A COUPLE that survived the atrocities following the partition of India, have spoken about their lucky escape from the violence and chaos that followed the creation of the India/Pakistan border.

Ram Bedi, 83, and Shubi Bedi, 80, of Farnham Common, have lived in the area for over 30 years – and say they are still too nervous to visit their childhood home in Pakistan’s Punjab.

Shubi (Shubhashni) was 10 years old and her future husband, Ram Rattan, was 14 years old when the violence gripping India caught up with their families. Shubi Bedi described how a gang, of ten Muslims, armed with guns, made a visit to their house in order to kill her and her family.

But the Partition that created savagery in some, inspired bravery in others – for it was their Muslim neighbour who shielded them, by telling the mob there were Muslim tennants inside their family home. Mrs Bedi said: “They went away, but came back later. Once again he persuaded them to go away as he had put a Pakistani flag on our house.” Mr Bedi’s experiences were no less harrowing. His family escaped death only due to a tip-off from a Muslim friend that a mob was planning to burn down his house, with everyone inside.

He said: “Luckily there was a British Army barracks nearby and they allowed us to stay there.

“We escaped by train but even then luck was on our side. The train was so packed that people were sitting on the roof. They started throwing our belongings out of windows as fast as we could put them in. We never had problems with Muslims before Partition or since. It is still a nightmare why so many people decided to attack others because of their religious faith.”

The pair met in Bombay, and fled to Northern Ireland. Mr Ram supported his family by selling clothes door-to-door, but he was able to open his own clothing shop, which he ran for 18 years. When he came to Slough in 1976, he set up a successful coat-hanger factory, called Super Hanger. He said: “The UK is a land of opportunity and I tell my children never to complain, because this is the greatest country on Earth.”

Mr Bedi is a former president of Slough Rotary club and also helps organise ‘eye camps’ providing free cataract operations to impoverished blind people in India.