This Independence Day, let’s go down the lanes of good old Lajpat Nagar and rediscover the abode of the refugees

Come August and here at Lajpat Nagar in the Capital, crowd of poignant memories grip people. They are transported back to yesteryears when they left their abodes in cities like Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, and Behra post Partition of the country.

Arguably, Lajpat Nagar is the bastion of refugees. The gory memories of those dark days are still fresh in the minds of these brave hearts and have been handed down to their kids and grandchildren, who too break into the Partition holocaust narrative. Though refugees from Pakistan came and settled in many cities, this South Delhi colony will go down in history of Delhi as a haven for refugees and the shelter less. No place can match it on that front.

Right from 1947, it has become home to wave upon wave of people fleeing their own homeland. After the Partition of India, Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan were rehabilitated in Lajpat Nagar, while Muslim refugees from Afghanistan thronged the place in 1979, following the invasion on their country by the then Soviet Union. Still later, after a series of attacks by the Taliban, many Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan also took shelter here. For the last couple of years, many Kashmiri families, mostly Muslims from the Valley, are living here either on rent or after purchasing some flats.

With their businesses not doing well in Kashmir, many Muslim traders from the Valley have been forced to migrate to Delhi. Interestingly enough, once again, many of them chose Lajpat Nagar to settle down. As if this were not enough, some families of Chinese-origin in Delhi also consider Lajpat Nagar as their own.

Sindhi writer Srikant Bhatia, another old resident of Lajpat Nagar, says that “despite almost seven decades of Partition, refugees families still recall good old days that they spent in different cities across the border. And they are still known here as Lahorian, Pindiwaal, Multani, Sindhi or Jhangi and during weddings and other such occasions, folk songs of their native places are a must.”

The original allottees of Lajpat Nagar were the refugees who were staying at Purana Qila camps after migrating to Delhi from Pakistan. Though quite a few original allottees of Lajpat Nagar have moved to other places, yet families of these original settlers make up most of the population of the colony. Each of the plots was of either 100 or 125 sq yard. Of course, Lajpat Nagar-III has bigger plots. There are still some houses in the original condition and they, each of them, have been valued at over Rs.3 crore. Builders began making flats after acquiring such houses, from the early part of eighties.

Deepak Joshi, an old resident of Lajpat Nagar-IV, recalls, “In the early ‘60s, people in Lajpat Nagar started renovating their houses. The owners started constructing additional floors or rooms to give them on rent in the mid-70s.” That was also the time when the newly-built commercial complex Nehru Place started bustling with activity and a large number of big and small companies set shop there. People working there started looking for rented houses in Lajpat Nagar as it was very close to Nehru Place. That was the point, which transformed the class character of the erstwhile refugees. The owners started letting out their houses on rent. Two to three bedrooms fetched Rs.1200 to Rs. 1500 per month, big money during that time. Then came the ‘80s, the decade when house owners, in order to earn a quick buck, blatantly violated municipal bylaws and started constructing extra floors and basements in their houses. The process reached epidemic proportions in area. Some residents even gave their plots to the builders who constructed three floors and a basement. The owners were given the ground floor, comprising two bedrooms, a drawing-cum-dining room, along with Rs.10 to Rs.12 lakhs in a single deal, while builders sold the remaining part of the house for whopping sums.

What is so special about Lajpat Nagar that prompts refugees and migrants to settle down here? George Chiu, a Chinese-origin Indian, says, “Lajpat Nagar is close to Central Delhi. Moreover, this place has some kind of indefinable charm if you live here once, then you won’t feel like moving out from here.” Chiu is perhaps right. It goes without saying that the Central Market of Lajpat Nagar is among the most sought after markets in Delhi. It is a shoppers’ paradise with showrooms of virtually every big brand finding place here. Prosperity has also brought its own tensions within families.

Meanwhile, even as some people leave, many others try and find a place to live and set up business here in Lajpat Nagar which has been a home for the homeless people.