Partition survivor who was saved by a Muslim dies at 102

PATIALA: One of the last survivors of the 1947 Partition died in Dhainthal village of Punjab's Patiala on Tuesday, aged 102. Ram Krishan Singh 's life reflected the horrors of communal violence as well as the courage and compassion that shone through despite the bloodshed.

Ram Krishan was about 24-years-old during the division of India into two nations, which led to violent upheaval in Punjab. In Aug 1947, a mob murdered his father, Jeona Singh, a carpenter and bullockcart manufacturer, in Dhainthal after he refused to abandon their ancestral home.

"My father was killed during those days of hate. Before Partition, our village was largely Muslim, with a few Sikh and Hindu families. Children played in each other's homes. Then, suddenly everything changed," Ram Krishan Singh had recalled in an interview with a web channel, Azad Bol Punjabi, four years ago.

As communal tensions escalated, Ram Krishan and other family members temporarily fled to nearby Tullewal village. Jeona Singh stayed back to guard their home, along with an elderly Nihang. When Muslim families began migrating to Pakistan, a mob entered Dhainthal and killed Jeona in his home.

Ram Krishan's grandson, Hardeep Singh Gahir, a assistant public relations officer in Patiala, said his grandfather went back in search of his father, only to face a grim reality.

Gahir said, "The Nihang who survived told my grandfather that he had to cremate Jeona in a tandoor using cow-dung cakes because there was no safe way to arrange a funeral."

During the strife, Ram Krishan's life was spared by an unexpected act of humanity. When he and other family members were cornered by an armed group, a Muslim villager intervened to protect him. This stranger's bravery became a story Ram Krishan frequently recounted. Gahir shared, "Even in his last years, he would recall with gratitude how a Muslim man risked his own life to save him."

Following Partition, the family's life in Dhainthal changed permanently. Jeona's wife, who was pregnant at the time, gave birth to a daughter, Mohinder Kaur, two months after Partition. Ram Krishan delayed his own marriage until he was 30 as the family rebuilt their lives. He continued the carpentry tradition, and his son Balwinder Singh still practises the craft, using modern techniques. "Ram Krishan lived quietly, serving as a witness to history's cruellest chapter and exemplifying resilience. His life was a reminder that even in times of hatred, acts of kindness could echo across generations," said his family.