20th-century-in-pakistan

"During the winter of 1998/99, Pakistanis had stealthily occupied several Himalayan mountain peaks on the Indian side. In the same winter, the Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee had inaugurated a bus service from Delhi to Lahore as a gesture of friendship, had travelled along with the first bus and had shaken hands with his Pakistani counterpart. End of April 1999, however, the Pakistanis opened fire from their advantageous position on top with the goal to capture the Srinagar–Leh road and isolate Ladakh. The Indian soldiers faced an almost impossible task to dislodge the Pakistanis, as there was a gradual ascent to the mountain peaks from the Pakistani side, yet a steep drop to the Indian side. Moreover, they were inadequately equipped for the cold climate. Nevertheless, they did the impossible. The whole nation stood behind the soldiers and their commanders, many of whom sacrificed their lives. There were daily reports about the incredible heroism of the young men who, in the night at sub-zero temperatures at 5000 metres, climbed up the rocks and came under fire from the top, with many of the soldiers wearing only canvas shoes and carrying heavy equipment on their backs. This naturally made my suffering pale in comparison."

"Now compare this with the attitude of the BBC during the Kargil war. Most of us foreign correspondents know by now that the Pakistanis are training, arming and financing Kashmiri mujahidins. We also know that Pakistan is sponsoring international terrorism, whether in New York or in Sinkiang and is a closed ally of the Taliban, one of the most fundamentalist and dangerous forces in the world today. Yet, for the last 10 years, the BBC has kept on with the old refrain : " India SAYS that Pakistan is training Kashmiri militants, an accusation which Islamabad refutes". By insisting on mouthing this absurd statement, even during the Kargil war, when the whole Western intelligence knew that most of the militants manning the heights were Pakistani soldiers in civil, the BBC thought that it is practising impartial journalism. But who are they fooling ? Everybody is aware of the strong Leftist bias of the BBC (nothing wrong in being Leftist, as long as you don’t pretend to be impartial), who has always defended Muslims separatists all over the planet, whether it is the Palestinians, the terrorists in Chechenya, or the Kashmiri militants. Unfortunately, the BBC has so much of a reputation in the world (and indeed their documentaries are first class), that it shapes the opinions of our editors in Paris or Bonn, who in turn put pressure on us to report on "Hindu fundamentalism", or the "poor persecuted Kashmiris"."

"Elections to Constituent Assembly have left ruling group in central position, with reasonable prospects of retaining power, though this will certainly be diluted by need to strike bargain with non-Muslim League elements and to broaden base of Cabinet. Their position by no means as strong as it was, and any vulnerabilities will be vigorously exploited by opposition."

"I can see only one reason for it and that is, that if the Central dictatorship find that elections to the Constituent Assembly have not gone in their favour, inspite of gestapo methods, which are being used, they will find some means to file a suit and nonlegality of the Constituent Assembly thus prolonging their irresponsible rule at the Centre."

"Whether it is representative of the people or not is another matter and I would firstly to consider to what extent it represents the various electoral colleges. That is does so it some extent is clear, although attempts were certainly made in Bengal, to temper with predilection of the members, by withdrawing section 92 just before the elections to the Constituent Assembly and thus influence the voting by such conduct."

"The elections were a peculiar type of elections which I have not understood from that day to this. I was elected by a Punjabi group to represent Sialkot, a place I had never been to."

"[Nehru] himself (and the entire secularist establishment till today) reneged on his duty to defend the non-Muslims surviving in the Islamic state which he had helped to create. In the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, he had given up every right to interfere on behalf of the minorities in Pakistan. By effectively condoning the persecution of non-Muslims in Pakistan, he must accept a share in the responsibility for the retaliatory tribal violence which killed Rasschaert."

"The Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, concluded with Pak Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan amid mass killing of Hindus in East Bengal, prevents the Government o fIndia from any form of interference when Hindus are maltreated in Pakistan and its partial successor state Bangladesh."

