OHIO, 17 September 2006 — He reads Dawn newspaper every night. He gave $100 to the Pakistan earthquake victim fund (A fact he rarely discloses for fear of sounding boastful). Sehgal, who was born in an area now within Pakistan, has not been there since 1944. But he intensely loves Pakistan because it is his birthplace.

In an interview with Arab News, Sehgal recalled his early days and the amity that the Hindus and Muslims enjoyed in the undivided India.

He was born in Bannu on Jan. 17, 1927. There were five schools in his area: The Government School, the Sanatan Dharma School, the Khalsa School, Islamia School and the Mission School. In Sehgal’s area the Hindu School was only for boys but a few girls were allowed to study because the girls’ school was up to middle only and they had to wear boys uniform and keep their hair short!

After completing his school education, Sehgal went to Dayal Singh College in Lahore. “We had such tolerance and fraternity that at times Sikhs would get meat from the Muslim mess.

“Similarly, a Muslim would get meat from the Hindu mess, read Kalma over it and eat it. We had so much tolerance and love for each other,” he said.

Sehgal remembers his neighbors and the mutual friendship there was among people of different religions. “You can imagine the amity we enjoyed with our neighbors that during the partition riots only two people were stabbed in Bannu. On Shab-e-Baraat (a Muslim religious festival) my grandmother used to send a big tray of sweets to our neighbors.”

Sehgal’s father used to work at the MES and was transferred to Karachi, which was considered one of the cleanest cities in India.

“I was going to Karachi to spend my summer vacations there. I wrote to my father and asked if I could bring anything for him from Bannu. He wrote, we have everything in Karachi except dust, get me some dust from Bannu in a bottle. I had a good time in Karachi. We used to go on Sundays to Clifton on camel carts and we would ride bikes there.”

Sehgal remembers the Bunder Road extension work that was being done to extend it into a three-lane street.

“We used to wonder where they would get so many cars to ply those roads. We used to get our shoes polished in Saddar and believe me they would not get dirty for a week! We lived in Chabria Mansion. It was on the south side of Bunder Road. Our house was west facing and the air was so fresh and cold that we had to put on a light blanket, but people whose house faced east had to put fans on,” he said.

As Sehgal passed his blissful teenage years he says he was refused admission to NED College in Karachi as he was not from Sindh and so applied to study at a college in Lucknow.

“I was refused admission there because they said they had a new rule in place, they were not allowing any students from NWFP because they usually indulged in fights and killed people. After I was able to prove that I was only born in Bannu but my family was from Cambellpur, I was allowed in.”

Sehgal spoke about the partition, “There was a lot of tension and the rumor mill was working overtime. My father left me in my maternal uncle’s care who used to live in Lahore and took some jewelry and other stuff to Delhi.

“I was able to join him later. My grandmother came from Bannu in October. My uncle, a chartered accountant, who lived on Nisbat Road was so fond of Lahore that he refused to leave it. Ultimately he married a Muslim girl there and settled in Pakistan.” Sehgal later served in the Indian Army and visited places like Wagah and remembers receiving army salutes from Pakistani soldiers.

How did Sehgal feel about fighting in 1965 and 1971 against a country he still loves, “I hate wars, luckily I was in the unit that built bridges. I believe India and Pakistan should pay attention to the love they have in each other’s hearts.

“We are too poor to fight.” About living in the US, Sehgal says that Muslims and Hindus live here peacefully. “We have discovered a lot of things about each other here.

“I already knew that from living in Pakistan, but I am glad the younger generation is discovering that. I like President Musharraf for that reason. Though he played a big role in the Kargil war as a commander in chief. But once he became the head of state, he has learnt all the facts and is promoting peace between India and Pakistan.”

Sehgal looks toward the younger generation to create a sense of global harmony. “I think what we are teaching our children through books is promoting hatred. Politicians are exploiting our differences instead of promoting our common traits,” he said.