Thoha Khalsa village in the region of Potohar (Pakistan) had experienced the first act of ethnic pogrom in the Punjab in March 1947, which later led to the maddening violence across all communities and culminated in the division of Punjab in August 1947 across India and Pakistan.
Seven decades later, in Jan 2017, I was fortunate to travel across Potohar and to the Thoha Khalsa village, which being in the Kahuta district is officially out of bounds for foreigners. I was able to document the remains of the well where Sikh and Hindu women had committed mass suicide to save their honour since a mob had surrounded them for days. In addition, I was able to document the last standing remains of the Dukh Bhanjani Gurdwara which was once a large centre of spiritual learning for the Sikh community of the region. Abandoned for seven decades, only the foundation and a few walls were standing amidst engulfing vegetation. I am glad that I was able to capture its shots which are immortalized in my sequel book entitled “THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”, to be released in early October 2017.
However, last night I was deeply saddened to learn from Raja Masood Akhtar Janjua, a dear friend from Pakistan, that last week some locals of Thoha Khalsa village have bought down the last remains of the Dukh Bhanjani Gurdwara. With its demise, the last visible footprint of the once large and vibrant Sikh community of Thoha Khalsa now stands fully erased. Slowly but steadily, the act of partition of 1947 is achieving its insane objective that religion has to be the basis to box cultures and therefore traces of remnants eventually have to find reasons not to coexist!
Change is inevitable and I blame none, especially since our forefathers abandoned our heritage!
In the left picture is me looking at the remains of the Dukh Bhanjani Gurdwara at Thoha Khalsa and in the right the rubble after its last standing walls were bought down last week.
Photographed in Jan 2017, during the research for the book “THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”
