Badshah Begum

Badshah Begum was 13 years old at the time of Partition. She vividly remembers it was sunset when the announcement was heard on the radio. She was in Lahore with her mother who had just given birth to her baby sister. She says there was a lot of celebration about it in her mohallah and also a lot of anger. She recalls that her neighbors had weapons and protected her family when angry mobs started attacking people in her mohallah.

She recalls the sudden changes taking place at Lohari Gate after Partition, as families moved in and out in small caravans. Many families that were leaving entrusted Badshah Begum’s family with keys to their houses. “They said they’d return if things settle down and life returns to normal and if they don’t, we could keep the keys and their belongings,” she says. Some families, she says, did not leave their homes immediately after Partition, in hopes for the situation to settle down. She recalls that her family eventually had to hand over whatever belongings the other families had left behind to the new government.