"“I was not surprised that Mujibur Rahman won easily and tremendously in East Pakistan,” recalls Eric Griffel. “There was tremendous Bengali pride in Mujibur.”"

"This was a moment when the United States might have stood on principle. There had been a free and fair election, truly expressive of the will of the people. The democratic superpower could have encouraged Pakistan to deepen its democratic traditions. “We are the great democracy,” says Meg Blood. “And here was a democratic game being played, as if they would pay any attention once Mujib had won. They were prepared to simply push him aside.” She adds, “We, the great American nation, leaned back and said nothing.” The White House took almost no interest in upholding the results of Pakistan’s grand experiment in democracy. Instead, the Nixon team dreaded the loss of its Cold War ally."

"The 1970 balloting was a tremendous experiment in democracy. This was the first direct election in Pakistan’s twenty-three years of independence, with all adults allowed to vote—including, for the first time, women. The people of Pakistan were to choose a Constituent Assembly, which would have the difficult job of drawing up a new constitution for the fragile country. Yahya might have tried to rig the voting, or used the cyclone as an excuse for an indefinite postponement of the elections, but he opted to allow this democratic moment."

"When the big day came, U.S. officials in Dacca were pleasantly surprised: the voting was impressively legitimate, the best the country had ever seen. The soldiers and policemen at the polling stations were there only to keep the peace, and Blood saw no signs of voter intimidation. Everyone agreed that it had been free and fair. Women voted in droves. “The elections were remarkably free,” says Butcher. “It was fairly unique, turning a military government to civilian authority. It was a extraordinary thing.”"

"The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in its annual report that one woman is raped every three hours in Pakistan and one in two rape victims is a juvenile. According to Women's Action Forum, a woman's rights organization, 72 percent of all women in police custody in Pakistan are physically and sexually abused. Furthermore, 75 percent of all women in jail are there under charges of zina. Many of these women remain in jail awaiting trial for years."

"Zia introduced Islamic laws that discriminated against women. The most notorious of these laws were the Zina and Hudud Ordinances that called for the Islamic punishments of the amputation of hands for stealing and stoning to death for married people found guilty of illicit sex. The term "zina" included adultery, fornication, and rape, and even prostitution. Fornication was punished with a maximum of a hundred lashes administered in public and ten years' imprisonment. In practice, these laws protect rapists, for a woman who has been raped often finds herself charged with adultery or fornication. To prove zina, four Muslim adult males of good repute must be present to testify that sexual penetration has taken place. Furthermore, in keeping with good Islamic practice, these laws value the testimony of men over women. The combined effect of these laws is that it is impossible for a woman to bring a successful charge of rape against a man; instead, she herself, the victim, finds herself charged with illicit sexual intercourse, while the rapist goes free. If the rape results in a pregnancy, this is automatically taken as an admission that adultery or fornication has taken place with the woman's consent rather than that rape has occurred."

"There’s nothing in common between the East Bengalis and the West Bengalis. Between us and the East Bengalis, on the other hand, there’s religion in com­mon. The Partition of 1947 was a very good thing."

"“There is a notion among ordinary Muslims in the Eastern Pakistan region that after August 15 the houses and land of the Hindus there will automatically pass into the possession of Muslims, and that the Hindus will be a sort subject race under the Muslims of that area.”"

