A Mother’s Testimony: Witness to Partition and Betrayal
By Cdr Alok Mohan
Editor’s Summary:
This powerful essay by Cdr Alok Mohan presents a firsthand account of the Partition of India in 1947, told through the diary of his late mother, Dr. Lajja Devi Mohan. Blending personal testimony with historical analysis, it exposes the betrayal and systemic failures faced by millions of Hindus, both during Partition and in its long-lasting aftermath. Through a critical examination of political and military leadership, the author highlights the human cost of decisions that left generations dispossessed, persecuted, and denied justice, offering a poignant reflection on duty, courage, and the continuing struggle for accountability.
Introduction: The Forgotten Voices of Partition
The partition of India in 1947 was not merely a political division of land; it was a civilizational rupture — one of the bloodiest and most catastrophic episodes in South Asian history. Hindus uprooted by Islamic violence from regions such as Kashmir, Sindh, Punjab, and Bengal understood the betrayal of many so-called “fathers” and “uncles” of so-called independent India & Pakistan, who were merely wearing Hindu masks. Yet, it has taken over seven decades for the broader Hindu society — particularly those untouched by the horrors of Partition — to awaken to the unethical partition reality.
The generation that suffered genocide, displacement, and dispossession knew from bitter experiences that the leaders presiding over Pakistan’s birth were not always protectors of their people. Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah, often celebrated as visionary architects, were, from the perspective of millions of Hindu families, deeply complicit in a massive tragedy that should never have unfolded. Their decisions — from appeasing communal forces to disarming vulnerable populations — paved the way for what can be described as the Hindu Holocaust of 1947, uprooting over 10 million people and leaving millions & millions dead.
Official histories have often silenced alternative narratives of betrayal and systemic injustice.
Among these voices is my late mother, Dr. Lajja Devi Mohan, whose diary offers a searing indictment of the political leadership that failed its people.
A Mother’s Witness: Personal Testimony
In her writings, my mother speaks with clarity born of suffering, dismantling many myths surrounding the so-called “Mahatma”:
“I once regarded Gandhi as the embodiment of Indian culture. But witnessing the terrible plight of Hindus filled my heart with rebellion. Were Gandhi and his followers truly ‘Mahatmas’? Great souls are those who endure suffering for their nation and their dharma — those who sacrifice their lives for righteousness. Gandhi was not divine, for he sided with the oppressors. A truly divine being would have destroyed the wicked and raised the flag of dharma.
Gandhi was not a Ram bhakt. A Ram bhakt was Hanuman, who burned down the golden Lanka of Ravana for abducting one Sita Mata and ended his tyranny. Gandhi was no such protector of culture. He asked us to silently endure the atrocities committed by the wicked. He was not ‘Bapu’ either — both his body and soul were weakened by impotence.
While Hindus were being slaughtered by evildoers, Gandhi staged satyagrahas demanding crores of rupees to be given to those very oppressors — money that would buy more weapons to destroy us. On 30 January, when it all ended, waves of relief swept through many refugee camps. People cried out, ‘Oh God, why did You not give me the opportunity to perform the sacred deed performed by Godse?’”
Her words reflect the anguish of millions of Hindus who suffered unspeakable atrocities during Partition. Historians estimate that 10–12 million people were displaced and nearly two million killed in the communal violence accompanying the birth of two nations. Entire villages were wiped out, women abducted, and properties looted or confiscated.
Many Hindu voices felt abandoned by their own leadership. Armed regiments — many composed largely of Muslim soldiers, such as the Baloch Regiment actively collaborated with islamic mobs. One of my relatives, an army officer, lamented:
“Had we been given rifles and ammunition, they would never have been able to massacre two million Hindus. But the leadership in Delhi betrayed us. Some so-called Hindu leaders at Delhi, were nothing but Muslims in disguise.”
Gandhi’s insistence on releasing ₹55 crore to Pakistan, even as Hindu refugees languished in camps, and Nehru’s unwillingness to confront the communal violence head-on, compounded the tragedy. Gandhi’s doctrine of non-violence, revered by many, was seen by countless survivors as dangerously naïve when faced with genocidal violence.
