The 16th day of April 1853 is special in the Indian history. The day was a public holiday. At 3:30 pm, as the 21 guns roared together, the first train carrying Lady Falkland, wife of Governor of Bombay, along with 400 special invitees, steamed off from Bombay to Thane.

Ever since the engine rolled off the tracks, there have been new dimensions to the distances, relations and emotions. Abaseen Express, Khyber Mail and Calcutta Mail were not just the names of the trains but the experiences of hearts and souls. Now that we live in the days of burnt and non functional trains, I still have few pleasant memories associated with train travels. These memoirs are the dialogues I had with myself while sitting by the windows or standing at the door as the train moved on. In the era of Cloud and Wi-fi communications, I hope you will like them.

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-Illustration by Mahjabeen Mankani/Dawn.com

The train approaches sluggishly toward its last abode on the East. Next to Kartarpura, is Shakargarh. In the British Raj, it was part of the Gurdaspur district and after the partition, it formed part of Sialkot. In 1991, when Narowal was made the district, Shakargarh was declared its part.

Baein Nala flows astride the Ravi River and the railway line. It starts short of the border in the north and drains into Ravi towards the end. Across Baein, is the town of Masroor Bara Bhai. The name comes from a saint, Khwaja Abdul Salam Chishti, who was affectionately referred to as an elder brother. He did not only illuminate the hearts and minds of the locals but also solved their water issues. According to local belief, water rose to many wells because of his spiritual powers. These fountains, now powered by tube wells, have been instrumental in greater yields.

Shakargarh is a sizable grain market besides being a prominent city. Its proximity to the border results in mass migrations during wars. While people in the other parts of the country head home during war, the Shakargarh residents leave their home and the city for safer areas westward.

About a hundred years ago, Pashori Mal was a reputed lawyer who practiced in Shakargarh. At the birth of his third son, he named him Dharm Dev Pashori Mal Anand. The boy was schooled in Dalhousie and by the time he enrolled in Government College, Lahore, he was struggling with the long name. The next cut came when he joined the British Military as a civilian. Years after, when he shot to fame, he further edited the long name. On both sides of the border,  reel life and real life have surprising similarities where one thrives on the other, hence little did people know that Dev Anand was originally Dharam Dev Pashori Mal Anand.

Lohtian is a small village on the other side of railway line where Javed Iqbal lives in his ancestral home, allotted to his father as a refugee in 1947. The wooden door is not carved but radiates antiquity. A chain hangs around the hook and serves the purpose of door bell. An inscription on the wall says something about the date but is illegible due to rains and paints. Inside the house, the walls have been decorated by lining up metal utensils. A Chinese TV set sits between utensils, beds and windows where occasionally Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sings…

“Maye ni maye .. meray geetan day nena which birhon dee radak pavay”
“(O Mother) .. my songs reflect the sufferings of separation”

Javed does not know that the poet of this famous song, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, was born in this room and he had spent his childhood in the streets of Lohtian.

The father of Shiv Kumar Batalvi was a Brahmin and Tehsildar. He was aged 11 in the August of 1947 when his family moved to Batala. In his early years, Shiv sat long hours with snake charmers and Jogis. Later on, these characters frequently appeared in his poetry. He never liked school and spent most of his time along the river side and temples. This impulsive nature prevailed and he did not graduate from any educational institute. Shiv’s is an ordinary story of pain but an extraordinary epic of creativity. He fell in love with a lady whose parents turned him down for an expatriate from their own caste. The old dilemma of caste and status hit him hard. The deprivation and the pain set his spirits free and his poems were instant hits across the Punjabi world. Shiv Kumar smouldered inside, only to produce the poetry of unmatched pathos. He died at the young age of 37, re-telling the John Keats and Israr ul Haq Mijaaz tale. The youngest recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award had prophesied his early death in many of his poems.

Asaa’n ta’n joban rutte marna
Tur jana’n assa’n bhare bharaye
Hijar tere dee ker parkarma
Assa’n tan joban rutte marna

I will die young,
Leaving the world satiated
Completing the circle of this departure from you
I will die young
–Shiv Kumar – “Bid Me Farewell”

Chak Amru is the last railway station on the Pakistani side. The ticket counter has been cemented plain, as if the states have given up on any future relations. There might have been a train which would ferry passengers across Ravi to Sialkot but it appears too old to be true. The instruction of rechecking the change has been painted in black. Nobody had ever thought that there will be a time when the change will actually be in rupees, and coins will be discarded. Dampness on the walls has taken dark shades and testifies the abandoned status of the building. The track is lost beneath the shrubs. It appears that other than occasional herds, no one crosses this line. The train returns to Narowal on the same route via Jassar.

