Ved Nanda, Director of the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law: I still vividly recall the day in early August 1947, a few days before the independence and partition of India and the birth of Pakistan, when my mother and I had to flee for our lives. Gujranwala was majority Muslim, with a sizeable population of Hindus and Sikhs at that time, and the communities lived peacefully, participating in each other’s social, cultural and religious lives. But all that changed in a hurry. A Muslim friend advised us: "Leave now, leave immediately. Save your lives." On the 70th anniversary of India’s partition, it is perhaps this experience which has given me the lifelong purpose to work for peace and human rights, especially for refugees.
