DNA Edit: Shared heritage - Pak’s display of Jallianwala papers is welcome

It is good that Pakistan is willing to concede, even if indirectly, that it has a shared heritage with India. For the first time, it has put on display rare documents of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to mark its 100th anniversary.

The six-day exhibition showcasing about 70 historical documents related to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and martial law in Punjab in April 1919, opened at the Lahore Heritage Museum. That Amritsar, the site of the Jallianwala Bagh killings, was pretty much Lahore’s twin city before 1947, is a well-acknowledged fact of history.

It is just that Pakistan has shied away from accepting some home truths, which they are now, belatedly, willing to concede to. Pakistan, in the years and decades following the terrible partition of Punjab, has never acknowledged that in the undivided state, Muslims were as central to the political situation as Hindus and Sikhs.

The 379 (according to official accounts) killed in Jallianwala Bagh on that fateful day, included members of the three communities. A year ago, Pakistan had exhibited the archives of the trial of revolutionary leader Bhagat Singh in Lahore, another luminary of undivided Punjab.

After initial protests about honouring a ‘Hindu’ name and routine misgivings expressed by fringe elements, saner voices had prevailed and managed to accord official honour to a genuine hero of Punjab. These seemingly small steps go a long way in helping a bad situation from becoming worse. After all, Jallianwala Bagh and Bhagat Singh are as much part of India’s legacy as they are of Pakistan’s.

By acknowledging a common heritage, there is the suggestion, however faint, that there exists a certain meeting point for minds and hearts. Thankfully, there are some in Pakistan who don’t forget that Punjab before 1947 was one state.