"I became unconscious after six lashes, lashes were stopped I regained consciousness and could hear voices of my cousins gathered at the gate of Jail premises prompting me not to seek forgiveness - Indian Whipping act provisioned that if someone seek forgiveness than the penalty is withdrawn - I again fainted after nine whips but stood ground for full fifteen", recalled Bhatia who was barely 10 years old at that time. The whipping caused uproar in the Bannu town and even women came out to protest against the British Raj. Interestingly when little Bheem Sen was receiving lashes his father, grandfather and elder cousin were in jail for participating in the freedom struggle. Bhatia claims that three generations of his family were in same jail during the Quit India Movement which probably is a rarest of rare feat. "When my father was arrested during height of movement local Superintendent of Police (SP) removed the flag of Congress flying atop our house, trampled it under his foot and said Mr Bhatia it is end of your Congress. My father retorted, it is beginning not end Mr SP," he recalled. Narrating another very interesting incident Bhatia said that his family had a very close association with Mir Taj Mohammad — father of superstar Shah Rukh Khan — as he too was associated with red shirt movement of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. He informed that Mir Taj used to visit Bhatia's when they shifted to Dehradun.
