‘Attackers thought our train carried only cargo’

For 84-year-old Mohinder Singh, a two-night train ride in August 1947 remains the longest and most terrifying journey of his life.

- Karn Pratap Singh

He was just six when his family, along with hundreds of Sikh and Hindu refugees, was crammed into the dark, airless belly of a goods train. Hidden among sacks and crates, with no food, water, light, or air, they crossed into India—leaving behind their flourishing orchard business and their home in the hilly Haripur, which became part of Pakistan.

“As tensions worsened, our relative Ram Das urged us to move to Punjab in India. My father refused — until Das told him about the Muslim village head's announcement that he would kidnap and marry my father’s cousin, the most beautiful woman in the village, after killing our family,” recalls Singh, now director general of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan in Delhi.