20

CHAPTER - II

PUNJAB ON THE EVE OF PARTITION

The British divided and quit India on 15th August, 1947. While huge crowds in

New Delhi joined in the Independence Day Celebration, less than 250 miles away in

the Punjab, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were routing on each other in frenzied fury.

The tension in the Punjab at the end of May 1947 and beginning of June 1947 was so

acute that most people kept a night vigil on house-tops or slept with their hands on the

trigger of the pistol under the pillow. Lord Mountbatten sensed this tension. He

increased military precautions in the tense districts and Mohammad Ali Jinnah and

Baldev Singh, all of whom appealed for peace.1 Prior to the formation of Pakistan, the

relations between the Sikhs and the Muslims were cordial and friendly. Between June

3 and August 15, the Muslim attitude towards the Sikhs steadily changed. They felt

that the Sikhs were aggrieved and would not put up with Pakistan.2 On the 15

th

August, 1947, the Pakistan day was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Muslims

while the Sikhs and the Hindus remained suspicious and sullen.3

The whole Indian scene was rapidly transformed by communal riots on an

unprecedented scale. It starting with Calcutta on 16th August, 1947, touching Bombay

from 1st September, spreading to Nokhali in East Bengal by 10

th October, Bihar in

25th October, in Punjab that already started in March 1947, onwards.

4 In August, 1947

the disturbances took a serious turn. As a result, attacks were made on innocent and

unprotected Hindus in the West Punjab villages, where no police or military aid could

easily reach.5 During the September-October months the violence spread to every

corner of the Punjab. Despite repeated appeals by the Sikh leaders the jathas set about

their bloody business in East Punjab in Lahore and elsewhere in West Punjab.

Muslims attacked the remaining Hindu and Sikh inhabitants, while their leaders gave

assurance that the violence would cease as soon as the British had departed.6

1. J. Nanda, Punjab Uprooted: A Survey of the Punjab Riots and Rehabilitation Problems, Hind

Kitabs Publishers, New Delhi, 1948, p.24.

2. M.S. Randhawa, Out of the Ashes: An Account of the Rehabilitation of Refugees from West

Pakistan in Rural Areas of East Punjab, New York Printing, Bombay, 1954, p.22.

3. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.V, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research

Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.4.

4. Sumit Sarkar, Modern India, 1885-1947, Macmillan Indians, Delhi, 1983, p.432.

5. Ibid., p.31.

6. Ian Talbot, op.cit., p.234.

21

In the North Western region it started with Haripur, was the one of the most

important towns in the Hazara district of Punjab. A big Muslim mob of about 15,000

including tribal raiders and Muslims from the West Punjab surrounded the town on

26th August, 1947 at about 3 p.m. The mob was equipped with rifles, shotguns, spears

daggers etc. The Muslim military posted at Haripur did not take any steps to mass

butchery. The mob in a most shameful manner broke to pieces the sacred idols and

burnt the holy birs of Shri Guru Granth Sahib. About 3,500 shops and houses

belonging to the non-Muslims were looted and set on fire.7

In village Deo Sid in Lahore district 400 persons were killed and many

injured. District Gujrawala, suffered with 1,000 killed.8 There was considerable

excitement and resentment in Lahore on 21st September 1947 on arrival of three

Muslim refugee trains which were attacked at Beas near Amritsar. Causalities were

heavy in one train which brought in hundred dead and as many wounded.9 After

leaving Mughalpura the train reached Harbanspur Railway Station the same day at

about 4 p.m. Again a Muslim mob about four to five thousand strong armed with

swords attacked the train. About 2,500 passengers were killed. When the train

ultimately reached Amritsar on 21st October, 1947 about 1,000 refugee passengers

came out alive, the remaining about four to five thousand had been killed on the

way.10 This type of train tragedy was repeated a number of times.

Violence in West Punjab

The disturbances started in Sheikhupura on the 17th August, 1947, when a

train coming from Kalakwal to Shorkot via Sargodha was attacked. The passengers

were stabbed, murdered, injured and thrown out of the running train and their

belongings were misappropriated by the assailants. About forty persons were killed,

over hundred injured and thrown out.11 On August, 23

rd the non-Muslims of village

Gol decided to leave their homes on hearing persistent rumours of attacks on the

neighbouring villages. They had gone only a short distance when they were

7. Government of India, Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation Fact Finding Branch, collected by

Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.13.

8. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., pp.20-21.

9. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.I, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research Department,

Khalsa College, Amritsar, pp.29, 30.

10. Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation, India, F.No. R.H.H.R. 30/2/53, National Archives, New

Delhi, p.18.

11. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.I, op.cit., p.76.

