12-31-2003, 04:26 AM
MUSLIM LEAGUE ATTACKS ON HINDUS/SIKHS #27
Every nook and corner of Amritsar, which was close to a Muslim area, and where a Muslim mob could gather conveniently or a few assassins hide or lurk, was a place of death for any Sikh found in its vicinity. The technique adopted by the Muslim goondas was skilled and well-thought out beforehand. These assailants would generally divide themselves into groups of three, each hiding at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards from the other along a lane or street. While the Hindu or Sikh pedestrian, cyclist or rider in tonga, as the case might happen to be, had been allowed by the first group along the line to pass, the middle group would raise a hue and cry and scare the intended victim. As he ran for life backwards or forwards, he was pounced upon by the group which happened to be nearest to him, and done to death. In this way hundreds got killed in the various Muslim localities, especially along the road leading from Hall Gate to Hathi Gate towards the West, and that leading from Hall Gate out through Rambagh, Mahan Singh and Ghee Mandi Gates to Sultanwind, either of which roads the Sikhs and Hindus must take if they were at all to enter the town from the northern side. Burj Baba Phula Singh, a Sikh shrine and kind of abbey, which is situated just outside Mahan Singh Gate, and was surrounded on all sides by large Muslim populations was repeatedly attacked, and several of the Sikh inmates were killed.
In the attack which began on the 5th March three Sikh foot-constables of police were reported missing. Reports daily poured in of Sikhs stabbed, speared or shot dead on the outskirts of the town. Sharifpura, Mahan Singh Gate, Hathi Gate, Bhagtan wala Gate and Chauk Farid were localities especially notorious for this kind of attack on the Sikhs. M. A.-O. College, was a very active centre of attack from which Muslim groups sallied out to attack or snipe at Hindus and Sikhs. One cinema house, belonging to a Hindu and situated next door to M. A.-O. College was burned. Hindu and Sikh houses situated on all sides in the vicinity of the M. A.-O College were kept constantly under fire by gunmen from inside this College. A large number of these Hindu-Sikh houses, along with others lying between this place and Chauk Farid were burned.
There is a marked difference in the behaviour of Muslims and Sikhs towards women and children captured during this fight. While Muslims everywhere dishonoured, abducted or murdered Hindu and Sikh women and children, Sikhs never resorted to anything of which they might have reason to be ashamed. On the first day of attack, several Muslims got killed by an infuriated Sikh crowd in a locality which was at the junction of a Muslim and non-Muslim zone, not very far from the centre of the Sikh influence. More than one hundred Muslim women and children, whose menfolk had either been killed or had run away for safety, fell into the hands of the Sikhs. Sikhs kept them safe and fed them for the two or three days that the fighting lasted and all communications in the town were cut off, and later sent them under escort to the City Police Station, These women acknowledged the chivalry and courtesy of the treatment of the Sikhs towards them.
The first round of the attack was over after the curfew partly lifted on the 11th March. The sight which was revealed to passersby and onlookers was truly terrible and pitiful. In various parts of the city huge mountains of debris and rubble were lying, blocking roads and bazars. Burnt, demolished buildings, with holes for doors and windows gaping out of damaged walls told a tale of utter and stark brutality. Merchandise and household property worth so many millions had been destroyed by fire, and some was buried under debris, which must have also killed many human beings while falling. This scene of destruction and desolation elicited from Pandit Nehru, who visited the city in March, the remark that Amritsar looked like a bomb-scarred city. The experience, thought Hindus and Sikhs, must have chastened the Muslims and made them realize the folly of a fight in which fire destroyed the neighbouring Muslim houses and shops as much as the Hindu, and in which some at least of the Muslims, no doubt as innocent as the Hindu and Sikh victims of assassination, must have lost their lives. But the Muslims were thinking in no such way. They looked upon this first fight only as one major test of success of their methods and preparedness and the perfect co-ordination of all wings of their forces-the Muslim National Guards, the mobs, the police and officials. So, they were on the look-out for a repetition of this first attack and for winning more Ëvictories⢠over Hindus and Sikhs.
Muslims made repeated attempts at saying prayers in the burnt Pragdas Chowk Mosque. This place is situated in the midst of Sikh-Hindu localities, though on one side it had easy approach to a vast stretch of Muslim-inhabited area, ending in Gilwali Gate. To have attempted to lead a Muslim congregation, which was bound to he well-armed, defiant and shouting ââ¬Ëslogansââ¬â¢, was really an attempt at mischief. In those times when passions were running high, when hundreds of Sikh Gurdwaras had been burned down in Rawalpindi and Western Punjab and not a word of regret or condemnation for such acts had emanated from any Muslim Leaguer, to have tried to lead a prayer-gathering in Chowk Pragdas was both an insult to Sikhs and a calculated attempt at mischief. Sikhs opposed such a move. But the European Deputy Commissioner permitted that every Friday a limited number of Muslims say their noon prayer in Pragdas Chowk under heavy police protection. On April 11, which was again a Friday, a large Muslim crowd estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 came to Chowk Pragdas with the ostensible purpose of saying prayers. But they were well-armed and were shouting slogans vowing to take revenge for the Muslims who had been killed in Chowk Pragdas in the early days of the attack. This naturally hurt the Sikhs. But, although provoked, Sikhs did not do anything which might lead to unpleasant occurrences. And the prayers were done peacefully. But after the prayers were over, some of the returning Muslims attacked some Sikhs. At this some Sikhs in return attacked some Muslims and rioting again started in Amritsar on April 11, after being suspended for about a month, though during this interval stabbing had continued. The Muslim crowd got out of the control of the Police, a large part of which was naturally not too conscientious about checking its activities. Muslims murdered Sikhs and set fire to Hindu and Sikh houses in several areas, including Chowk Lachhmansar, Qila Bhangian, Chauk Chira and Hall Bazar. Extensive damage was done by these fires, and the tall pillars of smoke could be seen from as far as Chheharta which is more than five miles from Amritsar.
