From the memoir: A Sindhi woman recalls the aftermath of the Partition and how her family survived

The Partition of India took place on August 15, 1947, and I was out of Karachi on September 6, 1947. My maternal uncle, Dada Chander, owned a dry dock in Karachi, where ships could be repaired and made seaworthy. A liner from Australia made a stop at the dockyard for repairs. Dada happened to mention this at the dinner table. At such troubled times, this was like a godsend, a one-in-a-million chance to get all the young girls out of the troubled country to the safety of India.

Sindhi Amil girls were considered pretty and stylish, and Sindhi Muslims always said, “We will kidnap the hooris of Sindh.” The Amil community implored Dada Chander to ask the ship’s captain if he would take such a “precious cargo”.

The captain declined. He said the stop at Karachi was unforeseen and imperative as the ship needed repairs urgently, otherwise, he had no authority to stop at any Oriental port. In view of the situation, the captain was asked to take permission from his office in Australia to make a slight detour and take as many young girls as he could accommodate to Bombay. Permission was granted. Other passengers were informed of the delay in...

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