22

confronted by a mob of Armed Muslims accompanied by some policemen and

military soldiers. They ran back to village and took shelter in the house of Chaudhary

Raghbir Singh Zaildar of village Gol, District Sialkot. The house was surrounded by

the Muslims. Many people were killed and injured.12

After the partition of the Punjab, communal disturbances were reported all

over in the villages around Toba Tek Singh. Toba Tek Singh formed part of a

disputed district under the Radcliff arbitration. In Chak No. 31 and 33 near Toba Tek

Singh 600 non-Muslims were reportedly killed by Muslim mob on 3rd September,

1947. On the 5th September, 1947 a mob of Muslims began gathering in Chamra

Mandi. They then attacked the town and indulged in wholesale loot and mass

slaughter. In this slaughter Hindus were sometimes spared on their entreaties but

Sikhs were hunted over from house to house and killed.13 On 6

th of September, 1947 a

convoy of about 4,000 Hindus and Sikhs from some of the Chaks reached Toba Tek

Singh. This convoy was accosted by mob of Muslims in the company of men of

Balouch regiment. The Muslim Military helped the mob to lift away over 50 young

girls from this convoy. The same night, the train accordingly left Toba Tek Singh with

about 4,000 non-Muslims. The train was stopped at the railway station and there was

a mob of Muslims armed with revolvers, swords and kulharees and they boarded the

train. About 3,000 Hindus and Sikhs were done to death.14 In district Lyallpur 200

were killed in Chak No. 58.15

Muslim mob accompanied by officers attacked Sikhs at Toba Tek Singh,

hacked their dead bodies to pieces and got them thrown-out by sweepers for the

vultures and crows to eat, while women were forcibly carried away.16 Jehlum Tehsil

most, practically all Hindu and Sikh population was put to death, only few managed

to escaped.17

Violence in East Punjab

On August 15, 1947, as India celebrated its independence, nearly ten million

Punjabis were at each other's throats. In East Punjab, the Muslim police was

12. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., pp.19, 20.

13. Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation, op.cit., p.98.

14. Ibid., p.99.

15. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.17.

16. Partition Proceedings, Partition Branch Records, Vol.III, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh

History Research Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.1.

17. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.13.

23

disbanded and the Muslims left to the mercy of marauding bands of Sikhs and

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sang militia. Sikh violence attained its peak in September

1947.18

In fact, the situation deteriorated during the first week of May. As well as at

Dera Ismail Khan, damage to property amounting to millions of refugees was reported

from other parts of the province, in particular at Bannu and Tank. Bitter hatred was

laid up by massacres, forcible conversions and atrocities.19 The Punjab remained in a

disturbed state during whole month of May. On 8th May there was a recrudescence of

communal trouble in Amritsar, which lasted for two days and resulted in at least

fourteen fatal causalities. Curfew was imposed on a large area of the city.20 July 1947,

began on a deceptive note of calm, as the peace initiative launched in the last week of

June in Lahore was echoed elsewhere and peace committees were set up. On 1st July a

Central Peace Committee was formed in Amritsar.21

Political leaders - Muslim, Hindu and Sikh leaders delivered speeches

emphasizing the need to maintain communal peace and harmony. It was also decided

that peace committees should be formed even at the mohalla level.22 Intelligence

reports noted that Sikhs were organizing in the eastern districts and arming

themselves for civil war in the event that the boundary in the Punjab did not match

their expectations. Beginning in the second week of July, Sikh gangs in the Amritsar,

Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur districts began to roams the countryside and create serious

menance in the lives of Muslims. Hoshiarpur district had been reporting skirmishes in

the town and in some villages but the situation deteriorated rapidly when Sikhs armed

with rifles, grenades and kirpans assaulted pathan workers, killing many of them. This

was repeated in many places in that district. Meanwhile in Gujrawala, Muslims were

blamed for starting fires and killing Hindus and Sikhs.23

18. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs: 1839-1974, Vol. II, Oxford University Press,

Bombay, 1977, p.281.

19. Lionel Carter, Mountbatten's Report on the Last Viceroyality, 22 March - 15 August, 1947,

Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, 2003, p.105.

20. Ibid., p.146.

21. Ishtiaq Ahmed, The Punjab Blooded: Partitioned and Cleansed, Unravelling the 1947

Tragedy Through Secret British Reports and First Person Accounts, Rupa Publication, New

Delhi, 2011, p.351.

22. Ibid., p.351.

23. Ibid., p.352.

24

In the East Punjab, the Sikh mobs attacked almost every Muslim village, killed

a large number of Muslims and harried the columns of Muslim refugees. At places

like Dasua, District Hoshiarpur, where the Muslims were in majority. There were

open fights between the hostile mobs.24 The first shot was fired in the Patiala state

where the reign of terror prevailed till September 6, 1947. Muslims took refuge in

Bahadurgarh fort numbering 23,000. Nearly 14,000 Muslims had been butchered in

the Patiala State. The number of refugees in other places was equally high and stood

as:

Table 2.1: Number of Refugees in Refugee Camps.

Sr. No. Place No. of Refugees

1. Sirhind 15,000

2. Samana 60,000

3. Talwandi 10,000

4. Other Areas 40,000

Total 1,25,000

Source: Ziaul Uslam, East Punjab's Blood Bath, (n.d.), pp.11, 12.