"The attack came swiftly and over a vast area in the Rawalpindi Division,.. although the Hindus and Sikhs had for long to bear a state of seige [in the town of Rawalpindi], yet they were not murdered and pillaged on the scale on which this occurred in the unprotected and unarmed country-side, where it was general massacre of Hindus and Sikhs, especially of the latter. ... In the rural areas of Rawalpindi, however, it was a case of mass attack by Muslims, and a general massacre of Hindus and Sikhs. (78-79)"

"In 128 villages of Rawalpindi district, which were attacked over a period of several days, beginning from March 7, 1947, 7,000 Hindus and Sikhs have been enumerated in reports as killed. All casualties have not in some cases been traced or registered. The number of those wounded has been large too, though when these attacks were made, little mercy was shown by the assailants and they made a very thorough work of finishing of those who fell into their hands. Besides those killed and wounded about 1,000 Hindu and Sikh women were abducted, who were raped and dishonoured in a manner which would shame anyone with the least trace of civilization or religion in him. Women were raped in the presence of their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons. Later they were distributed among the Muslims to be kept as concubines or were forcibly married. A large number were carried into the tribal territory, and became untraceable. In almost all cases houses were burnt and property was looted. Quite often Gurdwaras were burnt down and the Sikh Scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib. torn or otherwise desecrated. In most of these villages the method followed by the Muslims to loot and kill the Hindu and Sikh populations was cynically treacherous. A village would be surrounded; messages would be sent to the Hindus and Sikhs to buy off the invaders with so such money. This demand would be complied with. But the invaders would still be there; and one night would open the attack on the small non-Muslim population of the place, and put as many to the sword as could not escape or as could be killed before military help arrived for succour, which, however in those lawless days was not very often. (80)"

"Forcible conversion was the other alternative to death for a non-Muslim. The ultimatum was given to the population of a village either to embrace Islam or to face death. Most Hindus and Sikhs preferred death to the shameful surrender of faith, and died, sometimes fighting and at other times with great tortures, at the hands of the sadist religious zealots of the Muslim League. Such women as could not be abducted or dishonoured, generally escaped this shame by immolating themselves. Thoha Khalsa village, of which an account will follow, is a classic example of such sacrifice of life on the part of 93 Sikh women of that place. This, the best known incident of its kind, however, is not the only one. In scores of places, both during the March attacks and the post-partition attacks on Hindus and Sikhs, women immolated themselves to escape dishonour at the hands of the maddened and ferocious lusting Muslim mobs. Those who were forcibly converted were, if they were Sikhs, shaved off and circumcised; the Hindus too were circumcized, even the grown-ups. The women converts were generally given in marriage, if they were unmarried or widows, to Muslims, the Nikah ceremony being performed by some local Maulvi. A large number of such shaven Sikh converts to Islam arrived as refugees in March, 1947 in Amritsar, Patiala and other places, from Rawalpindi and the Frontier Province. (81)"

"The assailants did not spare even little children. It was naked beastliness performing a devil’s dance. Children would be snatched from the hands of their parents, tossed on spears and swords, and sometimes thrown alive into the fire. Other cruelties equally horrible were perpetrated. Women’s breasts, noses and arms would he lopped off. Sticks and pieces of iron would be thrust into their private parts. Sometimes the bellies of pregnant women were ripped open and the unformed life in the womb thrown out. In some places processions of naked Hindu and Sikh women are also reported to have been taken out by the Muslims mobs. (81)"

"Maddened with the zeal for exterminating the ‘Kafirs’ and making room for the establishment of an Islamic State in Northern India, the League-led Muslim mobs combed hundreds of villages as has already been related above, in the Rawalpindi District."

"In Thoha Khalsa, on March 12, 1947 after long and heroic resistance, 200 Sikhs were killed. The women were asked to embrace Islam, but 93 of them, old and young, decided to escape dishonour by drowning themselves in a well, which they did. The Muslim invaders, aghast at this tragedy, fled from the place. A little later, the military arrived and rescued the survivors."

"In the village of Adiala, on March 8, 1947 Muslim mobs collected by beat of drum in broad day-light. The invaders raised a false alarm of a Sikh attack on themselves, and on this pretext, fell to looting the Hindu and Sikh quarters, which they did extensively. Hindus and Sikhs were ferreted out, and were burnt alive, stabbed or shot dead. The number of those killed was above a hundred. 40 were forcibly converted. The Muslim police watched the whole of this carnage going on, and did just nothing about it."

