{"id":1543,"date":"2018-05-31T22:59:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T17:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/?p=1543"},"modified":"2018-06-03T22:03:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T16:33:32","slug":"memoir-of-a-freedom-fighter-a-letter-from-sambrial-jail-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofmaterialmemory.com\/memoir-of-a-freedom-fighter-a-letter-from-sambrial-jail-1944\/","title":{"rendered":"Memoir of a freedom fighter : A letter from Sambrial Jail, 1944"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXT BY ANURAG ANAND<\/strong>
\nPHOTOGRAPHS BY NAVDHA MALHOTRA<\/strong>
\nBangalore, India<\/em><\/p>\n

I sat beside my grandfather, Bharat Bhushan Anand, as he ran his wrinkled old hands through the piece of paper that seemed weathered and worn beyond repair. Torn from the creases in its surface, it didn\u2019t look like it had aged well. It was discoloured, its corners were curled in, and every edge held several well-settled folds. This piece of paper was in fact, a letter of approval from the Punjab Government in the year 1944. As I leaned in slightly to read the content of the rugged sheet in his hands, he began telling me about his father, and the original background of the letter.<\/p>\n

Those were the days of catastrophe when the world was engulfed in a bloody war. Shortly after Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement in 1942, my great grandfather, Haveli Ram Musafar, was one among many who spent time behind bars.\u00a0He was a freedom fighter, a husband and a father of 6 children \u2013 a daughter and five sons. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he was also the Congress Captain in his locality in Rawalpindi. While recounting tales of his fervent patriotism, my grandfather told me that Haveli Ram Musafar once wore a badge of the INC, which displayed a photo of the great Gopal Krishna Gokhale on it, and was asked by a British officer in the area to remove it which he completely refused to do so.<\/p>\n

\"A
A photograph before Haveli Ram Musafar (second from right) was taken to prison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is believed that during the independence struggle, going to jail was a matter of prestige \u2013 it showed that one would do anything for one\u2019s independence. It was considered a small yet important victory against the colonial powers. And so, for partaking in the Quit India Movement, Shri Haveli Ram Musafar was chained and sent off from the locality in Rawalpindi to jail along with his friends and accomplices- not just once, but several times. In March 1944 he found himself in prison once again. However this time, it was crucial that he be released, if only for a short period, for his eldest and only daughter, Krishna Chadha\u2019s wedding was to take place in Rawalpindi. He wrote a letter to the then Punjab Government asking for a two-month leave (parole). He was jailed in a town called Sambrial in the North-West Frontier Province, modern day Khyber Pakhtunwa Province, in Pakistan, not very far from where the wedding was to be held. To his relief, he was granted the leave, but there were stipulations to be adhered to. A part of the approval document states the following, “The permission to leave Sambrial for a period of 2 months shall not mean any relaxation of the directions given in the order of the Governor of Punjab restricting his movements. He should report his arrival and departure to both the police stations at Sambrial and Rawalpindi.” He attended his daughter\u2019s wedding and returned back to jail with dignity to serve his term.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Order of the District Magistrate, Sialkot, Sd\/ Akhtar Hussain, granting Haveli Ram Musafar two month’s parole, dated 24.2.44<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My grandfather tells me that these men were subject to torture during their days behind bars- denied food, water or any basic needs. But nothing seemed to deter their spirit. My great-grandfather, and many others in his close-knit circle, believed in anything that would lead to a fight against the British Raj, be it Gandhi\u2019s peaceful methods or Subhash Chandra Bose\u2019s extremist ideologies. Apparently, they once even set the income tax office in Rawalpindi on fire. In order to save the others from the charges testified to in court, one of my great-grandfather\u2019s comrades, Harbans Lal, took blame for this incident and committed suicide in court by consuming paan (betel leaf)<\/em> filled with poison. That was the extent of their dedication.<\/p>\n

I know little about my great-grandfather’s past, but I do know that he stayed away from home for days and weeks. His family had accepted the fact that his life’s purpose was to fight for the country’s independence till the end. Be it helping extremists or travelling for days at a time, he would do what it takes. The title ‘Musafar<\/em>‘ was given to him by his\u00a0 fellow comrades because he travelled all through the North- Western terrain of India that led up to the Afghan border for the freedom struggle. Another reason that the title was conferred upon him was because he was also a poet. People hardly associated him with his original surname ‘Anand’ but rather, with ‘Musafar’. In fact, even on this letter you can see that he used the same name. Apart from his nationalist interests, he was a businessman and had a contract of supplying fruits and vegetables to the jail canteens. However, over the years, the supply business had incurred major losses due to his active involvement in the Congress, and the jail authorities revoked the contract after which the business shut. Fortunately, he also owned a cloth shop, which is where most of the family income would be earned.<\/p>\n