Mishal Husain’s Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence begins with an epigraph: Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s famous poem, Subh-e-Azadi (Freedom’s Morning), translated by the author herself. Husain does not provide a transcribed version of the original Urdu verses, but these are lines so immortal that they are familiar to many. Yeh daagh-daagh ujaala, yeh shab-gazida sehar/Woh intezaar tha jiska yeh woh sehar toh nahin, Faiz had written, expressing the sentiments of countless Pakistanis and Indians who had strived for independence—but when it came, it brought with it Partition.
Husain, born and brought up in the UK of Pakistani parents, chose the epigraph well. Not only does it reflect the essence of her book perfectly, it reminds us that Faiz is as much venerated in India as in Pakistan. That despite what seem like irreconcilable differences, the countries share too much in common.
Broadcaster and journalist Husain delves into the personal histories of four people who form the basis of Broken Threads. These are her paternal grandparents, Mumtaz and Mary; and her maternal grandparents, Shahid and Tahirah. From various sources, including Shahid’s detailed memoir, audio tapes that Tahirah had recorded, and interviews with Mary’s sister, Anne, Husain pieces together her family’s history, which is interwoven with that of the subcontinent.
The book is divided into three parts, the first of which is ‘Citizens of Empire’. The initial chapters are rather more personal. One chapter each lays out the family histories of Shahid, Tahirah, Mumtaz and Mary; explains their backgrounds, how Mumtaz met Mary and married her—a Catholic, so very different from his staunch Muslim upbringing—and how Tahirah and Shahid got married. Connected with them are the stories of Shahid’s and Mumtaz’s careers, respectively in the army and as a doctor.
These careers form an important part of the segue into Part 2 (Before Midnight), which deals with the escalation of the freedom movement and World War II. The chapters in this part as well as Part 3 (After Midnight) are more about what was going on in India (and, after Partition, both India as well as Pakistan) . The political tussles, the to-and-fro between Congress and Muslim League; Nehru and Jinnah, Gandhi and Jinnah. Mountbatten, sent to India as its last Viceroy but both incompetent as well as amenable to being influenced by friends.
The war, the freedom movement and other forces that affected the subcontinent form the essence of these chapters. Husain uses her family’s memoirs, combining them with myriad other sources to paint a fascinating, poignant picture of India at one of the most turbulent junctures of its history. Her research is laudable, as she digs deep into everything from letters to interviews, BBC programmes, news items and a plethora of publications, all documented in the exhaustive end notes.
Of course, at the point where the narrative reaches 1947, the escalating communal tensions come to the forefront. The mutual suspicion, the stress between Congress and Muslim League, the agreement that Pakistan would be carved out of India, and the many speculations about where the border would run. Also, heart-warmingly, the many instances of mutual respect and affection among communities.
This narrative is not new: both horror and humanity come through often enough in memoirs of the Partition. Husain’s book manages to be different in the fact that her protagonists were relatively privileged in being part of the armed forces. Shahid, in fact, was Private Secretary to ‘The Auk’, Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, Supreme Commander of Indian and Pakistani Forces. These were people who were able to cross the frontier safely; who had well-placed friends on either side of the bloodied border.
Another difference, at least for Indian readers, may be that it is from the perspective of Pakistanis. Husain provides proof that Pakistan might have been shortchanged, both by a biased Mountbatten as well as by a domineering India.
Broken Threads is a touching, informative, and immensely interesting account of India in the first half of the 20th century. Husain’s writing is readable, the photographs a vivid portrait of the world and the people she describes.