There had been a comparative lull for sometime in the campaign of stabbing Hindus and Sikhs in the later part of March and early April. But after the Chowk Pragdas incident of April 11 narrated above, this stabbing campaign was intensified. Arson too began to be on the increase. No day went without the report of some Hindus and Sikhs being stabbed or shot dead, mostly by the hired Muslim assassins and sometimes even by the police. Hindus and Sikhs got killed in varying circumstances. They were sometimes killed while trying to extinguish fire in their own houses. If they fought Muslim assailants in self-defence, more often than not they were shot dead by the police, which always intervened on behalf of the Muslims. If not killed, Hindus and Sikhs fighting in self-defence would be arrested, while the Muslim aggressors were let off.2 As shown above, the death-roll of Hindus and Sikhs continued to be very high. Sikhs got killed in larger numbers than Muslims and Hindus combined.
Incidents typical of what was happening in Amritsar in April and after are given below:-
(1) The grinding mill of a Sikh was gutted by a Muslim mob on 11.4.47. On this same day one Sikh was fired on by the police for no cause whatever.
(2) Two Sikhs were surrounded by a group of Muslims near Bhagtawanwala Gate and their kirpans were seized. The Sikhs escaped by running away.
(3) The car of Sardar Ishar Singh Majhail, a prominent Sikh leader, and later Minister of the East Punjab was surrounded by a Muslim mob, and he was saved only by the skill of his driver.
(4) On 2.5.47 one Sikh was stabbed outside Hakiman Gate.
(5) One Sikh, Sohan Singh was brutally murdered while going on bicycle near Chauk Farid.
(6) Two Sikhs were murdered by being shot near Rego Bridge, which is on the Grand Trunk Road, close to the Railway Station.
(7) On 21-5-47 one. Sikh was found murdered in Gol Bagh between Baijnath High School and the Railway Footbridge. On this day also were set on fire 7 Hindu and Sikh shops inside Hall Gate and several houses inside Mahan Singh Gate and Gali Lahorianwali in Katra Karam Singh. One Sikh was murdered on the Mall, and two Sikhs were assaulted and chased in the same locality.
(8) On 24.5.47 one Sikh who had gone towards Anjuman Park to buy vegetables was murdered. One Sikh was stabbed in the middle of Hall Bazar near Chartered Bank while a Muslim police constable, No. 132, was looking on. One Hindu was murdered near Hall Bazar, and two others were shot dead near Ganj-di-Mori by Muslims, while extinguishing the fire in their houses. Two Hindus were shot dead in similar circumstances in Gali Nain Sukh. Eighteen Hindus received serious injuries in two places where fire was set to Hindu houses. In these places members of the family of Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, President of the District Muslim League of Amritsar, were leading the attack.
(9) On 26.5.47 one Muslim Sub-Inspector of Police chased a Hindu from Islamabad Railway Crossing to Khalsa College, and repeatedly fired on him with a revolver. This crossing and all other crossings and junctions of roads were guarded by Muslim Police, who shot dead any Hindu or Sikh they could lay hands on.
(10) Sikhs murdered in different localities in the beginning of May, 1947 were: 9 outside Bhagtanwala Gate, near the brick klin; 7 in Daimganj; 30 outside Rambagh Gate; 12 outside Sharifpura, and a large number in the Muslim abadis of Maqbulpura and Rasulpura.
(11) The Grand Trunk Road between village Vallah and the Canal to the city was absolutely closed to Hindus and Sikhs, who inevitably got murdered if found there. Hundreds of Muslims, however, freely moved about in these areas. Muslims could also move about near Hindu and Sikh areas, but not vice versa.
(12) One Sikh Bal Singh of village Mulachak was killed by Muslims on 25. 5. 47 near the canal.
(13) Trucks nos. 2410, 1421, 1428 and cars nos. 676 and 3388 regularly went about the roads outside the town with Muslim goondas in them picking off Hindus and Sikhs. Information about this was conveyed by responsible Hindus and Sikhs to the authorities.
(14) On 25. 5. 47 village Mulachak was attacked by 60 Muslims with firearms. Sikhs of the village put up stiff resistance, and the assailants ran away.
(15) On 26-5-47 one Sikh was stabbed in Hall Bazar while going to the police station to give report of arson in his own house. One Hindu was murdered in Chitta Katra.
