09-16-2006, 08:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2006, 08:09 PM by Bharatvarsh.)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> âAs regards casualties on both sides it is impossible to give {491} any exact figure, and no exact figure will ever be given, but from investigations carried out it is fairly safe to say that something in the neighbourhood of 100,000 to 200,000 Muslims have been killed in East Punjab and 100,000 to 200,000 Sikhs and Hindus have been killed in West Punjab. The Muslims of East Punjab were poor except for those living in cities where they were running factories such as the carpet factories of Amritsar and therefore the gain to East Punjab is small from the financial point of view, but the loss to the Hindus and Sikhs who were living in West Punjab is enormous. There is no doubt whatsoever that the police of both East and West Punjab joined in the slaughter and looting of minority communities. There is no authentic case of troops in East Punjab running amok and joining in the slaughter of minorities. In West Punjab on the outbreak of the disturbances certain companies of the Regiment in Sheikupura joined in; the officer in charge is under close arrest pending a court martial, the troops have been confined to barracks and the C.O. has been suspended. This is the only case of the Army taking a communal turn. Reports from several sources are continually being received of the Baluch Regiment firing. Practically every case is false. Typical of this type of information is that the Garhwalis fired while escorting a column of Muslim refugees from Taran Taran. The G.S.O. (1) (Intelligence) was there on the spot. Some 60 Sikh goondas hung around the flank and the rear of the column with swords and spears and repeatedly tried to get in to cut up the marching column. This Hindu battalion fired on these hooligans repeatedly throughout the march which was some 12 miles, the number of refugees somewhere in the vicinity of 70,000 and the column 10 miles long. Frantic messages came up to the civil authorities to the effect that the Garhwal Rifles were firing indiscriminately at all passers-by. Although this is my own Regiment I should like to state that the complete impartiality and complete lack of communal influence in the Royal Garhwal Rifles is astonishing. N.C.O.s and Riflemen when entrusted with the guarding of a convoy have not the slightest hesitation in firing on Sikhs and Hindus at the smallest provocation as soon as they get anywhere near the convoy. During my stay with them I was out on several occasions and witnessed this. {492}Â
     âPolitical leaders of both sides have stressed the necessity for refugees to stay in their own areas and particularly for Muslims to remain in the Indian Dominion. Both sides have guaranteed the security of the minority community. If they could guarantee the security of the minority community why did they not do it during the past month? There is no doubt whatsoever that the Muslims now living in Hindustan have not the slightest confidence in the Hindu government as regards the security of life or property. It is my personal belief that sooner or later every Muslim will have to leave India because they will be forced out by persons who are determined to get their land and property. It is something far beyond the capacity of the civil administration to stop and the quicker the transfer of population takes place and the rehabilitation of the Muslim community, the better. There are a number of officers and men now serving in the Indian Army who have volunteered to serve the Dominion of India even though they are Muslims. It would be advisable within the next month or two to ask these persons if they wish to reconsider their decisions and give them the opportunity of going to Pakistan if necessary, otherwise one is likely to be nursing a viper in oneâs bosom.
    âThe relation between the Army and the Sikh Jathas is of interest. How long this particular type of relationship will continue is not known. The Indian Army is entrusted with the work of protecting and defending Muslim refugees during their evacuation. The Sikh Jathas are intent on killing as many as they can. As a result the Indian Army is repeatedly firing on Sikh Jathas and will continue to do so. The Sikhs appear to take this as the Army doing their job and seem to bear no resentment whatsoever against either Indian or British officers for carrying out the work they have been instructed to supervise. However, should the feeling of the Sikh Jathas change and an antagonism between the Army carrying out this duty and the Sikhs take place, then the situation will be extremely grave as these Sikh Jathas would then start ambushing and attacking isolated trucks, thereby forcing the Army to use larger numbers of personnel in the escort of small parties.â {493}Â
     On the morning of the 7th September, Delhi, too, blew up with a loud explosion. It seems that it was started by nonMuslim refugees from the West Punjab of whom there were no less than 200,000 in and about Delhi. In Connaught Place in New Delhi, where such a thing had only once before been known, there was hooliganism and looting. Soldiers turned out to reinforce the police and picketed the streets. A drive through Connaught Place soon after the affray showed all Muslim shops burst open, looted and their contents strewn far and wide across the street.
     For weeks afterwards no Muslim servant from the residential quarter of New Delhi could venture out of his masterâs compound to visit the bazaar. It was a reign of terror such as we had only too often experienced in Calcutta.