"Rawalpindi Division was ablaze. Its rural Hindu and Sikh population was almost entirely in refugee camps. The biggest of these camps was at Wah, in Campbellpur District, and its population was about 25,000. Another refugee camp, nearly as big, was situated at Kala, in Jhelum District. There were other refugee camps at smaller places. But most of the Hindus and Sikhs of this area had got so much panic-stricken that they preferred to leave this area altogether, and travelled east. The railway trains were full to capacity of destitute Hindu and Sikh refugees from places from Jhelum to Peshawar and other areas. They moved in search of shelter into the Sikh-Hindu majority districts of the Punjab, into the Punjab States, into the Jat States of Bharatpur, Dholpur, into Alwar, into Delhi and the U. P. Some moved even further east. Patiala State alone had, by April, as many as fifty thousand Sikh and Hindu refugees, who had to be fed, housed and clad, whose children had to be educated and who needed being settled in life again after being uprooted. Thousands of widows and orphans created a problem well-nigh insoluble in the face of the suddenness with which it had emerged. Destitutes were roaming every town and village of the Punjab east of Amritsar in search of food and shelter. Pitiable indeed was the condition of these people, who had become victims of an unprecedented kind of disaster. State Governments and private organizations like the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Congress tried to do their best to relieve the distress of these unfortunates, but the task was gigantic. So, barring a microscopic minority of these uprooted people, who had means in the East Punjab, the others remained, practically speaking, destitutes for whom life held little hope. This was the state to which the Muslim League campaign had reduced about at least ten lakhs of enterprising, useful human beings. (89)"

"The Muslim League leaders pursued a path contrary to the spirit in which an appeal like the Gandhi-Jinnah appeal should have been followed up. They continued to visit troubled areas like Amritsar for further incitement and for giving directions for new attacks. They continued with a pose of hypocritical innocence, to denounce imaginary Hindu-Sikh atrocities against Muslims. A full-hearted condemnation of the Rawalpindi Carnage or the Multan destruction never came from the Muslim League. (112)"

"I am told that there are still left over 18,000 Hindus and Sikhs in Rawalpindi and 30,000 in the Wah Camp. I will repeat my advice that they should all be prepared to die rather than leave their homes. The art of dying bravely and with honour does not need any special training, save a living faith in God. Then there will be no abductions and no forcible conversions. I know that you are anxious I should go to the Punjab at the earliest moment. I want to do so. But if I failed in Delhi, it is impossible for me to succeed in Pakistan. For I want to go to all the parts and provinces of Pakistan under the protection of no escort save God. I will go as a friend of the Muslims as of others. My life will be at their disposal. I hope that I may cheerfully die at the hands of anyone who chooses to take my life. Then I will have done as I have advised all to do."

"It is unbelievable that barbarous acts such as were committed on innocent people in rural areas of the Rawalpindi Division could be possible in the Punjab."

"A number of other districts were involved In the words of Mr Akhtar Hussain, Chief Secretary to Government, Punjab, “With the news of grave events radiating from Lahore there has been bloodshed and burning m many districts and rural areas have paid the price levied by insensate fury as well as towns. The district of Rawalpindi was the worst affected area and the non Muslims who were in a small minority in the rural areas perished an large numbers.“"

"Travelling by air from Lahore to Rawalpindi I saw village after village completely burnt out... when a full casualty list of the district is known, it is likely to be in the neighbourhood of 10,000 in Rawalpindi city and district alone ... there is no question that the rural areas around Rawalpindi have witnessed a bloodbath without parallel since the Middle Ages. I have heard how all members of the minority communities... were locked in a single house which was set on fire."

