"This is the story of what happens when the raiders retreat from a town. I am writing it just as it has occurred in the old Moghul town of Rajori, known as the “Granary of Jammu Province”, and where Emperor Jehangir died on his way back from Srinagar. Our guns are still firing intermittently in the distance and the raiders are still carrying out desultory snipping and mortaring, in the nearby hills and ridges. This is the story of the death of a town-of a horrible and ghastly tragedy which the advancing Indian troops, in spite of their best efforts, have been unable to prevent and of which they are mere helpless spectators. Here is its sequence: First, the raiders and their officers order the inhabitants of the town to collect in the public square together with all their movable belongings and cattle.... But the townmen have no choice. Those who don’t want to collect in the town square are made to do so by the raiders at the point of the bayonet.... Next, Muslim inhabitants are ordered to separate themselves from the non-Muslims. As soon as this is done, the Muslims are ordered to flee into the interior along a particular route taking their movable belongings with them in bullock carts, and the non-Muslims are ordered to form themselves into a line. Then begins a systematic massacre of all males except those between 25 and 35 who are healthy and strong. These are formed into a slave labour gang and ordered to dig new positions for the raiders on nearby hills and ridges. The women and their belongings are distributed by the tribesmen among themselves. Then starts the application of the scorched earth policy to the town. ... The troops are making superhuman efforts to reach Rajori as quickly as possible, because they know that every second is precious now, every minute counts and every quarter of an hour may mean all the difference between life and a sordid death to many innocent inhabitants of the town. But they are unable to make any substantial advance until the morning. The gods seem to have conspired against them; darkness, terrain and an unknown route have caused the delay. When they enter Rajori, they are just too late. The town has been razed to the ground and all that can be seen are a few mutilated corpses, including some of women and children which lie scattered. During the last week that I have been following the advance of the Indian troops in this sector, mile by mile, yard by yard, I have seen this story repeated on a smaller and less dramatic scale in half a dozen places."