Mrs. Abidi’s family prior to partition belonged to the state of Patiala;this state had a large Sikh population. As riots and violence broke out across India, tens of thousands of people decided to migrate to Pakistan. Her family was among them. Her journey at large was uneventful and they managed to reach Lahore unharmed but sherecalled a tragedy during migration about the disappearance of 3 of her distant cousins, 2 young girls aged15 and 17, and their brother. They were from her extended family and they to this day have not been able to trace them.
Most of the refugees coming from Punjab, after entering Pakistan stayed in a refugee camp near Walton airport. Her family did the same, they eventually settled in Rawalpindi.
Her father wanted them to contribute in the rehabilitation process. As young girls they helped out in the running and maintenance of the Bait-ul-Mal. There was no structure, things had to be done as needed. Refugees went to the Deputy Commissioners house where they were given ration cards with the numbers of all their dependence. Refugees brought the ration card to them atthe Bait-ul-Mal.
Most of the necessary items were collected from the vacant Hindu and Sikh houses, which were sealed. This process was carried out under the supervision of one elderly woman, two inspectors and a clerk. The seal was broken and the volunteers collected all necessary items like bedding, utensils, clothes, and charpoys etc. All the items were noted down in the ledger and it was taken to the Bait-ul-Mal.
While the newly formed Government of Pakistan was trying to rehabilitate the refugees coming in mostly from the Punjab, war in Kashmir broke out. This war resulted in more refugees coming down from Kashmir.
Abeeda Abidi joined Begum Rana Liaquat Ali to form the Pakistan Women National Guard (PWNC).
“I was also in the National Guard and I was the captain of the National Guard which begum sahib had you know made in Pakistan, it was a women’s National Guard and we were attached the army, so we did all the army training, rifle training and typing and everything else that would go for a woman to take part if there is a war with India and if the men would’ve gone to the frontier, the woman would take over.”
PWNC was created to provide support to the Pakistan Army, which was busy fighting at the border. The women were given crash courses in army training, rifle training, short hand, type writing, nursing, first-aid etc. The training was carried out for the duration of a month, and then they were sent out in field.
After the initial rehabilitation of the refugees from Kashmir, need for volunteersarose in Wah. Many refugees were shifted into military barracks, a few barracks were converted into a hospital and there were only 2 doctors. The women from Pakistan Women National Guard used to go to Wah to volunteer and help in any which way that they could.
Some of the local philanthropist helped the refugees by providing them with food and clothes. The biggest problem they faced was with the outbreak of the Typhus fever. They needed to effectively and quickly get rid of the lice that were spreading widely as lice are the natural carriers of these bacteria.
Text and pics by CAP
Published in Daily Times, June 30th, 2017.