One of the most shocking and dastardly outrages took place in the Daimganj locality of Amritsar on the 10th May. A party of about a dozen Sikhs and Hindus, including women were going out to cremate the dead body of a child. They passed by the large Muslim locality of Daimganj, close to which is also the Idgah. While these Hindus and Sikhs were returning to their homer after cremating the child, the Muslims who were hiding inside the Idgah, fell upon them, killing seven on the spot. The dead bodies were sought to be made unidentifiable by being soaked in petrol and set ablaze. The smoke attracted the sight of the police force inside the Amritsar Fort, who reached the spot. The authorities imposed a fine of Rs. 20 per male adult Muslim in this entire locality.
This murder was most shocking and brutal, and it shook the conscience of the entire Hindu and Sikh population of the Punjab. Even barbarians respect the sight of death, and none but these offspring of the Muslim League doctrines with unclean minds and souls would have done killing in the circumstances of this incident. It is significant that no Muslim Leaguer uttered a word in condemnation even of this brutal outrage. This incident intensified rioting both in Lahore and Amritsar. Muslims were already adding to the pile of Hindus and Sikhs killed and Hindu and Sikh houses burnt. Now, both in Lahore and Amritsar, Hindus and Sikhs too began reprisals. The Daimganj brutality anyway could not be forgotten.
The comments of the Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government of those days, Mr. Akhtar Hussain; are significant:
Some of the acts committed were shocking in their stark brutality and an attack on a funeral party of a child in which six Sikhs and one Hindu were killed has added to an already overlong list of Muslim atrocities. As a result of these happenings in Amritsar, the situation in Lahore deteriorated a few days later, on the 13th of May, and much damage has been done to life and property. In Amritsar the casualties since communal trouble started in March have been over two hundred killed and twice that number seriously injured. In Lahore over the same period, one hundred and ten persons have lost their, lives and three hundred and seventeen have suffered grave hurt. For the province the death roll exceeds three thousand three hundred while the injured number fourteen hundred.
The over-all report of the above-named Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government for the month of April and May is:
- In Amritsar, since a recredescence of trouble took place on the 11th of April, more than four hundred and sixty persons have either been killed or injured, and in Lahore since the 9th day of May, the day on which the new outbreak commenced, there have been three hundred and twenty-five victims of communal strife. The two cities have shown some distinctive features in their disorders and in Lahore stabbings had the place in favour taken by crude bombs in Amritsar. However, both have points in common, the most important of which have been arson and the signs of better organization and greater determination which have emerged.In respect of arson Muslims have been the main culprits and there have been numerous acts of incendiarism in both places resulting in conflagrations which have taxed the available army and civil resources to their utmost limit.3
The high-ups of the Muslim League were fully alive to the needs of keeping up the Ëmorale⢠of the Muslims of Amritsar in their fight against Hindus and Sikhs of Amritsar. They constantly visited the city to plan, advise and guide this fight. Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, President of the City Muslim League was directing this entire fight and was maintaining efficient liaison. On the 17th March Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, later a Minister in the Pakistan Government,4 Begum Shah Nawaz, prominent lady in the Punjab League circles, Sardar Shaukat Hyat Khan, till recently Minister in the West Punjab and Siddiq Ali Khan, Salar-i-Ala of the Muslim National Guards came to Amritsar. On the 25th March Mian Mumtaz Daultana, now President of the West Punjab Muslim League, Mian Iftikharuddin, his predecessor in that office, Maulana Daud Ghaznavi and Mian Amiruddin, League Mayor of Lahore also visited Amritsar. These visits were made ostensibly for the purpose of collecting funds for the relief of such Muslims as might have suffered in the wide-spread campaign of arson which sometimes also involved Muslim houses, but were in realitypep things to plan and direct intensification of the Muslim League War. Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, who has been mentioned earlier, visited Tarn Taran, a fairly large town near Amritsar and distributed two bags of steel helmets among members of the Muslim National Guards. On the 26th of April, Dr. Ziaul Islam and Ahmed Said, President and Organizing Secretary respectively of the Punjab Muslim Studentsââ¬â¢ Federation visited Amritsar. This organization contained zealous League workers, and rowdy elements. It took leading part in the war on Hindus and Sikhs, especially from its headquarters in the M. A.-O. College.
Mian Nasrullah Khan, a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, visited several villages of Amritsar District on the 17th May. So far there had been no attacks in the rural areas, but now under the instigation of Mian Nasrullah Khan, such attacks started. On the 22nd May this gentleman again visited several more villages and inspired an abortive Muslim attempt to demolish the Hansali, the water channel which serves as a conduit for the water which is supplied to the sacred tank of Sri Darbar Sahib at Amritsar.
The tempo of the war against Hindus and Sikhs grew very fast as the fateful day of June 3, on which the British Governmentâ¢s award on the future government of India was to be announced, approached.
While the Punjab Government was endeavouring to take some steps for the maintenance of peace, these efforts were rendered more or less ineffective by the communally biased attitude of the Muslim personnel of the Army, which got infected with this evil by association with the Muslim police. Muslim soldiers on duty invariably acted as the Muslim police had so far done. They connived at Muslim mobs setting fire to the city and murdering Hindus and Sikhs, while they were very prompt to arrest any Hindu or Sikh found in any public place, any pretext serving for such action. Cases of arson which had so far been isolated after the first March days, now began to be widespread; and whole localities, comprising hundreds of houses and shops began to be burnt. Two of the most persistently burnt localities were Chil Mandi and Katra Karam Singh, the former not more than a hundred yards from the headquarters of the city Police and fire-brigade.