The other side of the railway line proceeds to Bado Malhi. The history of this city is much like the history of any city. Initially a grain market, the city was linked with the railway in 1896. The line connected it to Pathankot and Lahore. After the partition, the Pathankot route was called off. The century old railway station is still a busy place for passengers going to or coming from Narowal and Lahore. Though, the entire basin of Ravi in this area is famous for rice but the variety, which is aromatic (Baas) enough to drive away the senses (Mati), is called basmati.

In 1947, the town had a Gurudwara, a temple and a shrine besides many mosques. The proctor of the shrine was known as Kazmi Saheb, a Syed by blood and a Syed at heart. When the violence of partition took over human sanity, he issued a decree. According to the decree, anyone who killed an innocent Hindu would cease to be a Muslim. This was the first time the authority to decide upon the faith of other individuals had actually saved individuals. The locals of Badomalhi guarded their Hindus and Sikh neighbours till the last moment and when things spun out of control, they formed a militia and ferried them across to India through Ravi.

From Badomalhi’s market, the train moves to another market with the name of Narang Mandi. Though the small town carries all the color yet, its names proclaims it’s humility. The train rolls down to the colors of Shadara but on the other route, the cities of Gujranwala and the towns of Kamonki await the passenger.

Rangi ko narangi kahe, kahe doodh ko khoya
Chalti ko gaari kahe, dekh Kabeera roya
–Bhagat Kabir

Muhammad Hassan Miraj is a federal government employee.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

LAHORE: An exhibition of ceramics titled ‘Silent Whispers’ by Jamil Hussain opened at Ze Grill café on Friday.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Federal Housing and Works Secretary Kamran Lashari. The art show revolves around the idea of preserving and protecting heritage.

Prominent on the occasion were veteran artist Saeed Akhtar, Punjab University College of Art and Design Principal Rahat Naveed Masood, art critic and former College of Art and Design principal Shahnawaz Zaidi, Dr Kanwal Khalid from Lahore Museum and cartoonist Javed Iqbal.

Artist Jamil Hussain told Dawn that through the exhibition he wanted to make people realise that generally they did not care about architectural jewels in terms of their upkeep and preservation. He said he showed distorting lines in replicas of different monuments to emphasise the fact that people should save the heritage.

“Silent Whispers is about the ability to hear the voice of agony and pain that is around us. The artist within me is sensitive enough not only to listen to these whispers, but also to empathise with these silent cries of torment,” the artist says in his statement.

“The exhibition is a humble attempt to translate that pain for my people to see and share”.“Silent Whispers is an attempt to create awareness about the deterioration and destruction of this marvellous heritage. All these vistas of our past in the form of monuments and buildings have been part of our lives for a long period of time and they carry within them the history of few centuries,” he adds.

The exhibition will continue for 15 days.

Pakistan's former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani on Monday submitted his written reply to the Abbottabad commission, DawnNews reported.

After the statement’s submission, the commission directed Haqqani to appear before it again.

Moreover, a statement from Sheikh Rashid, president of the Awami Muslim League, was also submitted to the commission today.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court was also hearing petitions on the memo affair filed by PML-N president Nawaz Sharif and others.

Earlier, the commission’s head, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, had said that the former ambassador was being summoned because the panellists wanted to find out the details of the visas issued by Pakistan’s embassy in Washington during his service.

Haqqani had resigned from his position of ambassador days after Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz accused him of being behind the memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealed to the Pentagon to help ward it off.

Haqqani has denied any connection with the memo.

Chief Justice Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry presided over full court reference on eve of retirement of Justice Javed Iqbal in Supreme Court. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Justice Javed Iqbal in his parting speech at a full court reference of the Supreme Court on Thursday expressed the desire that there should be no confrontation between the judiciary and the executive.

“If there is any such remote possibility, that could be eliminated if all the institutions perform their functions as per the mandate given by the Constitution, interpretation whereof squarely falls within the jurisdictional domain of the Supreme Court and this reality is to be accepted which would be in the interest of democratic system and a source of strength,” Justice Iqbal observed, saying the supremacy of parliament hardly needed any elaboration.

Legal observers are attaching great importance to Justice Iqbal’s speech, especially since it has come against the backdrop of a perceived tussle between the executive and the judiciary over the government’s ‘stubbornness’ in implementing the apex court’s orders in different cases.