"Conditions in the rural areas of Rawalpindi beggar description. On March 6, 1947, meetings were held in the village mosques and the Muslims were told that the Jumma Mosque at Rawalpindi had been razed to the ground by Hindus and Sikhs and that the city streets were littered with Muslim corpses The audience were exhorted to avenge these wrongs The village population of the district of Rawalpindi has a large proportion of Muslim military pensioners possessing firearms and other weapons These men, in- cited in this manner, rose up against the non-Muslim residents and attacked one village after another The modus operand: was almost invariably the same A mob of Muslims armed with all kinds of weapons, shouting slogans and beating drums, approached a selected village and surrounded it from all sides A few non- Muslim residents were immediately killed to strike terror throughout the village The rest were asked to embrace Islam If they refused or showed reluctance a ruthless assault was launched upon non-Muslim life and property. Some members of the mob started looting and burning their houses and shops Others searched out young and good-looking girls and carried them away Not infrequently young women were molested and raped .n the open, while all around them frenzied hooligans rushed about shouting, looting and setting fire to houses Most of the non-Muslims would leave their houses and run to the local Gurdwara or a house affording some measure of protection or defence and there men, women and children, huddled together, would hear the noise of carnage, see the smoke rising from their burning homes and wait for the end The horror of what they saw or heard made them insensible to pain or suffering Some women would commit suicide or suffer death at the hands of their relations with stoic indifference, others would jump into a well or be burnt alive uttering hysterical cries The men would come out and meet death m a desperate sally against the marauders"

"Some villages were completely wiped out. Houses and shops were looted and then burnt down and demolished. Conversion saved the lives of many but not their property. Refusal to accept Islam brought complete annihilation.The men were shot or put to the sword. In some cases small children were thrown in cauldrons of boiling oil. In one village men and women who refused to embrace Islam were collected together and after a ring of brambles and firewood had been placed around them they were burnt alive. A woman threw her four month old baby to save it from burning The infant was impaled upon a spear and thrown back into the fire. In Murree nearly a hundred houses belonging to non Muslims were systematically marked and burnt down. In as many as 110 villages attacks of this nature were made by Muslim mobs."

"Almost every village in the Rawalpindi District where non- Muslims lived was attacked and plundered in this manner and Hindus and Sikhs were murdered and subjected to indescribable barbarities. In Thoha Khalsa some Sikh women were thrown into a well, others jumped in of their own free will to save themselves from being raped. A mob of several thousand Muslims raided Harilal, the birth-place of the Akali leader Master Tara Singh. Master Tara Singh’s house was razed to the ground and his uncle, Gokal Singh, was killed. Kuri Dalal and Dehra Khalsa were looted and burnt. In Kallar the residents resisted the raiders for a time stubbornly, but the village was eventually looted and burnt, and large numbers of residents murdered."

"About the last week of August, 1947, I was awaiting to be evacuated to East Punjab after I had received my posting orders to Ferozepur. I do not actually remember the date but it was on the 23rd, 24th or the 25th of August, 1947 that I happened to attend a joint meeting of the Magistracy and Police held in the Court room of Raja Hassan Akhtar, P. C. S. Deputy Commissioner, Montgomery at about 4 P.M. The D. C. in my presence gave unambiguous orders to his Magistrates and Police Officers who were present, that they must not spare any Sikh and kill or shoot him at sight and that the Hindus may be spared for the time being. I was the only non-Muslim Magistrate who attended the meeting..."

"“You have been earmarked to quit Pakistan at your earliest possible. If you don’t follow this warning, none but you yourself will be responsible for the consequences. Public don’t want you to be here as fifth columnist and it would be unwise on your part to seek for Government protection which would be of no use at this stage."

"Sheikhupura Hindus and Sikhs were perhaps, after Rawalpindi and Multan, the worst sufferers at the hands of the Pakistani fanaticism and cold-blooded murderous frenzy. The blow fell on them suddenly and swifly-leaving between 10,000 and 20,000 of them dead in two days. The conspiracy that was hatched in Sheikhupura between the Muslim Leaguers, the Civil Officers, Police and Military for the extermination of Hindus and Sikhs of this town and the district governed by it, is perhaps the worst on human record, showing calculated devilry on such a large scale... The countryside of Sheikhupura, like that of Lahore was combed for Sikhs and Hindus, who were turned out of their houses, and murdered in large numbers. Muslims fell upon Hindus and Sikhs all over the district with a brutality and thoroughness the extent of which it is difficult to imagine..."