Khaiwali Gali, Sattowali Gali and Gali Kandharian were some of those localities which were surrounded by large Muslim populations. In these localities repeated attacks on Hindus and Sikhs were made, and looting and burning on a large scale done. In Katra Karam Singh, which continued to burn for three days, more than two hundred residential houses, sheltering several thousand human beings, were destroyed by fire.
Here is a brief and by no means complete list of Hindu and Sikh property burned near and after June 3, when it might be expected that in view of their Pakistan demand being conceded, the Muslims would give up aggression and settle down to have peaceful relations with Hindus and Sikhs. But no such thing happened.
On the 2nd June there was widespread burning of Hindu and Sikh localities. Katra Karam Singh, Kucha Beli Ram, Kucha Khotian, Katra Sher Sinoh and Tunda Talab etc. were some of the localities which were burned extensively.
On the 7th June, a Sikhâ¢s house in Katra Bhabrian was burned, and also a Hinduâ¢s house in Chuhar Beri.
On the 8th a Hindu textile factory situated inside Lohgarh Gate was burned, and on the 11th, the Parkash textile factory, which was situated near the M. A.-O. College. The Cinema house situated in this locality had been burned previously.
On the 13th, a Hinduâ¢s textile factory near the Power House was burned, and fire was set to the D.A.-V. Middle School in Toba Bhai Salo on the 14th June.
On the 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th and 30th June large-scale arson in Hindu and Sikh houses occurred in Katra Sher Singh Kohna, Chauk Telian, Ghee Mandi, Katra Karam Singh, Bazar Bakarwanan and in Chauk Jaura. O
On the 24th June on a search these arms were recovered from a mosque in Katra Bagh Singh in Amritsar:- 9 spears, 3 hatchets, 4 gallons of incendiary spirit, 2 gallons of kerosene oil, 1 gallon of methylated spirit and some helmets. This was by no means an isolated instance of Muslims keeping weapons and means of fire-raising in large quantities or of their using places of worship as arsenals.
On the 1st July a Hinduâ¢s textile factory inside Lahori Gate was burned, and a bomb was thrown into a Hinduâ¢s house.
On the 3rd July Hindusââ¬â¢ houses in Katra Bagh Singh were burned with kerosene oil. On the 7th July a Hinduââ¬â¢s textile factory on the Batala Road was set on fire.
On the 31st July the Eduljee Ice Factory situated on the Grand Trunk Road, off a Muslim locality was set on fire.
Right into August, till only a few days before the establishment of free India and free Pakistan the Muslims continued to be aggressors in Amritsar. Bomb-throwing on Hindus and Sikhs was frequently indulged into by Muslims.
On the 23rd July a bomb was thrown on Hindu-Sikh houses on Hukam Singh Road. On the next day 3 Sikhs were attacked by Muslims near cattle-fair ground, and 2 of these were killed.
On the 27th July, several. Sikhs were murdered on the Sultanwind Road. On the 31st July a bomb was thrown in the Hall Bazar on a tonga carrying Hindus and Sikhs.
On the next day another tonga was destroyed by a bomb, and its Hindu occupants killed.
On the same day one Hindu was killed in Katra Bagh Singh, one Sikh was murdered in Hall Bazar and Hindus and Sikhs were stabbed inside Sikandar Gali and Lohgarh Gate.
On the 4th August a Hindu was shot dead inside Lohgarh Gate, two Sikhs were shot dead near Burj Phula Singh, off a heavily populated Muslim area, and another in Hall Bazar, in Chauk Ghulam Hussain. The war was getting intensified. 1,000 Muslims attacked the village of Dhapai near Amritsar. A Sikh was injured by a bomb near Khasa.
On the 9th August the police arrested a Pathan, named Mohammad Saeed, near the Railway Tonga Stand, when he was lying in ambush to murder any stray Hindu or Sikh.
On the 11th August, one Sikh and 2 Hindu were injured near Khuh Bombaywala; one Sikh was shot dead by a Muslim constable. 12 Muslims were arrested while assembling for an attack on Hindus and Sikhs. One gun and several spears were recovered from these.
On the 14th August, the Muslims celebrated establishment of Pakistan by setting fire to Hindu and Sikh buildings in Chauk Fawara, Chil Mandi, Kot Atma Singh, Chauk Phullanwala, and handloom factories on the Grand Trunk Road and in Chauk Fawara. Attacks on trains by Muslims outside Bhagtanwala Gate, their stronghold, frequently occurred.
As a result of the Muslim campaign of arson, from the 5th March onwards, more than one-fourth of the city of Amritsar has been laid in ruins - the worst sufferer in this respect among the cities of the Punjab.
<b>Footnotes: </b>
1 One Hindu chemistâ¢s shop is said to have been spared, as he agreed to pay a blackmail of ten thousand rupees to the Muslim League, through some Muslim friend of his.
2 The Police would simply refuse to trace Muslim goondas whose parentage was not received. As the name of a manâ¢s father might not be known to his victim, this was a convenient excuse for not interfering with any Muslim. Sometimes several men of the same name were taken into custody and then let off.