Sikhs had raided Muslim villages near Philaur, Jullundur District in which

fourteen Muslims were killed and thirteen were injured. Eight other rural murders

were reported, four inside Kapurthala state near Jullundur cantonment and four near

Phillaur. Situation in Amritsar, Jullundur and Hoshiarpur rural areas was most

unsatisfactory. Patrolling by Boundary Force was intensified and special measures

were taken to protect trains. Amritsar city reported one Muslim shot by Sikhs and two

bomb explosions injured eight Muslims including three women and three children.25

In Amritsar rural areas Sikhs raided a village near Ajnala on the night of July 30th and

31st. Causalities were one Sikh, two Muslims killed and twenty four injured.

26

Amritsar reports are not clear but the city was seriously disturbed with several

stabbings and bomb explosions. Amritsar rural area reported that two villages were

raided by Sikhs. Seven Muslims and one Hindu were killed and several were injured.

Village raids were only averted by arrival of troops and police in August. A bomb was

24. Kirpal Singh, The Partition of Punjab, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1972, p.121.

25. Lionel Carter, op.cit., p.191.

26. Ibid.

25

thrown into train near Majitha. Causalities were four Muslims killed with three

injured.27

In a detailed memorandum to Lord Mountbatten dated 4 August, 1947 Evan

Jenkins (Governor of Punjab), questioned the charge that his government had failed to

control the Punjab disturbances. Jenkins also asserted that imposing martial law

would not have helped though the total causalities upto 2nd August, 1947 were as

follows:

Table 2.2: Total Urban Causalities upto 2nd

August, 1947

Sr. No. Urban Area Killed Seriously Injured

1. Lahore 382 823

2. Amritsar 315 666

3. Multan 131 230

4. Rawalpindi 99 171

Total 927 1,890

Source: Ishtiaq Ahmed, The Punjab Blooded: Partitioned and Cleansed, Unravelling

the 1947 Tragedy Through Secret British Reports and First Person Accounts, p.361.

Table 2.3: Total Rural Causalities upto 2nd

August, 1947

Sr. No. Rural Area Killed Seriously Injured

1. Rawalpindi 2,164 167

2. Attock 620 30

3. Jehellum 210 02

4. Multan 58 50

5. Gurgaon 284 25

6. Amritsar 110 70

7. Hoshiarpur 51 19

8. Jullundur 47 51

9. Other districts 44 32

Total 3,588 446

Urban & Rural 4,515 2,336

Source: Ishtiaq Ahmed, The Punjab Blooded: Partitioned and Cleansed, Unravelling

the 1947 Tragedy Through Secret British Reports and First Person Accounts, p.361.

27. Ibid., p.193.

26

On the fateful day of September 25th, situation in the East Punjab worsened

once again.28 From Alwar state 45,000 Muslim started their journey to Lahore by

train. On the way, 3,000 Muslims were mercilessly killed. Police Station Khanna near

Ludhiana was attacked by a gang of 20 rioters at midnight, two persons were killed

and six injured.29

On the whole police dealt with 502 cases of rioting during the year 1948 as

compared to 354 in 1947, an increase of 148 cases. The most noticeable increase was

in Gurdaspur, Karnal, Ludhiana, Rohtak and Hissar. The riot cases in past three years

was:30

Year Riot Cases

1946 391

1947 354

1948 502

This shows that situation was gradually deteriorating. In rural areas of

Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Jullundur both casual attacks and organized raids in most of

which Sikhs were aggressors and Muslims were victims was reported. In one village

of Gurdaspur seventeen Muslims were killed and nine injured. Gujrawala reported

three Hindus stabbed, and one case of arson. Hoshiarpur reported one Muslim injured

by bomb explosion and three Muslims killed while another injured in village raid.31

Amritsar City and district reported 25 Muslims and 7 Sikhs killed and 10

Muslims and 3 Sikhs injured on August, 1947. Of Muslims 24 were killed and 10

injured in slaughter of an unescorted party of refugees. One Muslim and 4 Sikhs were

killed by troops. Gurdaspur reported several persons killed near Batala. In Sialkot two

Muslims were killed, 7 Sikh were injured. In Ambala a total of 7 persons were killed

and 11 injured.32

On 1st September, at Ambala, Sikhs had 'an orgy of killing'. A train was

attacked, out of 200 only 17 were left alive. Holes caused by Brengun bursts were

28. The Tribune, Lahore, December 27, 1992.

29. Partition Proceedings, Vol. I, 1947, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research

Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.5.

30. Report on Police Administration in the Punjab for the Year 1948, Punjab Government, 1951,

p.1.

31. Lionel Carter, op.cit, p.228.

32. Ibid., p.227.

27

visible on all coaches. It was alleged that the massacre was carried out by the Patiala

Sikhs. A train was attacked on 2nd September, out of which 25 corpses were recovered

from a nale by sabji mandi police near Delhi. A Muslim and his wife and child were

stabbed by a Sikh while 5 or 6 other accomplices stoned them.33

The Muslims were also reported to arming themselves. The Muslims in the

vicinity of Shah Abdul Salam's Haveli at Ambala collected and discussed the situation

and had decided to collect funds to enlist youngmen to protect them and their

mohalas. About 70 Muslims assembled in Himalayat-ul-Islam orphanage in Chawari

Bazar to consider means of protecting themselves.34

In the year 1947, nearly one million men, women and children were murdered

in the Punjab and Kashmir state by Hindus and Sikhs. Some were murdered in Delhi

and other parts of India. Five million of those who escaped these genocidal massacres

were chased out of their homes and dispossessed of their lands, their household

goods, their ploughs and their cattle found refugee in Pakistan.35 Similar scene was

taking place on the other side in West Punjab.

