The Qadian Diary — Page 29
2 EYEWITNESS TESTIMONIES The events I am about to narrate took place from 7 September 1947. Under the instructions of Nazir Amoor-e-Ama, Muhammad Yahya Sarsavi, Ahmad Ali who is the owner of a cycle shop in Qadian, and myself, set off for Gurdaspur to deliver an important letter to the deputy commissioner of the district. We left imme- diately. When we arrived at the dirt track adjacent to the irrigation canal of Tatley village, we turned towards Gurdaspur by way of the path that leads through Panj Garaian. The canal was dry and its bed was strewn with bodies and skeletons. When we arrived in Panj Garaian we took the road to Batala. It was broken across many places and in others it had been submerged in rainwater. This stretch of the journey was tough and we would jump about on the rocky surface of the road. During one particularly rough patch, Yahya Sarvari was hurled off the bike. But still, we continued on our way with as much haste as we could muster. Sometime afterwards, we approached an armed rabble. From a distance it was difficult to make out who they were. As I had been appointed the head of the group, I decided we should con- tinue on our way. Fortunately, we were able to make it past the mob without incident, and after crossing the Baring School we arrived at the district subdivision from where we were able to get onto the Gurdaspur Road.