I was born in Bhera in 1921 and studied there. Now I am 87 and living in Rawalpindi. From Class I to V, I studied in Chirri Chog Primary School and did my Matric from Bhera High School in 1938. We used to live in Mohallah Sheikhanwala next to the mosque. My grandfather had purchased a house from Sheikh Ghulam Hassan Kamboh. My forefathers had a flourishing business of import and export of various items, particularly cloth. They traded with Samarqand, Bukhara, Kabul, Mizar-e-Sharif, Amritsar, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan and Karachi. Due to several reasons, the business went down in 1923/1924.
I studied at Bhera High School and my younger brother Khawja Mukhtar Ahmed (Late) at Arya School. The names of the teachers I remember of Primary School were Headmaster Mufti Shahib who taught us Urdu and Maths, lived in Mohallah Khawjgan, Master Fazal Ellahi Kanigo, Master Muhammad Nazir who later became Headmaster, lived in Mohallah Pakhiwara Wala, Master Ghulam Muhammad he lived in Mohallah Naseeb Darayee, his house was next to the khui. Mufti Sahib when wanted to scold any student used to call him Bhootna.
The teachers I remember from my High School were Malik Muhammad Shafi from Mohallah Loharan Mori, Master Ghulam Qadir, Master Nazar Muhammad from Village Gaga, Master Qazi Saddique who later became Headmaster from Mohallah Ali Bhutta, Fazal Ellahia, a drawing teacher from Mohallah Loharan Mori, Master Davi Dayal, a science teacher who lived in Mohallah Haji Ghulab, Molvi Ghulam Farid, Master Farman Ali, Molvi Muhammad Zubair, he was an excellent teacher of Urdu, Arabic and Persian. Once he took eleven days to explain the Dr Allam Iqbal’s verse
Khudi ko kar buland itna keh her taqdeer se pehlay
Khuda Banday se khud puchay bata teri raza kia hey
He was a very broad-minded person. He used to tell us to attend all functions, sermons, jalsas of all other sects and religions. Only follow the good things and leave the bad for them. Master Taija Singh, was a geography teacher and used to say, “You learn history by reading as a book and geography by map reading”. All of my teachers were dedicated, masters of their subjects, had self-esteem and were well respected. They never came under pressure from any landlord or politician in the area. The parents of the students also gave them due respect. If a student was punished in school the parents never complained that is why Bhera High produced excellent results in those days.
Out of so many incidents during my stay at Bhera, I will particularly narrate one. There was some dispute between my grandfather and Sheikh Ghulam Hassan Kamboh on a house he sold to my father. He wanted to retain a small Khotri (attic) attached to the house. The matter was taken in the court. Angraiz Deputy Commissioner visited the site. In those days for sitting carpets were laid with pillows on the ground. When the Deputy Commissioner came, he sat on a chair. My grandfather said in Punjabi, what justice this Bhootna will do as he sat on my opponent’s chair. The Deputy Commissioner asked his assistant what the old man had said. The words were translated in verbatim, he immediately got up from the chair, the decision was given in my grandfather’s favour as his case was genuine. That was the justice of Angraiz at that time.
Other events and incidents I will narrate later. If anybody wants to know about old Bhera he may contact me at my grandson’s email address kh.ali_a@yahoo.com or telephone number 051-4455284.
Note: Khawaja Bashir Ahmed passed away on 12 June 2020 in Rawalpindi, aged about 99 and was laid to rest there. May Allah Almighty bless his soul! Ameen, Unfortunately, I could not record his more reminiscences of Bhera.
Zahid Mumtaz
