The Line Through Our Hearts

The partition of the Indian subcontinent remains one of the most painful chapters in history, especially for North Indians who bore the brunt of this cataclysmic event. The division of the country along communal lines displaced approximately 15 million people and led to the tragic loss of 1.5 to 2 million lives in the ensuing violence.In this book, I have attempted to capture the essence of those turbulent times through real events that unfolded between the Second World War and the ceasefire in Kashmir. My story revolves around a family connected to the Nawab of Rampur, focusing on two brothers-both Majors in the British Indian Army-who found themselves on opposing sides after partition. The younger brother, Yaqub Khan, chose to join the newly formed Pakistani Army, only to find himself facing his elder brother, Yunus Khan, on the battlefield in Kashmir.