3 Emphasis by the present writer.
4 Now Governor of West Punjab.
Every nook and corner of Amritsar, which was close to a Muslim area, and where a Muslim mob could gather conveniently or a few assassins hide or lurk, was a place of death for any Sikh found in its vicinity. The technique adopted by the Muslim goondas was skilled and well-thought out beforehand. These assailants would generally divide themselves into groups of three, each hiding at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards from the other along a lane or street. While the Hindu or Sikh pedestrian, cyclist or rider in tonga, as the case might happen to be, had been allowed by the first group along the line to pass, the middle group would raise a hue and cry and scare the intended victim. As he ran for life backwards or forwards, he was pounced upon by the group which happened to be nearest to him, and done to death. In this way hundreds got killed in the various Muslim localities, especially along the road leading from Hall Gate to Hathi Gate towards the West, and that leading from Hall Gate out through Rambagh, Mahan Singh and Ghee Mandi Gates to Sultanwind, either of which roads the Sikhs and Hindus must take if they were at all to enter the town from the northern side. Burj Baba Phula Singh, a Sikh shrine and kind of abbey, which is situated just outside Mahan Singh Gate, and was surrounded on all sides by large Muslim populations was repeatedly attacked, and several of the Sikh inmates were killed.
In the attack which began on the 5th March three Sikh foot-constables of police were reported missing. Reports daily poured in of Sikhs stabbed, speared or shot dead on the outskirts of the town. Sharifpura, Mahan Singh Gate, Hathi Gate, Bhagtan wala Gate and Chauk Farid were localities especially notorious for this kind of attack on the Sikhs. M. A.-O. College, was a very active centre of attack from which Muslim groups sallied out to attack or snipe at Hindus and Sikhs. One cinema house, belonging to a Hindu and situated next door to M. A.-O. College was burned. Hindu and Sikh houses situated on all sides in the vicinity of the M. A.-O College were kept constantly under fire by gunmen from inside this College. A large number of these Hindu-Sikh houses, along with others lying between this place and Chauk Farid were burned.
There is a marked difference in the behaviour of Muslims and Sikhs towards women and children captured during this fight. While Muslims everywhere dishonoured, abducted or murdered Hindu and Sikh women and children, Sikhs never resorted to anything of which they might have reason to be ashamed. On the first day of attack, several Muslims got killed by an infuriated Sikh crowd in a locality which was at the junction of a Muslim and non-Muslim zone, not very far from the centre of the Sikh influence. More than one hundred Muslim women and children, whose menfolk had either been killed or had run away for safety, fell into the hands of the Sikhs. Sikhs kept them safe and fed them for the two or three days that the fighting lasted and all communications in the town were cut off, and later sent them under escort to the City Police Station, These women acknowledged the chivalry and courtesy of the treatment of the Sikhs towards them.
The first round of the attack was over after the curfew partly lifted on the 11th March. The sight which was revealed to passersby and onlookers was truly terrible and pitiful. In various parts of the city huge mountains of debris and rubble were lying, blocking roads and bazars. Burnt, demolished buildings, with holes for doors and windows gaping out of damaged walls told a tale of utter and stark brutality. Merchandise and household property worth so many millions had been destroyed by fire, and some was buried under debris, which must have also killed many human beings while falling. This scene of destruction and desolation elicited from Pandit Nehru, who visited the city in March, the remark that Amritsar looked like a bomb-scarred city. The experience, thought Hindus and Sikhs, must have chastened the Muslims and made them realize the folly of a fight in which fire destroyed the neighbouring Muslim houses and shops as much as the Hindu, and in which some at least of the Muslims, no doubt as innocent as the Hindu and Sikh victims of assassination, must have lost their lives. But the Muslims were thinking in no such way. They looked upon this first fight only as one major test of success of their methods and preparedness and the perfect co-ordination of all wings of their forces-the Muslim National Guards, the mobs, the police and officials. So, they were on the look-out for a repetition of this first attack and for winning more Ëvictories⢠over Hindus and Sikhs.
Muslims made repeated attempts at saying prayers in the burnt Pragdas Chowk Mosque. This place is situated in the midst of Sikh-Hindu localities, though on one side it had easy approach to a vast stretch of Muslim-inhabited area, ending in Gilwali Gate. To have attempted to lead a Muslim congregation, which was bound to he well-armed, defiant and shouting ââ¬Ëslogansââ¬â¢, was really an attempt at mischief. In those times when passions were running high, when hundreds of Sikh Gurdwaras had been burned down in Rawalpindi and Western Punjab and not a word of regret or condemnation for such acts had emanated from any Muslim Leaguer, to have tried to lead a prayer-gathering in Chowk Pragdas was both an insult to Sikhs and a calculated attempt at mischief. Sikhs opposed such a move. But the European Deputy Commissioner permitted that every Friday a limited number of Muslims say their noon prayer in Pragdas Chowk under heavy police protection. On April 11, which was again a Friday, a large Muslim crowd estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 came to Chowk Pragdas with the ostensible purpose of saying prayers. But they were well-armed and were shouting slogans vowing to take revenge for the Muslims who had been killed in Chowk Pragdas in the early days of the attack. This naturally hurt the Sikhs. But, although provoked, Sikhs did not do anything which might lead to unpleasant occurrences. And the prayers were done peacefully. But after the prayers were over, some of the returning Muslims attacked some Sikhs. At this some Sikhs in return attacked some Muslims and rioting again started in Amritsar on April 11, after being suspended for about a month, though during this interval stabbing had continued. The Muslim crowd got out of the control of the Police, a large part of which was naturally not too conscientious about checking its activities. Muslims murdered Sikhs and set fire to Hindu and Sikh houses in several areas, including Chowk Lachhmansar, Qila Bhangian, Chauk Chira and Hall Bazar. Extensive damage was done by these fires, and the tall pillars of smoke could be seen from as far as Chheharta which is more than five miles from Amritsar.