"Raiwind, in the District of Lahore, is an important Railway junction, as it is the crossing-point of two main lines-the Lahore-Ferozepore-Delhi line and the Lahore-Multan-Karachi line. This place was the point at which trains carrying Hindu-Sikh refugees from Lahore, Montgomery, Multan and Sind used to arrive. Repeated attacks on trains occurred here. Survivors state that when they arrived at Raiwind they saw hundreds of corpses of Sikhs lying all along the railway track. Muslim goondas, police and military seldom let a train pass unattacked if it did not have a strong Hindu-Sikh escort. Especially was this the case up till the middle of September. It is estimated that after August 15, at least a dozen trains were attacked at Raiwind and thousands of Hindus and Sikhs killed. No other Railway Station was the scene of so much carnage. One such train was attacked on the 4th September, in which 300 Hindus and Sikhs were killed. (132-3) ... Wazirabad, a railway junction joining the Lahore-Rawalpindi-Peshawar main line and the Jammu-Sialkot line has earned great notoriety for the attacks made on Hindu-Sikh refugee trains and for the large massacres which took place both in the town and at the station. (181)... Wazirabad which was an important Hindu-Sikh trading centre, became like Raiwind, notorious for the large number of attacks on Hindu and Sikh refugee trains. (185)"

"The countryside of Kasur was predominantly Sikh, though the town itself had a large Muslim majority in the population. When on the 17th August it became known that Kasur was included in Pakistan, the Muslims fell upon non-Muslims. The one way of escape for non-Muslims from Pakistan into India was closed with Kasur being disturbed. There was a large massacre of non-Muslims at the Railway Station. In the city, mohalla after mohalla of Hindus and Sikhs was attacked, and Hindus and Sikhs houses and business premises were set on fire. Hundreds of Sikhs and Hindus were killed inside the city and its outskirts in two days. It was possible for some non-Muslims to escape, as the Indian border of Amritsar district was only a few miles distant on Khem Karan side. Very few could escape towards Ferozepore, as the bridge on the river Sutlej which was on the way, was held by Muslim troops, who shot dead all non-Muslims who approached it. Huge looting of non-Muslim property occurred. Schools, cinema houses, shops, factories, nothing was spared. Curfew was imposed, but as at other places, it only facilitated the task of Muslim goondas. The Hindus and Sikhs could not come out of their houses, and got murdered or surrounded in flames."

"In dozens of places in Hindu and Sikh houses this kind of action was repeated: A group of Muslims would force open the door of a Hindu or Sikh house, no matter even though the curfew would be on. The men-folk would be led out under the pretence of interrogation by some policeman who would be in the party. Outside the men would be stabbed to death. Then the property would be systematically looted. The women were killed if they happened to be old. The younger women were abducted and raped. In the Mozang area, a Sikh family of six or seven men and as many women met such a fate. The men were led out and killed. The women jumped down from the upper store of their house to escape dishonour. They were seriously injured, though none died. But the experience was widespread."

"Riots began in Amritsar almost simultaneously.... heads almost severed from bodies, bellies ripped open with intestine protruding from the wound, arms and legs chopped off and all kind of horrible injuries... On March 7 Amritsar was reported to be a veritable inferno. Fires were raging in different parts of the city. Non-Muslim shops...were destroyed or greatly damaged. [...] The temple of Jog Maya and the Ram Tirath Temple were desecrated, the idols were smashed and thrown out. The devotees living on the premises were slaughtered 1 he Devpura Temple and Devta Khu were similarly attacked and the inmates done to death. A number of young girls were kidnapped."