MIGRATION OF THE POPULATION

The migration of population from West Pakistan into India and vice versa

which started as a trickle after 15th August, 1947, became a torrent in a few weeks.

Lakhs of people were uprooted from their ancestral homes. The entire Hindu and Sikh

population of West Punjab was on the move and migrated to East Punjab and also

spilled into the adjoining areas of Delhi and the united provinces.36

The Liaison Agency was established in Lahore district on the 4th October,

1947. At this time about 70,000 non-Muslims were still left behind as converts, spread

all over the districts in West Punjab. On the 14th November, 1947, the refugee's camp

near the railway station, Lahore district was attacked by large number of Muslims.37

According to official figures published by the Government of India, between

33. Narinder IQbal Singh, Communal Violence in Punjab (1947), Ph.D. Thesis, Guru Nanak Dev

University, Amritsar, 2002, op.cit., p.178.

34. Ibid.

35. Note on the Sikh Plan, Lahore, West Punjab, 1948, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History

Research Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.1.

36. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.26.

37. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.II, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research

Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.12.

28

September 1947 and March 1948 a little more than one million people crossed out of

Pakistan into East Punjab on foot, just over one and a half million by rail, about half a

million by motor transport and some thousand by air. Hindus and Sikhs from the

North-West Frontier Province also came in large number. The chief migration in the

Punjab in both directions took place in the last four months of 1947.38

(i) Migration by train

The railway trains carried the largest number of refugees. It was estimated that

more than two million people crossed the border by trains within two months or so.

About 5 to 6 trains crossed the border every day and every train was full to capacity.39

Rail transport was organized creating a pool in consultation with the West Punjab

authorities. About 50 to 60 trains moved every ten days in either direction. The trains

in those days presented a memorable spectacle with the bogies choked with human

beings and the refugees sitting on the roofs and footboards and even clinging to buffer

spaces and undersides of carriages.40 There were four main routes from Pakistan's

Punjab to India's Punjab: Narowal - (i) Dera Baba Nanak, (ii) Lahore - Amritsar, (iii)

Kasur - Ferozepur and (iv) Montgomery - Fazilka.41

It was estimated that between August, 1947 and November, 1947, about 673

refugee trains were run, carrying 27,99,368 refugees inside India and across the

border.42 Refugees special trains run from 15

th September to 18

th September, 1947

brought 62,166 non-Muslim refugees from West Punjab to East Punjab and took

50,040 Muslim refugees from East Punjab to West Punjab.43

Over 50,000 Muslim refugees were reported to be arriving daily from East

Punjab into West Punjab. Eight special trains were running daily for the evacuation of

Muslim refugees from East Punjab.44 Information regarding running of special trains

by the West Punjab Government was not given to the Chief Liaison Officer. No

38. Horace Alexander, The New Citizens of India, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1951, p.89.

39. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.137.

40. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.28.

41. Khushwant Singh, op.cit., p.283.

42. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.27.

43. The Civil and Military Gazettee, 21 September, 1947.

44. First year of Pakistan: August, 1947 - August 1948, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History

Research Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.12.

29

representative of the East Punjab Government was on the Railway Committee that

arranged for the special trains for refugees.45

In order to facilitate the speedy clearance of refugees on both sides, the East

Punjab Government and the West Punjab Government entered into an agreement by

which no train or motor vehicle was to cross the border without refugees. It implied

that no Indian mortar vehicle or train could enter Pakistan without Muslim refugees,

nor could any Pakistan mortar vehicle or train enter Indian Territory without Hindu

and Sikh refugees.46 The agreement that no train should be allowed to go without

taking refugees did not work well. When the crew of the train and the passengers

belonged to different communities. The Muslim and non-Muslim crew sometimes

frightened or sometimes in a spirit of retaliation stopped the trains on the appearance

of mobs belonging to their community and thus caused the deaths and destruction of

the refugees traveling by their trains.47

One train was loaded with 4700 evacuees and they were not allowed to take

even water for drinking purposes from the platform. The supply of water in the pipes

was stopped so long as the train remained on the platform.48

(ii) Migration by Road Transport

The road transport was organized under the Military Evacuation Organization.

Apart from military vehicles, civilian trucks were also requisitioned from East Punjab

and Uttar Pradesh. This organization served as a feeder to rail transport by collecting

refugees from out of the way places in west Punjab.49 Around 1,200 military and

civilian trucks were deployed by the Military Evacuation Organization (India) with an

additional pool of 1,000 trucks at the peak period. By the middle of November, 1947

around 3,13,400 non-Muslims and 2,09,440 Muslims had been transported in this

way.50

The East Punjab Government supplemented this arrangement with the

appointment of a Liaison Officer at Lahore and a Transport Controller at Amritsar

45. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.58.

46. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.134.

47. Ibid., p.135.

48. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.45.

49. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.27.

50. The Tribune, October 3, 1947.

30

who was provided with one hundred trucks.51 Over 4,27,000 persons were carried by

these vehicles by mid December, 1947 and in all twelve lakh refugees were moved by

road transport.52 Three trucks brought some Muslim refugees from Moga and

arranged this transport for the sake of the evacuation of people to West Punjab.53

Hundreds of lorries left Amritsar for Lahore to bring the refugees.54

350 civilian lorries and about 100 Pakistan military trucks were also put into

service for evacuation of refugees.55 The number of Muslim refugees who arrived

from East Punjab into West Punjab reached the figure of 12,00,000. Of this number

Lahore received 5,00,000 Muslim refugees. About 4,00,000 Muslim entered West

Punjab via Kasur about 2,00,000 through Narowal area.56 On both sides permits for

the removal of household goods were granted but evacuees were not allowed to

operate upon them. Persons who were leaving their properties worth lakhs had to pay

off their creditors before they were allowed to remove a few of the necessary things

from their houses.57

(iii) Migration by Foot Convoy

In this critical time, the easiest means with rural was the foot convoy. These

convoys enabled them to bring with them their bullock-carts and cattle. The route for

these convoys was Layallpur - Balloke - Chunian - Ferozepur road. The major portion

of the population of districts of Lyallpur, Montgomery, Sheikhupur and Sialkot was

evacuated by means of organized convoys.58 The worst hardships were naturally

endured by the foot-passengers. To quote the official report already referred to: The

biggest foot-convoy, 4,00,000 strength of the uprooted-non-Muslims population,

started from the Canal Colonies of Lyallpur on September 11, 1947. As the convoy

took the 150 mile road to East Punjab it was swelled by tributary refugee streams

from Gojra, Sumandri and Jaranwala. Leaving their ancestral holdings, the rich canal-

irrigated fields, the colonists came with what they could carry. With them came petty

shopkeepers, artisans, village menials, landlords, businessmen, doctors and layers.59

51. Ibid., p.134.

52. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.27.

53. Partition Proceedings, Vol.III, op.cit., p.46.

54. Ibid.,Vol.II, p.47.

55. First Year of Pakistan: August 1947 - August 1948, op.cit., p.12.

56. Ibid., p.13.

57. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.43.

58. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.27.

59. Horace Alexander, op.cit., p.9.

31

Between the 1st August, 1947 and the 9

th September, 1947, as many as

2,25,000 persons left by foot-conveys from Montgomery to Ferozepur.60 A convoy of

one lakh strength left on foot on the 15th September, 1947. Out of this fifteen thousand

or sixteen thousand were at Nankana Sahib and the rest were believed to have crossed

the border into the East Punjab.61 From the September 18

th to October 29

th, 1947 as

many as 24 non-Muslim foot-convoys, totaling 8,49,000 with hundreds of bullock

carts and thousands of cattle crossed over to India. Arrangements were made for

feeding these convoys during transit by moving with them truckloads of parched

gram, wheat atta and gur. The great majority of these migrants were cultivators.62

The major portion of men, women and children walked, while a few made

their journey by carts and tongas.63 The biggest evacuee caravan consisting of three

lakhs of people came into India from the districts of Lyallpur and Montgomery in the

first week of October 1947. Small shopkeepers, landlords, artisans, doctors, labourers,

even dogs, starved cattle, so vast was the size of the convoy, that it took eight days for

it to across a given point.64 The refugees stated that there were about 30,000 people

concentrated at Jhang, 5,000 at Shahkot, 12,000 at Sillanwali and 28,000 at Lalian. It

was also stated that most of the Sikhs left Sargodha on foot with their carts and

bullocks etc.65

The bullock-carts played an important role the great two way migration

between the two dominions. But for it, most of the eight million refugees on both

sides would have been compelled to leave behind even the few cattle they carried.

The scene in the vicinity of Balloki Head was the most impressive. The refugee

column was about 50 miles long. Ninety thousand of their comrades escaping the

floods, crossed a few days before the rains came.66 The remaining 3,00,000 were

exposed to the untimely monsoon for days. They had been greatly enfeebled.67 It was

a seething mass of humanity stretched over a span of 80 miles of the road consisting

60. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.I., op.cit., p.95.

61. Ibid., Vol. V. p.19.

62. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.27.

63. Horace Alexander, op.cit., p.9.

64. The Tribune, October 22, 1947.

65. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.52.

66. The Statesman, Delhi (English), October 7, 1947.

67. Ibid.

32

of at least half a million people moving towards India. But for the tragic

circumstances under which this human flood was moving, was a grand and awe-

inspiring spectacle, the kind of which had not been seen for centuries in human

history.68

Marching along with the carvans of bullock-carts were foot-columns of

refugees. Some of them had placed their bundles in bullock carts, others not so

fortunate, carried them on their heads. Among them were landless labourers, and

village workers, who did not posses any bullock carts of their own and were

accompanying their co-villagers.69 The major portion of men, women and children

walked, while a few had brought their carts. Halts were made from time to time for

rest and food, fires were lit and meals prepared and the few cows brought were milked

for the babies.70 Few showed pity for old age and many aged or infirm persons were

deserted by their relations and left to die on the roadside.71

Some of these caravans were fairly well-armed with weapons. During the day

time the arms were concealed under the bundles of their belongings in bullock carts

and at night-time these were taken out for the sake of protection.72 Although these

convoys were protected by mobile units of army, they were attacked a number of

times because it was not possible for these units to be present everywhere all along

the route.