There had been a comparative lull for sometime in the campaign of stabbing Hindus and Sikhs in the later part of March and early April. But after the Chowk Pragdas incident of April 11 narrated above, this stabbing campaign was intensified. Arson too began to be on the increase. No day went without the report of some Hindus and Sikhs being stabbed or shot dead, mostly by the hired Muslim assassins and sometimes even by the police. Hindus and Sikhs got killed in varying circumstances. They were sometimes killed while trying to extinguish fire in their own houses. If they fought Muslim assailants in self-defence, more often than not they were shot dead by the police, which always intervened on behalf of the Muslims. If not killed, Hindus and Sikhs fighting in self-defence would be arrested, while the Muslim aggressors were let off.2 As shown above, the death-roll of Hindus and Sikhs continued to be very high. Sikhs got killed in larger numbers than Muslims and Hindus combined.
Incidents typical of what was happening in Amritsar in April and after are given below:-
(1) The grinding mill of a Sikh was gutted by a Muslim mob on 11.4.47. On this same day one Sikh was fired on by the police for no cause whatever.
(2) Two Sikhs were surrounded by a group of Muslims near Bhagtawanwala Gate and their kirpans were seized. The Sikhs escaped by running away.
(3) The car of Sardar Ishar Singh Majhail, a prominent Sikh leader, and later Minister of the East Punjab was surrounded by a Muslim mob, and he was saved only by the skill of his driver.
(4) On 2.5.47 one Sikh was stabbed outside Hakiman Gate.
(5) One Sikh, Sohan Singh was brutally murdered while going on bicycle near Chauk Farid.
(6) Two Sikhs were murdered by being shot near Rego Bridge, which is on the Grand Trunk Road, close to the Railway Station.
(7) On 21-5-47 one. Sikh was found murdered in Gol Bagh between Baijnath High School and the Railway Footbridge. On this day also were set on fire 7 Hindu and Sikh shops inside Hall Gate and several houses inside Mahan Singh Gate and Gali Lahorianwali in Katra Karam Singh. One Sikh was murdered on the Mall, and two Sikhs were assaulted and chased in the same locality.
(8) On 24.5.47 one Sikh who had gone towards Anjuman Park to buy vegetables was murdered. One Sikh was stabbed in the middle of Hall Bazar near Chartered Bank while a Muslim police constable, No. 132, was looking on. One Hindu was murdered near Hall Bazar, and two others were shot dead near Ganj-di-Mori by Muslims, while extinguishing the fire in their houses. Two Hindus were shot dead in similar circumstances in Gali Nain Sukh. Eighteen Hindus received serious injuries in two places where fire was set to Hindu houses. In these places members of the family of Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, President of the District Muslim League of Amritsar, were leading the attack.
(9) On 26.5.47 one Muslim Sub-Inspector of Police chased a Hindu from Islamabad Railway Crossing to Khalsa College, and repeatedly fired on him with a revolver. This crossing and all other crossings and junctions of roads were guarded by Muslim Police, who shot dead any Hindu or Sikh they could lay hands on.
(10) Sikhs murdered in different localities in the beginning of May, 1947 were: 9 outside Bhagtanwala Gate, near the brick klin; 7 in Daimganj; 30 outside Rambagh Gate; 12 outside Sharifpura, and a large number in the Muslim abadis of Maqbulpura and Rasulpura.
(11) The Grand Trunk Road between village Vallah and the Canal to the city was absolutely closed to Hindus and Sikhs, who inevitably got murdered if found there. Hundreds of Muslims, however, freely moved about in these areas. Muslims could also move about near Hindu and Sikh areas, but not vice versa.
(12) One Sikh Bal Singh of village Mulachak was killed by Muslims on 25. 5. 47 near the canal.
(13) Trucks nos. 2410, 1421, 1428 and cars nos. 676 and 3388 regularly went about the roads outside the town with Muslim goondas in them picking off Hindus and Sikhs. Information about this was conveyed by responsible Hindus and Sikhs to the authorities.
(14) On 25. 5. 47 village Mulachak was attacked by 60 Muslims with firearms. Sikhs of the village put up stiff resistance, and the assailants ran away.
(15) On 26-5-47 one Sikh was stabbed in Hall Bazar while going to the police station to give report of arson in his own house. One Hindu was murdered in Chitta Katra.