Betrayal Beyond Partition: Persecution Across Generations
The story of betrayal and systemic injustice did not end with Partition. It’s aftershocks reverberated across generations — including my own family.
My father, a distinguished academician, who served as professor in Ludhiana and later as principal of a government college in Haryana, dedicated his entire life to education and public service. Yet, because he spoke openly about the plight of Hindus and sought to awaken society to political complacency, he became a target of the state.
The government launched a relentless campaign against him, laying trap after trap and falsely accusing him of affiliation with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) — a label intended to silence dissent. He was denied his rightful salary and pension, and all official records of his service vanished from the Haryana Higher Education Department.
My mother, too, was persecuted. As member of the Durga Vahini in the NCR, she devoted herself to empowering women in defense of dharma and national culture. Yet, after my father’s death, she was denied due family pension. Even my service as a defence officer could not shield her: despite my contributing 1.5 times more then my batchmate, the required amount to the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), the Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) denied her a dependent ECHS card, stating that my father was retired principal of d government college, while Haryana state fraudently removed his service records from higher education department, so as to deny her due pension.
The persecution extended to me. Despite a clean service record, during the final few months of my tenure, I was deliberately underpaid. As a Class I officer, I was legally entitled to around ₹30,000 per month in 2004–05, yet the authorities paid significantly less. Similar fraud was committed, while preparing my PPO.
As this matter is pending since one year with honorable courts, I can not discuss it here.
There was no disciplinary action, no charge sheet, but still they punished me, secretly by denying my due rank & due pension. They come up with a flawed promotion policy. I was given no
opportunity to defend myself — a pattern that echoed the systemic injustices my family had faced since unethical 1947 Partition.
The roots of this injustice stretch back to 1947. My grandparents were murdered by Islamist mobs, and their property looted. The government promised compensation, allocating land in a village called Bhai Sauda — a ghost village that does not exist.
Such acts symbolized the broader betrayal: promises of justice were broken, and victims’ voices silenced.
The then leadership of that era — (both political and military) — must be held accountable, for such Injustices. Their decisions enabled mass slaughter and institutionalized discrimination. Instead of correcting historical wrongs, the state often compounded them, targeting survivors and their descendants for daring to question the dishonest official narratives.
Today, I have filed a few cases in courts and tribunals, presenting evidence of the injustices inflicted on me & my family. The respondents have repeatedly refused to present arguments, and therefore hearings are delayed.
I wish to publicly challenge them: but as a petitioner, I can not publicly discuss my prayers.
if they are honest, I hope they shall come forward.
If they cannot,
Then the justice — long denied — should be delivered, by the state.
A Constitutional Promise Betrayed
The Constitution of India guarantees equal rights and equal opportunities to all citizens.
While I have fulfilled my duties as a citizen — serving my country, contributing to its defense, and abiding by its laws.
Yet the then state authorities had repeatedly failed to uphold its obligations to me and presumably millions others, like me & my family.
(Evidences of the failure has been submitted to constitutional authorities and courts, yet silence continues)
This is not merely a personal grievance; it reflects the larger story of the people betrayed by their own state, of promises broken, and systemic injustices persisting across generations. My family’s suffering is emblematic of the wider Hindu experience since Partition: uprooted, dispossessed, and denied justice for daring to speak the truth.
Conclusion: A Struggle That Continues
These words are not written out of bitterness but out of duty — to remember, testify, and seek justice. The pain of my ancestors, who endured unimaginable brutality, continues to echo in my life and in countless others. The violence of 1947 did not end with borders; it persists in systemic injustices that refuse to confront the past.
I have worked tirelessly across fields, striving to ensure my voice is heard and my perspective understood.
My struggle is not just for myself but for all those silenced by history. I remain in the Hindu part of partitioned India, the land meant to offer me & my family refuge and justice, after unethical partition authored by the then leadership— a land that has too often failed to do so.
Whether my efforts will ultimately bring the justice I seek, remains to be seen — but I will persist, for silence should be no longer an option for the constitutional authorities.