"Conditions in the rural areas of Rawalpindi beggar description... A mob of Muslims armed with all kinds of weapons, shouting slogans and beating drums, approached a selected village and surrounded it from all sides... Others searched out young and good-looking girls and carried them away. Not infrequently young women were molested and raped in the open, while ad around them frenzied hooligans rushed about scouting, looting and setting fire to houses... Some .women would commit suicide or suffer death at the hands of their relations with stoic indifference, others would jump into a well or be burnt alive uttering hysterical cries... Some villages were completely wiped out... Refusal to accept Islam brought complete annihilation... In some cases sma’l children were thrown in cauldrons of boiling oil In one village men and women who refused to embrace Islam were collected together and after a ring of brambles and firewood had been placed around them they were burnt alive. A woman threw her four-month old baby to save it from burning. The infant was impaled upon a spear and thrown back into the fire."

"Muslim Magistrates assisted by Muslim Police officials were in charge of the city and lent their support and connivance to the miscreants. The Muslim hooligans were well-organized mobs carrying their own ambulance arrangements Doctors in white overalls and stretcher-bearers accompanied them on their raids.... when a senior Sikh Advocate asked him ioi police assistance the Additional District Magistrate accused him of spreading false rumours and added that he was only endangering his own life. I he next day a Muslim police constable tried to shoot this Sikh Advocate.... A Muslim mob assisted by National Guards arrived in Rang Mahal and began to loot the shops. The non- Muslim residents offered resistance. Thereupon a Muslim Sub- Inspector with a police party arrived on the scene and opened fire upon the non-Muslim defenders. A Hindu young man had the temerity to make a protest to *he Sub-Inspector and, on this, the Sub-Inspector overpowered him and shot him dead.... While the Government of India and the East Punjab Government mobilized all their resources to quell the disturbances, the West Punjab Government gave encouragement to the rowdy elements by many official and unofficial acts."

"The massacre of the non Muslims who had taken shelter in Gurdwara Hargobind on Temple Road was another incident of extreme barbarity. About three hundred and fifty non Muslims were confined in this Gurdwara which was being guarded by a unit of Hindu military. On August 14 the Hindu guard was replaced by a Muslim guard. The same evening a number of fire balls were thrown inside the Gurdwara and when the non Muslims, driven by these flames, came out they were shot dead by the Muslim guard or stabbed by members of the Muslim National Guards, Every one of the three hundred and fifty was killed in this manner ‘The attack had been carefully planned and a member of the National Guards had spoken of it to a Hindu friend a day before. This Hindu friend had been temporarily converted to Islam and later related the story of the attack."

"Doberan had a population of seventeen hundred of whom a very large majority were Sikhs. On the morning of March 10 swarms of armed raiders from the neighbouring villages began to collect in front of Doberan The non Muslim residents sought shelter in the local Gurdwara The raiders began to loot the houses thus deserted and set fire to them. The Sikhs had a few firearms and fought the raiders from the Gurdwara They however suffered heavily and soon ran out of ammunition. The raiders asked them to surrender their arms and promised not to molest them. About three hundred of them came out and they were placed in the house of one Barkat Singh. During the night the roof was ripped open, kerosene oil was poured in and those inside were burnt alive In the morning the doors of the Gurdwara were broken open. The remaining Sikhs dashed out sword in hand and died fighting the raiders. Very few escaped from this hideous massacre."

"Muslim Magistrates assisted by Muslim police officials… lent their support and connivance to the miscreants..... [When a senior Sikh Advocate asked the Magistrate for police assistance] the Additional District Magistrate accused him of spreading rumors and added that he was endangering his own life.... While the Government of India and the East Punjab Government mobilized all their resources to quell the disturbances, the West Punjab Government gave encouragement to the rowdy elements by many official and unofficial acts."

