Why Shahrukh Khan's father rejected Pakistan?

That Shahrukh Khan is a King of Bollywood is rather well-known. However, not many people know that his father Taj Mohammad Khan had rejected the partition of country on the basis of religion with contempt. At that time, he was a young Pathan whenIndiawas carved out on communal lines in 1947. He was a Congress activist in Peshawar. He was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He was a broken man when it became clear that the nation would be divided on communal lines. He was in extreme dilemma to stay back in Peshawar, the land of his forefathers or move to a new place in the new country.

And when communal riots broke out in Peshawar he decided to leave the country created for Muslims for Gandhi's India. Well, he came to Delhi along with his family and couple of other friends. One of his friends was WM Babar, who was a Congress activist and his commitment for the cause of secularism was unquestioned. In Delhi, both Taj and Babar have started doing small jobs to survive. Things were really bad as refugees were pouring in Delhi endlessly.

The likes of Taj Mohammad Khan and Babar had rejected the two-nation theory with utter disdain. If not thousands, there were many Muslims who shifted to India from newly created Pakistan in 1947 when communal passions were running high.

Many years ago HD Shourie, who was the Rehabilitation Commissioner of refugees in Delhi, told this writer in his South Delhi residence that several Muslims families from Peshawar region of Pakistan came to India in 1947.They were not ready to live in Jinnah's Pakistan. That was the major reason for many Muslims to leave Pakistan and settled in India. Shourie was a father of Consumer's Movement in India. His first son, Arun, is a noted author and Journalist. Many Hindus, Sikhs and even Muslims had migrated to Afghanistan then.

"It is a fact that due to Ghaffar Khan, large numbers of people there were not supporting the idea of Pakistan. As he had a huge support base, some of them had shifted to India," informs Farhad Suri, son of WM Babar and former Mayor of Delhi. After couple of years of struggle in Delhi, Babar had joined the Pashto service of All India Radio (AIR).

Massive population exchanges occurred between the two newly-formed states in the months immediately following Partition. Once the lines were established, about 14.5 million people crossed the borders to what they hoped was the relative safety of religious majority. Based on 1951 Census of displaced persons, 72.26 lakh Muslims went to Pakistan from India while 72.49 lakh Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan immediately after partition. However, the census failed to identify those Muslims who migrated from Pakistan to India.

The newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border. The estimated number of deaths range around roughly 5 lakh with low estimates at 2 lakh and high estimates at 10 lakh.

Returning to Taj Mohammad Khan and others like him, it goes without saying they would have taken that conscious decision after much thought. Among others, Mohammad Yunus, a close family friend of Nehru-Gandhi family, also came to Delhi with many Muslims. A close relative of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Mohammad Yunus never returned to his native place. For years together, he was heading Trade Fair Authority of India.

Acclaimed theater activist Dr Shamshul Islam's family came from Rawalpindi to Delhi after violence broke out there. His father, grand-father and other close relatives were not ready to live in Pakistan. Islam, who taught in Delhi University, says that no member of his family has ever regretted their decision to live in Gandhi's India.

Shahrukh Khan has said several times that his father, Taj Mohammad Khan, was a Congress activist and totally opposed to the idea of partition of the country on the basis of religion. He died of cancer in 1981 and before that he had visited his native place only once.

And the number of those who returned from Pakistan after visiting there for a couple of weeks or may be months must be big. Dozens of Delhi based Punjabi Muslims shifted to Karachi only to return 'home' soon. These Punjabi Muslims have settled in Delhi since long. They have a dedicated burial ground in Delhi as well. MA Abdullah, a classmate of Gen Zia ul Haq at St Stephen's College, too shifted to Karachi. An uncle of writer Sadia Dehalvi, Abdullah came back with his several cousins soon as they 'dearly missed the life of Delhi.

It is rather surprising that the reverse migration, albeit small, but very significant, hardly get any attention from historians. Unlike the general perception that only Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India in the wake of partition of the country in 1947, many Muslims families too decided to shift to India rather than staying in an Islamic country. Even couple of Christian families too came to India from Pakistan. It is not known whether Hindus or Sikhs too migrated to Pakistan then, but it is a fact that large number of Hindus remained there, especially in Sindh and East Bengal (now Bangladesh).

Finally, one question still lingers in the minds of all those who study partition of the country that 'Why so many Muslims of UP migrated across the Redcliff Line?' After all, they had the assurance of Gandhi and Pt Nehru. Agreed, migration of population in Punjab and Bengal was justified as both these states were burning.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)