Writer Mod Date & Time PARTITION: Tape 19 (cont) 255MODEM 255MODEM Nov 01 13:03 KULDIP NAYAR Side A (cont) (267) THESE MEMORIES ARE OBVIOUSLY V POWERFUL, THEY HAVE STAYED ETCHED IN YR MIND, WHEN YOU RECOUNT THEM, WHAT'S YR OVER-RIDING EMOTION? Sadness, some kind of hurt, which even after now almost 49 years [sic] it hasn't got healed. Still I see before my eyes the cries, kill them, or the cries of Allah Akbar on this side, of Hanuman Mandir, this kind of cry. And then suddenly small children's death, children come before my eyes, those children who were left behind. They didn't know where their parents were, they didn't know, girls like Nirmula. Or that old sardar-ji, who sd take my grandson. These kind of memories come back. When I crossed into I, I remember the train ws the Frontier Mail then it used to be called ... and I was abusing people right and left, the leaders and everybody. Then from Amritsar, at Ludhiana, some people surrounded me, and they sd, you get down, prove that you are a H. Otherwise, they had spears and swords in their hands. I was now a young man of 25, and I just went on abusing, how do you do this kind of - Then suddenly I realised this kind of thing cd happen. Somebody at Ludhiana station, a man who used to run a sweet shop in S, he recognised me, he sd oh my God, what are you talking, he's the son of Doctor sahib, and so I was recognised. (295) WHEN YOU CROSSED THE BORDER, DID YOU SOEND THE NIGHT IN WAGAH OR AMRITSAR? No, I didn’t. I just took the train straight. (297) WHAT WAS IT LIKE AT AMRITSAR STATION? Amritsar station was all crowd. Nobody knew how many people were there ... the whole thing was a refugee camp, sort of thing. So a train came and anybody who cd get it, so I was strong enough to get in, in a compartment. The whole station, which you can still see the same kind of station, it was all full of people, men, women. (302) WHEN YOU CROSSED AT WAGAH, DID YOU FEEL SAFE? Oh yes, Suddenly. Suddenly the convoy sd; bharat mata ki jai. And e/body was animated with joy and happiness. And of course we Were safe. There was no qn. You were not now going to be killed cos you happd to belong to a difft religion. In fact I recall ... that the first thing I did was to come to delhi and go to Birla hous and see Mahatma Gandhi, and I saw him. Because I at least I cd tell my children, g/children, yes I saw that man with my own eyes who helped us to get independence. And so I attended his prayer mtg, where he sd Hs and Ms are brothers, and one is my left eye and the other is my right eye. And lots of people wd say, my God, how cd you say these kinds of things. Because after all some people had come from that side ... And he wd ask everybody, I still remember, he sd has anybody objection to the recitation of Koran? Cos K was read, Bible was read, Gita was read. If anyone sd, no I don't want to hear Koran, he would not hold the prayer mtg. This was his non-violent protest.