55 Flash Fiction Friday #51: Chapter 44 - Kinaaraa

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Some stories are the same in any language.

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"Who were those men?", she asked later, "And why would they want to kill us?"
"Most probably raiders from one side of the border or the other." Arjun speculated.
"Border? Which border?"
Head cocked, he regarded her momentarily before answering. Could she really not know?
"The India-Pakistan border"
"Pak-ee...stan?" she said quizzically. "Where is Pak-ee...stan?"

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Notes:
kinaaraa: border

From the maybe you know it, maybe you don't file:
The nation we know as Pakistan didn't exist until 1947 when the British relinquished control of India. The partition was probably not the choice of the vast majority, but was a non-negotiable point between very vocal and powerful minorities on both sides. The British, significantly weakened both economically and militarily by the Second World War and facing growing hostility from the indigenous people of India, were anxious to quit the country. As a consequence the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten has been accused of rushing the arrangements and failing to consider or make provision for several eventualities that proved disastrous later. Apparently, the Crown didn't anticipate large population movements from one side of the border to the other, though how this could be overlooked is a mystery given the primary motivation for Partition. Some 12.5 million or more people started the day on one side of the border and finished it on the other before the resettling was complete. In the process communal violence claimed as many as a million lives (estimates vary widely from "several hundred thousand" to "approximately one million".) The State of Punjab was the epicenter for much of this violence and was itself split across the border with part of the former province falling on each side of the "Radcliffe Line" (named for Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the British chairman of the Boundary Commission that settled the lines of demarcation in Punjab). By the time the India Independence Act took effect on 14 and 15 August 1947, the British had all but evacuated the subcontinent, leaving a power vacuum that sucked both countries into the first of four wars by the end of October. In the interim, bands of marauders routinely attacked refugee convoys heading from one side of the border to the other stealing from, killing, and in many cases kidnapping the women of their perceived enemies. These women were doubly doomed, since even escaping from their captors often left them with no options. Many families and communities considered them "dead" once they were taken, and only the lucky few were ever repatriated even if freed.

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Previously

Chapter 1: Vandhe Mataram!
Chapter 2: Aag Lagi
Chapter 3: Aur Nahin
Chapter 4: Bannaa
Chapter 5: Inteqam
Chapter 6: Azaadi
Chapter 7: Vah Khallas Hai
Chapter 8: Ek Nai Shuruat
Chapter 9: Do Sal Paheli
Chapter 10: Yaadein (I)
Chapter 11: Yaadein (II)
Chapter 12: Yaadein (III)
Chapter 13: Paheli Baar
Chapter 14: Akelee
Chapter 15: Pinjraa
Chapter 16: Nishaan
Chapter 17: Qismat
Chapter 18: Nafrat
Chapter 19: Dard
Chapter 20: Mutthee
Chapter 21: Apmaan
Chapter 22: Andheraa

Chapter 23: Indhan
Chapter 24: Das phere
Chapter 25: Golaa pooraa huaa
Chapter 26: Nikalnaa
Chapter 27: Raastaa
Chapter 28: Pahraa
Chapter 29: Chetaavnee
Chapter 30: Amritsar
Chapter 31: Bhaiaa Vaadaa
Chapter 32: Anaamika
Chapter 33: Arjun
Chapter 34: Rishtedaar
Chapter 35: Mein Usko Maraa Hua
Chapter 36: Samajh
Chapter 37: Shabaash!
Chapter 38: Muskarati
Chapter 39: Gheraao
Chapter 40: Zindagee aur Maut
Chapter 41: Bandooq
Chapter 42: Chalo!
Chapter 43: Khoj

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