DEHRADUN: Witnessing the harrowing scenes of the 1947 Indo-Pak partition genocide still haunts those who lived through it, and for 84-year-old Shanti Devi, it's a haunting memory. As an eyewitness to the massacre, she now faces a bitter moment as the Dehradun district administration has ordered the evacuation of 17 families, including Shanti Devi's, from Kabul House.
Shanti Devi has called this property in the upscale area of Dehradun her home for the past 75 years, but it has been declared "enemy property" by the government.
Kabul House, also known as 'Kapyong House,' has remained the residence of members of the Afghan royal family since the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. This has led to it being categorized as "enemy property," a term used to describe assets belonging to individuals or organizations considered enemies of the state.
Two weeks ago, the Dehradun District Magistrate Court had issued orders to vacate Kabul House within 15 days, say its occupants. And after a 40-year legal battle between district officials and residents, a decision was finalized this week, prompting authorities to enforce the evacuation and seal the homes.
However, the 17 families being evacuated from the Kabul House have been granted a temporary respite by the Nainital High Court, allowing them until December 1 to vacate the premises. Nevertheless, the families are compelled to depart their residences, and the looming winter presents them with an uncertain and challenging future.
Among the displaced families, the story of Shanti Devi, a survivor of the partition violence, stands out.
Born on May 31, 1939, Shanti Devi vividly recalls the horrors she endured as an eight-year-old, witnessing her family being brutally attacked by rioters during the Indo-Pak partition riots.
"There was a large residential area in Peshawar's Nowshera Cantt in Pakistan where we lived. As soon as the riots started, armed Muslims reached there in large numbers and said, 'You all come out of the houses; you will not be harmed,' but when we came out, they started stabbing everyone. I was eight years old, and I was holding my mother's hand when rioters stabbed my mother to death in front of me," recounts a distraught Shanti Devi in conversation with TNIE.
Even in her advanced years, Shanti Devi remains acutely aware of the country's politics and expressed, "Perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji does not know about our plight; he talks about giving a house to everyone."
Similarly, the story of Sanjay Chauhan's Valmiki Samaj family, who have resided in Kabul House for a century, is equally heart-wrenching. Just a month later, on December 11, his daughter Pooja is set to get married, but the administration will make his entire family homeless on November 30, just 22 days before the wedding.
Sanjay reveals, "The administration and police have sealed the rooms of our house, and dowry items are also scattered outside," adding that "we have also given advance money to the tents and caterers for the wedding."
Meanwhile, Bina Kumari, a retired employee of the regional employment office, voices her frustration, saying, "The eviction notice issued on the 17th was served on the 25th, right when the festival began. They couldn't even go to court; the team members had arrived early in the morning." She also accuses Tehsildar Mohd Shoaib of misbehaviour toward women and insensitivity even toward a sick child.
As the families of Kabul House grapple with the painful prospect of displacement and the memory of a tumultuous past, their plea for support from public representatives remains unanswered.
Sanjay Chauhan, Saurabh Joshi, and Rajmohan, all affected by the situation, express a common grievance: "Despite living here for 100 years, not a single MLA, councillor, or any other public representative has visited to inquire about our plight."