Foot convoys of evacuees from both the East and West Punjab crossed each

other peacefully. These refugees stated that they had no difficulty on the way and the

behaviour of the non-Muslims who came across on the way was very sympathetic

towards them.

68. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.28.

69. Ibid.

70. Horace Alexander, op.cit., p.9.

71. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.28.

72. Ibid.

33

Table 2.4: Number of Evacuation of refugees during August to December, 1947

Sr.

No.

Period No. of refugees

1. Before August 28 7,60,000

2. August 28 to October 20 13,40,000

3. October 21 to October 31 5,80,000

4. November 1 to November 10 6,60,000

5. November 11 to November 20 3,90,000

6. November 21 to November 30 5,00,000

7. December 1 to December 10 4,50,000

Total 46,80,000

Source: Liaison Agency Records (1948), Vol. II, p.12.

December 10 marks the end of bulk evacuation of Muslims by trains, motor

convoys and foot convoys. After this date evacuation, exclusive of 'pocket clearing'

from December 11-12 being 40000 only.73

(iv) Migration by Air Crafts

The October 1947, maximum air crafts were used for the evacuation of

refugees by Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) transport squadrons, retained in the country at

the request of both the disturbed areas in the East and West of Punjab. About 1,200

Royal Pakistan Air Force personnel were flown out of the North West Frontier

Provinces. In addition, many special flights were undertaken to fly important

government official on their various missions. Also senior commanders of the Armed

Forces of the two dominions were provided with aircrafts to meet their

requirements.74 The total of 12,769 passengers were carried. The aircrafts of these

squadrons had flown a total of 6,43,000 miles. In India, the Ministry of Relief and

Rehabilitation had requisitioned all civilian aircrafts available after meeting the

requirements of scheduled air service for the evacuation of non-Muslim from North-

West Frontier Provinces and distant places in West Punjab, Baluchistan and Karachi.

Total of 30 aeroplanes were used for an air ferry service.75 All these aircrafts were

used for flying not only government employees but also private individuals.

73. First Year of Pakistan: August 1947 - August 1948, op.cit., p.26.

74. The Statesman, October, 1947.

75. The Civil and Military Gazette, October 30, 1947.

34

To spread up evacuation of the non-Muslim standard in far off places in

Pakistan, the Ministry and Relief and Rehabilitation arranged more planes. On

October 29, 1947, it was announced that 20 aircrafts were taking part in operation

‘India evacuation of refugees’ between the two dominions. These aircrafts were being

flown under the operational command of British Overseas Airways Co-operation were

flying day and night. In one day alone these aeroplanes flew 13,000 miles between the

two dominions with full loads in each direction.76

Sea routes were also used for the evacuation. On September 24, 1947 about

50,000 Hindus and Sikhs in Sind were registered with the evacuation committee for

tickets to leave Karachi for Indian ports by sea. In addition to this these were 6,400

government servants who opted to serve in India.77

The magnitude of the refugee problem facing the authorities on both sides was

very great. The accommodation for the refugees became a great problem. The local

authorities requisitioned all the colleges and schools for accommodation of the

military personnel and the refugees. The government announced the utilization of

schools and colleges buildings all over the province for the accommodation of the

refugees till February, 1948.78

Issue of Abducted Women and Children

In the recovering of abducted women, the government of India achieved

greater success on their side than the Pakistan government. The statements exchanged

between the two governments indicated that 25,856 and 9,366 persons had been

recovered in India and Pakistan respectively. About 4,191 abducted women more than

thirteen percent of the list furnished by the Indian government were reported by

Pakistan government to have died in Pakistan.79

According to the information received most of the girls abducted were from

Jammu and Kashmir and some were from Gujranwala Jhelum, Mianwali, Jhang and

Dera Ghazi Khan districts. At Mansera and some other places (N.W.F.P.) there were

regular camps where girls were sold.80 Old women and children were murdered and

76. Ibid.

77. The Tribune, September 25, 1947.

78. Ibid., November 14, 1947.

79. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.173.

80. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.III, op.cit., p.51.

35

young girls were abducted from Makhdumpur Paharan of Multan. With the best

efforts of local Hindu Zamindars and their Muslim friends only about a hundred girls

were recovered and hundred and fifty were still missing, where the Liaison Agency

came into operation.81 Most of the girls were being taken across to Jhelum and

Gujarat districts. The Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police were

handicapped in effecting raids and recovering the girls.82 List of abducted women and

girls who were taken by influential persons was:

1) Mohammad Amin Kanju of village Alipur Kango.

2) Rana Allah Dutta Noon of village Nona Kahroor Pacca.