One of the most shocking and dastardly outrages took place in the Daimganj locality of Amritsar on the 10th May. A party of about a dozen Sikhs and Hindus, including women were going out to cremate the dead body of a child. They passed by the large Muslim locality of Daimganj, close to which is also the Idgah. While these Hindus and Sikhs were returning to their homer after cremating the child, the Muslims who were hiding inside the Idgah, fell upon them, killing seven on the spot. The dead bodies were sought to be made unidentifiable by being soaked in petrol and set ablaze. The smoke attracted the sight of the police force inside the Amritsar Fort, who reached the spot. The authorities imposed a fine of Rs. 20 per male adult Muslim in this entire locality.
This murder was most shocking and brutal, and it shook the conscience of the entire Hindu and Sikh population of the Punjab. Even barbarians respect the sight of death, and none but these offspring of the Muslim League doctrines with unclean minds and souls would have done killing in the circumstances of this incident. It is significant that no Muslim Leaguer uttered a word in condemnation even of this brutal outrage. This incident intensified rioting both in Lahore and Amritsar. Muslims were already adding to the pile of Hindus and Sikhs killed and Hindu and Sikh houses burnt. Now, both in Lahore and Amritsar, Hindus and Sikhs too began reprisals. The Daimganj brutality anyway could not be forgotten.
The comments of the Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government of those days, Mr. Akhtar Hussain; are significant:
Some of the acts committed were shocking in their stark brutality and an attack on a funeral party of a child in which six Sikhs and one Hindu were killed has added to an already overlong list of Muslim atrocities. As a result of these happenings in Amritsar, the situation in Lahore deteriorated a few days later, on the 13th of May, and much damage has been done to life and property. In Amritsar the casualties since communal trouble started in March have been over two hundred killed and twice that number seriously injured. In Lahore over the same period, one hundred and ten persons have lost their, lives and three hundred and seventeen have suffered grave hurt. For the province the death roll exceeds three thousand three hundred while the injured number fourteen hundred.
The over-all report of the above-named Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government for the month of April and May is:
- In Amritsar, since a recredescence of trouble took place on the 11th of April, more than four hundred and sixty persons have either been killed or injured, and in Lahore since the 9th day of May, the day on which the new outbreak commenced, there have been three hundred and twenty-five victims of communal strife. The two cities have shown some distinctive features in their disorders and in Lahore stabbings had the place in favour taken by crude bombs in Amritsar. However, both have points in common, the most important of which have been arson and the signs of better organization and greater determination which have emerged.In respect of arson Muslims have been the main culprits and there have been numerous acts of incendiarism in both places resulting in conflagrations which have taxed the available army and civil resources to their utmost limit.3
The high-ups of the Muslim League were fully alive to the needs of keeping up the Ëmorale⢠of the Muslims of Amritsar in their fight against Hindus and Sikhs of Amritsar. They constantly visited the city to plan, advise and guide this fight. Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, President of the City Muslim League was directing this entire fight and was maintaining efficient liaison. On the 17th March Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, later a Minister in the Pakistan Government,4 Begum Shah Nawaz, prominent lady in the Punjab League circles, Sardar Shaukat Hyat Khan, till recently Minister in the West Punjab and Siddiq Ali Khan, Salar-i-Ala of the Muslim National Guards came to Amritsar. On the 25th March Mian Mumtaz Daultana, now President of the West Punjab Muslim League, Mian Iftikharuddin, his predecessor in that office, Maulana Daud Ghaznavi and Mian Amiruddin, League Mayor of Lahore also visited Amritsar. These visits were made ostensibly for the purpose of collecting funds for the relief of such Muslims as might have suffered in the wide-spread campaign of arson which sometimes also involved Muslim houses, but were in realitypep things to plan and direct intensification of the Muslim League War. Sheikh Sadiq Hassan, who has been mentioned earlier, visited Tarn Taran, a fairly large town near Amritsar and distributed two bags of steel helmets among members of the Muslim National Guards. On the 26th of April, Dr. Ziaul Islam and Ahmed Said, President and Organizing Secretary respectively of the Punjab Muslim Studentsââ¬â¢ Federation visited Amritsar. This organization contained zealous League workers, and rowdy elements. It took leading part in the war on Hindus and Sikhs, especially from its headquarters in the M. A.-O. College.
Mian Nasrullah Khan, a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, visited several villages of Amritsar District on the 17th May. So far there had been no attacks in the rural areas, but now under the instigation of Mian Nasrullah Khan, such attacks started. On the 22nd May this gentleman again visited several more villages and inspired an abortive Muslim attempt to demolish the Hansali, the water channel which serves as a conduit for the water which is supplied to the sacred tank of Sri Darbar Sahib at Amritsar.
The tempo of the war against Hindus and Sikhs grew very fast as the fateful day of June 3, on which the British Governmentâ¢s award on the future government of India was to be announced, approached.
While the Punjab Government was endeavouring to take some steps for the maintenance of peace, these efforts were rendered more or less ineffective by the communally biased attitude of the Muslim personnel of the Army, which got infected with this evil by association with the Muslim police. Muslim soldiers on duty invariably acted as the Muslim police had so far done. They connived at Muslim mobs setting fire to the city and murdering Hindus and Sikhs, while they were very prompt to arrest any Hindu or Sikh found in any public place, any pretext serving for such action. Cases of arson which had so far been isolated after the first March days, now began to be widespread; and whole localities, comprising hundreds of houses and shops began to be burnt. Two of the most persistently burnt localities were Chil Mandi and Katra Karam Singh, the former not more than a hundred yards from the headquarters of the city Police and fire-brigade.