Speaking at the full court reference organised in the Supreme Court to bid him farewell on attaining the age of superannuation, Justice Iqbal said he had no hesitation in saying; an independent judiciary was a known trait of any democratic system.

“The judges are expected to assert their role to protect the rights of individuals against arbitrariness, misuse of powers and abuse of authority,” he explained, saying that patience, courtesy and alertness of judges reposed confidence in the lawyers’ community and the litigants.

“The three organs of the state namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary have (been) given a definite mandate and role to play in their respective sphere. Hence the question of any possibility of confrontation does not arise as the main object of the three pillars is the prosperity and welfare of the people of Pakistan by keeping the judicial and democratic norms alive. “This country has given us everything and in return we could not do much. It is high time that we must change our behaviour by giving priority to the national interest,” Justice Iqbal said.

Referring to the Abbottabad Commission which he is heading to probe the May 2 US raid, Justice Iqbal assured the audience that the task assigned to him would be accomplished in accordance with law and action would be taken and proceedings of the commission would be conducted in a manner that would add dignity to this court.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry emphasised that constitutionalism imposed certain restraints on arbitrary exercise of power by the legislative, executive as well as the judicial organs.

“Such checks facilitate in establishing good governance,” he observed. The chief justice explained that an independent and impartial judiciary played a key role in checking constitutional deviations by any institution.

“In democracies ‘the use of arbitrary power is considered anathema to the rule of law’ and under the democratic system, law is always supreme as against exercise of arbitrary or capricious authority by any institution or its functionary,” he said.

SCBA president Asma Jehangir expressed apprehensions that some members of the Abbottabad Commission were showing their true khaki colour and thus posing a challenge to the inquiry.

She held one of the verdicts of Justice Iqbal – delivered in the Justice Khurshid Anwar Bhinder case (PCO Judge case) – as contentious, emphasising that even the persons accused of the most heinous crimes were afforded the right to be heard and to defend their position.

Secretary of Pakistani Water and Power Ministry Javed Iqbal (R) walks with his Indian counterpart Dhruv Vijai Singh. - Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: In a sign of accommodation, India offered on Friday to amend the design of the Wullar Barrage/Tulbul navigational project in such a manner as to leave one of its bays as an un-gated structure to resolve a 26-year-old dispute within the parameters of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

India will provide the revised project design within a month to Pakistan, which will respond by Sept 15 after examining it.

Secretary for Water and Power Javed Iqbal and his Indian counterpart Dhruv Vijai Singh led their teams in two-day talks on the project.

According to officials, India offered to keep one of the many bays open and flowing to allay Pakistan’s fears of river manipulation.

The Pakistani team said the revised design would have to be examined to assess the possibility of water storage or manipulation.

Even if the design is in compliance with the treaty, Pakistan will like to resolve the issue in a way that does not give an impression of a unilateral action by India, an official said.

However, a former secretary for water and power cautioned that in view of the kind of relationship between the two countries, it would be a blunder to agree to a barrage, which was not permissible under the treaty.

He said as the barrage was meant to divert river water, it should not be acceptable to Pakistan.

“Blocking an un-gated bay is not a difficult thing to do once the main barrage structure is complete,” he said. “There is no point in building a barrage when India’s navigational requirements can be met through the existing natural Wullar lake.”

An official said the Pakistani team had agreed to examine the revised design to maintain a positive atmosphere during the talks.

“There is already a status quo on the project and we have nothing to lose in reviewing the project design, which is a routine thing under the treaty.”

Pakistan requested India to share through email telemetric data relating to glacial melting, flooding and ecological changes on a regular basis. Such an arrangement already exists with China. “They were positive about it and would get back to us with a response soon,” an official said. He said the information sharing would be in addition to seasonal flooding data India shared with Pakistan under the treaty.

The Indian delegation also called on Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar who expressed the hope the two sides would amicably resolve the dispute on the design of Wullar barrage.

A joint statement issued at the end of the talks said the two sides reiterated their commitment to bilateral engagement in a spirit of constructive cooperation and discussed their positions on the project while reaffirming a commitment to the Indus Waters Treaty. “In order to address the concerns of both countries, it was agreed that the Indian side shall forward
comprehensive technical data to Pakistan within one month. The Pakistan side shall examine and furnish its views to the Indian side by Sept 15.”

The two countries have held 13 rounds of secretary-level talks, including four under the ‘composite dialogue’, on the subject.