3) Nazar Mohammad of Shahpur Phul

4) Din Mohammad Kanju of Chaiwhab.

These people had their groups who attacked the convoys one such convoy was

on its way to the railway station wherein they separated all the Sikhs and the females

from the whole mass of evacuees and took them away. The men were all shot dead

and the women especially young ones were abducted by them.83

The abducted persons Recovery and Restoration Act became Amendment Act

in 1952 and continued to be renewed every year upto 1957. By the Indo-Pakistan

Joint decision of 1954, people were not to be forced to go to the other country against

their wishes.

An important aspect of this legislation was the provision for setting up of an

Indo-Pakistan Tribunal to decide the disputed cases of the abducted women.84 In the

Multan camp alone 1000 women were abducted and 5,000 were forcibly converted.

Villages that suffered most were Khajji wala, Jalalpur Pirwala, Rampur, Kabir wala

and Multan city and cantonment also suffered a good deal.85 There were 700 cases in

which report was sent to the police, but it was found that many of the recovered girls

were out of that list which proved that the actual number was more than the number

reported. Out of 700 only 309 were recovered.86

81. Ibid., Vol.V, p.32.

82. Meeting (Proceedings of the Officers of East Punjab Liaison Agency took place at Lahore

Under the Chief Secretary, collected by Kirpal Singh, Sikh History Research Department,

Khalsa College, Amritsar, p.29.

83. Liaison Agency Records, Vol. III, op.cit., p.53.

84. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., pp.142-143.

85. Office Records of Chief Liaison Officer, East Punjab Government, Camp Multan, October 12,

1947, p.54.

86. Liaison Agency Records, Vol. V, op.cit., p.39.

36

More than one lakh and fifty thousand persons were evacuated from the West

Punjab. According to that data more than 50,000 women and children were abducted

in the West Punjab. Obviously no reliable data was available to the East Punjab

Liaison Agency except lists supplied by the Information Bureau, supplemented on

many occasions by a large number of applications received directly from relations of

abducted women and children. It may be mentioned that according to the reports of

the District Liaison Officers submitted in November 1947 the approximate number of

women (excluding children) to be recovered from the West Punjab districts was as

follows:87

Table 2.5: Number of women to be recovered from West Punjab districts in 1947.

Sr. No. District No. of Women to be recovered

1. Lahore 1,600

2. Sheikhupura 500

3. Lyallpur 1,400

4. Jhang 300

5. Sargodha 170

6. Montgomery 1,300

7. Gujranwala 1,500

8. Gujarat 5,000

9. Jhelum 900

10. Ravalpindi 200

11. Sialkot 2,500

12. Campbellpur 500

13. Mianwali 2,000

14. Multan 1,500

15. Muzaffargarh 1,000

16. Dera Gazi Khan 500

Total 20,870

Source: Meeting Proceedings of the Officers of East Punjab (1947), Liaison Agency,

p.44.

87. Meeting Proceedings of the Officers of East Punjab, op.cit., p.44.

37

Table 2.6: Number of persons to be evacuated and recovered from different

districts of West Punjab in 1948.

Sr.

No.

Name of District No. of Male yet to

be evacuated

No. of children and

women yet to be

recovered

1. Dera Ghazi Khan -- 50

2. Muzaffargarh 200 60

3. Mianwali 490 280

4. Lyallpur 680 380

5. Montgomery 660 290

6. Multan 120 400

7. Jhang 670 100

8. Sheikhupura 1,000 100

9. Gujranwala 610 150

10. Sargoda 250 50

11. Lahore 4,820 600

12. Campbellpur 1,000 100

13. Jhelum 490 30

14. Gujarat 2,890 480

15. Sialkot 5,530 1,490

16. Rawalpindi 880 140

Total 20,290 4,700

Source: Liaison Agency Records (1948), Vol.V, pp.4,5.

Issues of Converted People

A large number of persons especially women were forcibly converted. Owing

to the disturbed conditions and communal riots, a very large number of women and

children were abducted on both sides of the border. The refugees in the East Punjab

and the West Punjab who had recently migrated wanted recover their relations.88

Kidnapping and raping of young girls and young married women was also a common

occurrence.89

88. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.122.

89. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.14.

38

The Indian state mounted a massive and sustained 'recovery' operation, which

lasted for nearly a year after partition and which was aimed at recovering and bringing

back abducted women to their 'rightful' homes. This basically meant bringing Hindu

women to India and sending Muslim women to Pakistan. In the initial stages both

countries agreed on this and they reached an agreement (Inter Dominion Treaty of 6th

December, 1947), to carry out search and recovery operations in each other's

territories.90 The Government of India and Pakistan in their meeting held on 6

th

December, 1947 took the following decisions regarding the recovery of abducted

women and children:

1) Conversion of persons abducted after the 1st March, 1947 was not to be

recognized and all such persons were to be restored to their respective

dominions even against the wishes of the person concerned.

2) The primary responsibility for the recovery of abducted persons was to rest

with the local police.