"How the author wishes that he could have closed this volume with a similar note in respect of the relation between India and Pakistan. But that was not to be. Instead of an era of goodwill, the independence ushered in one of communal hatred and cruelty of which there is perhaps no parallel in the recorded history of India. It is unnecessary to recount that story of shame and barbarity as it falls beyond the period under review. It will suffice to quote a few lines written by Leonard Mosley, by way of indicating the price which India paid tor her freedom : ... It is sad to have to admit that in their deliberate disobedience of their signed pledge they were encouraged by the British Governor of West Punjab, Sir Francis Mudie, who wrote to Mr. Jinnah on 5 September, 1947 : ‘I am telling everyone that I don’t care how the Sikhs get across the border ; the great thing is to get rid of them as soon as possible.’ ‘600, 000 dead. 14,000,000 driven from their homes. 100,000 young girls kidnapped by both sides, forcibly converted or sold on the auction block.” Mosley continues : “It need not have happened. It would not have happened had independence not been rushed through at such a desperate rate. A little patience and all the troubles might have been avoided.. ..Jinnah was dead within a year. A little patience. A refusal to be rushed. ” (819 ff)"

"During the months of September and October, 1947 the roads leading from West Punjab into India revealed one unending, melancholy procession, day after day, of Sikh men, women, children and cattle, all fatigued and hungry, as they trekked into India, some with their few salvaged belongings in carts and others on foot. These begrimed and harassed Sikhs were those driven out of Lyallpur by systematic and designed Pakistan terror."

"Dear My. Jinnah, The refugee problem is assuming gigantic proportions. The only limit that I can see to it is that set by the Census reports. According to reports the movement across the border runs into a lakh or so a day. At Chuharkana in the Sheikhupura district I saw between a lakh and a lakh and a half of Sikhs collected in the town and round it in the houses, on the roofs and everywhere. It was exactly like the Magh Mela in Allahabad. It will take 45 trains to move them, even at 4,000 people per train or if they are to stay there, they will have to be given 50 tons of ata a day. At Govindarh in the same district there was a collection of 30,000 or 40,000 Mazbi Sikhs with arms. They refused even to talk to the Deputy Commissioner, and Anglo-Indian, who advanced with a flag of truce. They shot at him and missed. Finally arrangements were made to evacuate the lot. I am telling every one that I don’t care how the Sikhs get across the border: the great thing is to get rid of them as soon as possible. There is still little sign of the 3 Lakhs Sikhs in Lyallpur moving, but in the end they too will have to go."

"Rawalpindi Division was ablaze. Its rural Hindu and Sikh population was almost entirely in refugee camps. ... Thousands of widows and orphans created a problem well-nigh insoluble in the face of the suddenness with which it had emerged. Destitutes were roaming every town and village of the Punjab east of Amritsar in search of food and shelter. Pitiable indeed was the condition of these people, who had become victims of an unprecedented kind of disaster. State Governments and private organizations like the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Congress tried to do their best to relieve the distress of these unfortunates, but the task was gigantic. So, barring a microscopic minority of these uprooted people, who had means in the East Punjab, the others remained, practically speaking, destitutes for whom life held little hope. This was the state to which the Muslim League campaign had reduced about at least ten lakhs of enterprising, useful human beings."

"Most of the male refugees were butchered or shot dead. The women were sorted. The elderly ones were later butchered, while the younger ones were distributed. Children were murdered by being flung with force on the ground."

"There were several attacks on refugee trains... A train which left Pind Dadan Khan on September 19. was attacked at three different points of its journey and the loss of life and property suffered was considerable. Near Chalisa the train was stopped by a Muslim mob which carried away nearly two hundred women and killed a large number of men and women. It was attacked a second time near Mughalpur and a third time at Harbanspura. The attack at Mugha‘pura took place at about noon. Hundreds of people were seen marching along the canal bank to waylay the train and attack the passengers. The authorities did not stop or discourage them and took no preventative action."