One of my majors was at Delhi railway station on the 8th September. He had been detailed for regimental duty at Delhi and Meerut. After finishing his duty at Delhi, he arrived at the station at about half-past seven on the morning of the 8th September to catch the train to Meerut. As he was entering the station he saw before him a crowd consisting mainly of Sikhs. On looking more closely he discerned about six Sikhs with large kirpans slashing a Muslim lying on the station platform. They had finished him by the time he had taken it all in, so he went on to the R.T.O.âs office on the platform.
At the R.T.O.âs office he found about a dozen British soldiers, all unarmed, waiting for a train to Deolali; some of them were from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. He asked them what was going on and they said the Sikhs (in all about 200-300 on the station) were searching around for Muslims and killing them. Within the next five minutes he himself saw three more Muslims chased and killed by Sikhs. He then asked the R.T.O. if there were any military guard on the station. He answered that there was, but it was not to be seen, so our major walked all round the station looking for them but failed to find any trace of them. However, he did see three more bodies obviously killed by swords. One was a Muslim soldier, probably a follower, judging by the way he was dressed. Then he returned to the R.T.O.âs office and Station Masterâs office to enquire about his train but was told that no trains would leave while the fracas lasted. So he tried {494} to ring G.H.Q. in New Delhi for transport to get the B.O.R.s and himself away from the station, but all the telephones were dead. He went back to the R.T.O.âs office just in time to witness three more murders, the last one committed about four yards from him.
     He had noticed a Sikh in military uniform with a large kirpan leading these last murders. This was obviously the leader, for he was called to do the killing whenever a Muslim was found. After each killing he raised his sword aloft while the Sikhs around cheered. He was helped by others and usually followed by three or four Hindus who stuck spears into the bodies when they were dead.
     After the last killing the officer walked up to this Sikh to learn his unit. He asked the Sikh if he was mad. Even if he had suffered in the Punjab, would he, if bitten by a mad dog, bite it back? He pointed out that his last victim was a very old Muslim who had no chance whatsoever of protecting himself. Although this poor victim had run towards the British soldiers, they could do nothing, being unarmed and completely outnumbered, while some of the Sikhs were carrying revolvers and at least two had rifles.
     The Sikh replied in English smothered with bad language that he had better mind his own business or he would get it as well. By this time the major had taken a good look at the Sikh from close quarters and in his report noted that he had all the appearance of a military officer by his dress and by the way he held himself.
     The Sikh then walked off, but the British officer had marked him well, hoping to find him again when he could lay hands on some armed military. Most of the British soldiers left the station by truck at that time, about 8 a.m., so he went up to the restaurant to get some tea. Near the restaurant he met a Sikh captain who said he was from Bengal and Assam Area H.Q. Both were heading the same way so they decided to go together. At about 9.30 a.m. the two officers went out to look for the Sikh ringleader. By then the military arrived to clear the station for some Airborne troops, about 200 Muslims, who had been waiting outside the station since early morning to get a special train for Pakistan. Under command of an Indian captain, the Hindu troops soon cleared the station very efficiently. Our officer told them what he had seen and then {495} he and the Sikh officer walked about the station looking for the Sikh who had committed these murders, but there was no sign of him and most of the Sikhs had gone.
     There was no further trouble on the station but the Pakistan special was cancelled owing to the tension. The British officer and the Sikh captain left on a train at 12.20 p.m. for Meerut. Nothing further happened except that on the journey they protected a U.P. Muslim police officer and his sister by taking them into their carriage, as the Sikh officer had found out that the Sikh refugees on the train were after them.
     There was butchery on the trains running between Delhi and our United Provinces. On the 7th September a train left Delhi station: it got only as far as Nizamuddin, a mile or two outside, when Sikhs on the train pulled the communication cord. The train stopped and these so-called men got out and systematically butchered every single Muslim on the train. We were hard put to it to find train escorts from the United Provinces area to take trains into Delhi and were lucky not to have a major incident within our borders. General Curtis had, for some weeks previously, by pressing the local government, succeeded in getting armed police guards on to all the trains, and it is probable that the fact that he had for many days been alive to the possibility of this trouble gave him a flying start in train protection. It was between Muttra and Delhi that journeys were the most precarious in our borders. Army Headquarters (India) now introduced the death sentence for anyone in charge of a train or convoy whose charge was attacked and on which casualties were inflicted owing to his failure to act against the attackers. This was a confession of the state to which we were reduced in the Punjab.
    Sikh savagery was appalling. Long after the victim was dead they would slash and slash away at the body, carving it up. They, and many Hindus, were like dogs that had taken to killing sheepâjust an insensate, devilish lust to wallow in the blood of helpless creatures.
     We had now come to the pass where our one and only hitherto reasonably reliable radio station, All?India Radio, was communal. There was nowhere in eastern India, except the Calcutta Statesman, whither we could turn for news.