Khaiwali Gali, Sattowali Gali and Gali Kandharian were some of those localities which were surrounded by large Muslim populations. In these localities repeated attacks on Hindus and Sikhs were made, and looting and burning on a large scale done. In Katra Karam Singh, which continued to burn for three days, more than two hundred residential houses, sheltering several thousand human beings, were destroyed by fire.
Here is a brief and by no means complete list of Hindu and Sikh property burned near and after June 3, when it might be expected that in view of their Pakistan demand being conceded, the Muslims would give up aggression and settle down to have peaceful relations with Hindus and Sikhs. But no such thing happened.
On the 2nd June there was widespread burning of Hindu and Sikh localities. Katra Karam Singh, Kucha Beli Ram, Kucha Khotian, Katra Sher Sinoh and Tunda Talab etc. were some of the localities which were burned extensively.
On the 7th June, a Sikhâ¢s house in Katra Bhabrian was burned, and also a Hinduâ¢s house in Chuhar Beri.
On the 8th a Hindu textile factory situated inside Lohgarh Gate was burned, and on the 11th, the Parkash textile factory, which was situated near the M. A.-O. College. The Cinema house situated in this locality had been burned previously.
On the 13th, a Hinduâ¢s textile factory near the Power House was burned, and fire was set to the D.A.-V. Middle School in Toba Bhai Salo on the 14th June.
On the 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th and 30th June large-scale arson in Hindu and Sikh houses occurred in Katra Sher Singh Kohna, Chauk Telian, Ghee Mandi, Katra Karam Singh, Bazar Bakarwanan and in Chauk Jaura. O
On the 24th June on a search these arms were recovered from a mosque in Katra Bagh Singh in Amritsar:- 9 spears, 3 hatchets, 4 gallons of incendiary spirit, 2 gallons of kerosene oil, 1 gallon of methylated spirit and some helmets. This was by no means an isolated instance of Muslims keeping weapons and means of fire-raising in large quantities or of their using places of worship as arsenals.
On the 1st July a Hinduâ¢s textile factory inside Lahori Gate was burned, and a bomb was thrown into a Hinduâ¢s house.
On the 3rd July Hindusââ¬â¢ houses in Katra Bagh Singh were burned with kerosene oil. On the 7th July a Hinduââ¬â¢s textile factory on the Batala Road was set on fire.
On the 31st July the Eduljee Ice Factory situated on the Grand Trunk Road, off a Muslim locality was set on fire.
Right into August, till only a few days before the establishment of free India and free Pakistan the Muslims continued to be aggressors in Amritsar. Bomb-throwing on Hindus and Sikhs was frequently indulged into by Muslims.
On the 23rd July a bomb was thrown on Hindu-Sikh houses on Hukam Singh Road. On the next day 3 Sikhs were attacked by Muslims near cattle-fair ground, and 2 of these were killed.
On the 27th July, several. Sikhs were murdered on the Sultanwind Road. On the 31st July a bomb was thrown in the Hall Bazar on a tonga carrying Hindus and Sikhs.
On the next day another tonga was destroyed by a bomb, and its Hindu occupants killed.
On the same day one Hindu was killed in Katra Bagh Singh, one Sikh was murdered in Hall Bazar and Hindus and Sikhs were stabbed inside Sikandar Gali and Lohgarh Gate.
On the 4th August a Hindu was shot dead inside Lohgarh Gate, two Sikhs were shot dead near Burj Phula Singh, off a heavily populated Muslim area, and another in Hall Bazar, in Chauk Ghulam Hussain. The war was getting intensified. 1,000 Muslims attacked the village of Dhapai near Amritsar. A Sikh was injured by a bomb near Khasa.
On the 9th August the police arrested a Pathan, named Mohammad Saeed, near the Railway Tonga Stand, when he was lying in ambush to murder any stray Hindu or Sikh.
On the 11th August, one Sikh and 2 Hindu were injured near Khuh Bombaywala; one Sikh was shot dead by a Muslim constable. 12 Muslims were arrested while assembling for an attack on Hindus and Sikhs. One gun and several spears were recovered from these.
On the 14th August, the Muslims celebrated establishment of Pakistan by setting fire to Hindu and Sikh buildings in Chauk Fawara, Chil Mandi, Kot Atma Singh, Chauk Phullanwala, and handloom factories on the Grand Trunk Road and in Chauk Fawara. Attacks on trains by Muslims outside Bhagtanwala Gate, their stronghold, frequently occurred.
As a result of the Muslim campaign of arson, from the 5th March onwards, more than one-fourth of the city of Amritsar has been laid in ruins - the worst sufferer in this respect among the cities of the Punjab.
<b>Footnotes: </b>
1 One Hindu chemistâ¢s shop is said to have been spared, as he agreed to pay a blackmail of ten thousand rupees to the Muslim League, through some Muslim friend of his.
2 The Police would simply refuse to trace Muslim goondas whose parentage was not received. As the name of a manâ¢s father might not be known to his victim, this was a convenient excuse for not interfering with any Muslim. Sometimes several men of the same name were taken into custody and then let off.
3 Emphasis by the present writer.
4 Now Governor of West Punjab.