Migration has been a constant in the history of Pakistan, even before the India-Pakistan partition. From its inception, its people have been moving in migratory waves. This migration of people started with the moving of millions of people from India into Pakistan when the two nations gained their independence from the British colonial rule. These Muslims moved to Pakistan in hopes of a better life, not just economically but socially and religiously as well.
As the population in Pakistan swelled with the movement of people from south to north, the masses also started an internal migration from the rural areas to the urban. As with the first migrants, these people also came with the hope of a better life.
1. Oath-taking ceremony of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
2. Muslims travelling on foot to reach Pakistan, with all their belongings
3. Muslims of Pakistan cook rotis (bread) in bulk for the refugees
4. The exchange of people between the countries was a flooded event
5. Pakistanis welcome their brothers from India, arranging food and shelter
6. With an uncertain future, a young refugee thinks atop Purana Qila (transformed into a refugee camp)
7. The Pak Airforce squadron, pre-partition in 1947
8. Muslim refugees travelling towards the newly made Pakistan by train
9. No shelter, no food – All they had was the hope for Pakistan
10. A warm welcome, by the Pakistan Army to the refugees
And after that there was just one chant on everyone’s mind and mouth, “Naara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o-Akbar!”. Did you enjoy this blast from the past?