3) Social workers were to associated actively with the scheme. The District

Liaison Officers were to supply information regarding abducted persons to be

recovered.91

Since the actual rescue operation could take several years and by the time the

women were actually found they were often married, settled, with children and

perhaps living a new and different life. Some had been through so many hands that

they no longer believed the fact that simply because their rescuers were from the same

religion, they would be any safer with them. Several of them did not want to return.

Hindus and Sikh women, in particular, also feared that their families would not take

them back.92

It was clear that the West Punjab authorities did not want the Liaison Agency

to operate in the West Punjab. Secondly, inspite of the difficulties placed in their way

their morale stood high and they were able to achieve results which caused annoyance

90. Urvashi Butalia, Listening for a Change: Narratives of Partition, S. Settar, Indira B.Gupta

(ed.), 'Pangs of Partition: The Human Dimension', Vol.II, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi,

2002, p.129.

91. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.139.

92. Urvashi Butalia, op.cit., pp.129.

39

to the Pakistan officials.93 A very large volume of the correspondence between the

high officials of the East Punjab and the West Punjab indicates that the police officers

in both the Punjabs acted partially in favour of their own community while recovering

the abducted women.94 The East Punjab Liaison agency was closed on the 30

th

November, 1948 alongwith the Women Recovery Organization which was associated

with it. The work of recovery of abducted women was brought under the Ministry of

External Affairs of India and Pakistan. The Indian Government, however, established

elaborate machinery for the recovery of the abducted persons.95

PROPERTY LOSS

As regards the property it was suspected that moveable property which had

been left behind in the houses and buildings belonging to non-Muslims was looted,

misappropriated and distributed and very little remained behind. Even the sealed

rooms were being broken with a view to make room for the refugees and the property

lying in the sealed rooms was being misappropriated by the occupants of the houses.96

The non-Muslims left behind dairy farms, breeding and development farms and

foodgrains depots. Most of the moveable property left behind by the non-Muslims

was auctioned by the Deputy Custodian at ridiculous prices or looted.97 The Muslims

in the West Punjab by attacking the Sikhs and Hindus who owned property and land,

could acquire their properties. Exactly the same thing happened in the East Punjab,

where the Sikhs and the Hindus attacked the Muslims to drive them out in order to

acquire land.98

Looting and burning of villages commenced towards the end of August and

continued through the month of September 1947.99 In August 1947, looting started on

large scale under the wings of the police, respectable officers, government employees

members of the local gentry, lawyers, doctors, big zamindars and the goondas all

competed with each other. Property worth crores which was accumulated by the

Hindus and the Sikhs during the course of half a century of peaceful and hard life was

distributed within the span of a few hours amongst those who had the audacity to

93. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.II, op.cit., p.6.

94. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.139

95. Ibid., p.141.

96. Liaison Agency Records, Vol. II, op.cit., p.5.

97. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.V, op.cit, p.20.

98. Kirpal Singh, op.cit., p.22.

99. M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., p.14.

40

break all bonds of law and morality.100 According to Pakistan Radio broadcast the

West Punjab Government recovered looted goods valued at several lakhs.101

In Multan, moveable property including ornaments of gold, silver and cash

valued at about 3 crores of rupees was looted during partition and immoveable

property worth about a crore and a half of rupees was burnt down.102 In Sargoda, the

trouble started on 11th September, 1947 when the local Muslim goondas in the

presence of police constables began to loot the houses of Hindus and Sikhs.103 In

Hazara district, about 3,500 shops and houses belonging to the non-Muslims were

looted and set on fire. The Punjab Kashmir Bank and Hind Iran Bank were also looted

by the mob, with the active help of Muslim additional police and military.104

Disturbed conditions, inadequacy of the police, the government policy of

giving arm licences freely of which advantage was taken by a number of shady

characters and the ease with which offenders could cross over to adjoining state

territories after committing the crime, were factors which largely contributed to

dacoities and robberies.105

The Liaison Agency was finally withdrawn from Lahore on the 30th

November, 1948 and a small office was set up at Amritsar. The fact that the East

Punjab Liaison Agency was withdrawn from Lahore by no means signifies that the

work of recovery or of the retrieval of property was completed in the West Punjab.106

The total expenditure incurred on the Liaison Agency upto the end of 1948 was Rs.

9,62,836 and it was estimated that a further amount of Rs. 3,37,164 was to be paid to

clear the debts and the outstanding bills against the Liaison Agency, thus raising the

total amount spent on the Liaison Agency, from September 1947 to March 1949 to

Rs. 13,00,000.107 With all these efforts the tragedy of the situation was that the Punjab

stood torn to pieces on both sides. The following chapter shall deal with the official

attempts at various levels of the Indian Government to bring solace to the people, to

heal the wounds and to recreate Punjab once again.

100. Liaison Agency Records, Vol. V, op.cit., p.6.

101. Partition Proceedings, Vol.II, op.cit., p.51.

102. Ibid., Vol. V, p.40.

103. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.I, op.cit., p.65.

104. Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation, op.cit., p.13.

105. Report on Police Administration in the Punjab, for the year 1948, op.cit., p.2.

106. Liaison Agency Records, Vol.II, op.cit., p.2.

107. Ibid., p.1.