Mr. Bal K. Gupta was born in Mirpur. He was ten years old when Partition occurred, and remembers the day when he and his younger brother left Mirpur. His mother and grandparents could not follow, and stayed behind.
They joined a caravan of over 25,000 people. Throughout the journey, young Mr. Gupta witnessed much brutality. Looting, violence, and abduction were frequent.
A group of 5,000 passed through a narrow passage, where those who had not survived previous violence covered the ground. Mr. Gupta recognized some of his relatives and friends. In the abandoned town of Alibeg, the group remained for almost a year, with a daily food allotment of just one ounce of flour per person. A few of those in the caravan found their way to Jammu, where they enlisted the Red Cross to come to Alibeg.
In April of 1948 Mr. Gupta and his brother, who were now eleven and nine years old, were brought to the Kurukshetra Refugee Camp, and were reunited with their relatives, who had since resettled in Jammu.
In 1954, Mr. Gupta’s family was informed that the Red Cross had found his mother. She was thus reunited her with her two sons and her relatives after years of separation.
Mr. Bal K. Gupta is currently a retired design engineer, living in the United States. He has published a book on his Partition experiences, entitled “Forgotten Atrocities.” Today, he still dreams of his home in Mirpur.
This interview was conducted by Citizen Historian Ankur Kalra. Explore more stories online: http://www.1947PartitionArchive.org/browse This work is made possible entirely by support from individuals around the globe:http://www.1947PartitionArchive.org/donate
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