. last days the shia harrasement episode of manshera needed to condemned and culprits brought to book. ALSO leaders of MQM ,ANP, PPP, PTI ,PMLN ALL SHOULD ENCOURAGE BROTHERHOOD IN COMMUNITY BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL ANSWERABLE TO ALLAH ALMIGHTY

I dont understand, even indian/hindus should be glad that they got a country with their overwelmingly majority. Pakistan will slowly become stronger and will be a garantee for wellbeings of muslims in the sub continent. Pak zindabad

Which is exactly why, I am big fan of Jinnah. What he did for India in the long run only a true visionary could have achieved. :-) I cannot fathom living in an Undivied India now in any which way.

I cannot answer if Pakistan is any better now.... well most people know the answer to that.

@Razak thank you

@Abdul thank you

Thats really nice to know.

History is history. It is not dependent on your or my opinion. Muslim Leage demanded partition, read below in Jinna's own words. Congress then insisted that Punjab and Bengal be divided in that case. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/topi...

Funny how the comments started in such a positive manner and turned ugly at the end. No wonder we have India and Pakistan now and not just India. I hope my Indian friends understand this simple 2 nation theory.

My 2nd comment. I heard adults say that massacre first started in Indian Punjab by the Sikhs so they can take over Muslim lands and houses because many muslims had refused to go to Pakistan and massacre was oneway to get them out of East Punjab and the tit for tat started later in Lahore. My mind was so adversely affected that to this day I get nightmares and dead bodies everywhere. To forget it, is not in my control. One thing I must say, he who forgets history lives to repeat it. See my 3rd comment

Loved this feature. Please post more! Enjoyed this immensely.

I enjoy personal stories of important evens. One of my favorites were personal accounts of the Mexican revolution. One Mexican woman who fought in the revolution married 12 times. Most of her husbands were killed in the fighting. In most of the books of this type the stories are 1 1/2 to 3 pages long. We Know none of this is fiction.

That would be the optimistic view.

" With malice toward none, and charity for all let us bind up the nation's wounds." ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Clothed by the parents thinking. Some people never break the egg and come out.

Make your own dreams come true.

All "should" respect it. Should. Should. Should. I read this every day in Dawn. Should means it is up to my neighbor. It is up to the politicians. It is up to the Army. It is not up to me. Not my job.

"We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield." -- George Orwell

Indians are waiting for Love from Pakistanis, but they are not holding their breathe.

Its amazing how the Hindus will use any opportunity to resort to Pakistan or Muslim bashing. The transcripts above is clear evidence of this fact. It is this very mindset that prevents good relations. The people of Hindustan especially the leaders have to accept the reality of Pakistan and give up the Gandhi-Nehru thinking. Pakistan is here to stay and will continue to be a gift to those who relish its existence. Pakistan Zindabad.

When the Dust settled Down- The 1947 India Pakistan Partition On August 15, 1947, at the stroke of midnight, British India was divided and the new States of India and Pakistan were born. Partition meant different things to different people. At the time, I was a child born into a mixed love marriage. My father was a Muslim, and my mother was a Christian. We were building up our family roots. However, with the confusion and turmoil, my Dad disappeared, and my Mother was left to look after five children. The Catholic Institutions helped us in our Education. A Muslim magnate, Mr.Fazalbhoy, employed my mother. Our family was a prime example of National integration. That?s how people got used to seeing ?Denis Anthony Khan? around, much before ?Amar, Akbar, Anthony! Will Geopolitics ever reunite our nations?