Notes:
[1] For some reason, the majority of Muslim soldiers were ordinarily reported by observers as being of the Baluch Regiment.
http://sourcebook.fsc.edu/history/tuker.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
     âPolitical leaders of both sides have stressed the necessity for refugees to stay in their own areas and particularly for Muslims to remain in the Indian Dominion. Both sides have guaranteed the security of the minority community. If they could guarantee the security of the minority community why did they not do it during the past month? There is no doubt whatsoever that the Muslims now living in Hindustan have not the slightest confidence in the Hindu government as regards the security of life or property. It is my personal belief that sooner or later every Muslim will have to leave India because they will be forced out by persons who are determined to get their land and property. It is something far beyond the capacity of the civil administration to stop and the quicker the transfer of population takes place and the rehabilitation of the Muslim community, the better. There are a number of officers and men now serving in the Indian Army who have volunteered to serve the Dominion of India even though they are Muslims. It would be advisable within the next month or two to ask these persons if they wish to reconsider their decisions and give them the opportunity of going to Pakistan if necessary, otherwise one is likely to be nursing a viper in oneâs bosom.
    âThe relation between the Army and the Sikh Jathas is of interest. How long this particular type of relationship will continue is not known. The Indian Army is entrusted with the work of protecting and defending Muslim refugees during their evacuation. The Sikh Jathas are intent on killing as many as they can. As a result the Indian Army is repeatedly firing on Sikh Jathas and will continue to do so. The Sikhs appear to take this as the Army doing their job and seem to bear no resentment whatsoever against either Indian or British officers for carrying out the work they have been instructed to supervise. However, should the feeling of the Sikh Jathas change and an antagonism between the Army carrying out this duty and the Sikhs take place, then the situation will be extremely grave as these Sikh Jathas would then start ambushing and attacking isolated trucks, thereby forcing the Army to use larger numbers of personnel in the escort of small parties.â {493}Â
     On the morning of the 7th September, Delhi, too, blew up with a loud explosion. It seems that it was started by nonMuslim refugees from the West Punjab of whom there were no less than 200,000 in and about Delhi. In Connaught Place in New Delhi, where such a thing had only once before been known, there was hooliganism and looting. Soldiers turned out to reinforce the police and picketed the streets. A drive through Connaught Place soon after the affray showed all Muslim shops burst open, looted and their contents strewn far and wide across the street.
     For weeks afterwards no Muslim servant from the residential quarter of New Delhi could venture out of his masterâs compound to visit the bazaar. It was a reign of terror such as we had only too often experienced in Calcutta.
One of my majors was at Delhi railway station on the 8th September. He had been detailed for regimental duty at Delhi and Meerut. After finishing his duty at Delhi, he arrived at the station at about half-past seven on the morning of the 8th September to catch the train to Meerut. As he was entering the station he saw before him a crowd consisting mainly of Sikhs. On looking more closely he discerned about six Sikhs with large kirpans slashing a Muslim lying on the station platform. They had finished him by the time he had taken it all in, so he went on to the R.T.O.âs office on the platform.
At the R.T.O.âs office he found about a dozen British soldiers, all unarmed, waiting for a train to Deolali; some of them were from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. He asked them what was going on and they said the Sikhs (in all about 200-300 on the station) were searching around for Muslims and killing them. Within the next five minutes he himself saw three more Muslims chased and killed by Sikhs. He then asked the R.T.O. if there were any military guard on the station. He answered that there was, but it was not to be seen, so our major walked all round the station looking for them but failed to find any trace of them. However, he did see three more bodies obviously killed by swords. One was a Muslim soldier, probably a follower, judging by the way he was dressed. Then he returned to the R.T.O.âs office and Station Masterâs office to enquire about his train but was told that no trains would leave while the fracas lasted. So he tried {494} to ring G.H.Q. in New Delhi for transport to get the B.O.R.s and himself away from the station, but all the telephones were dead. He went back to the R.T.O.âs office just in time to witness three more murders, the last one committed about four yards from him.
     He had noticed a Sikh in military uniform with a large kirpan leading these last murders. This was obviously the leader, for he was called to do the killing whenever a Muslim was found. After each killing he raised his sword aloft while the Sikhs around cheered. He was helped by others and usually followed by three or four Hindus who stuck spears into the bodies when they were dead.
     After the last killing the officer walked up to this Sikh to learn his unit. He asked the Sikh if he was mad. Even if he had suffered in the Punjab, would he, if bitten by a mad dog, bite it back? He pointed out that his last victim was a very old Muslim who had no chance whatsoever of protecting himself. Although this poor victim had run towards the British soldiers, they could do nothing, being unarmed and completely outnumbered, while some of the Sikhs were carrying revolvers and at least two had rifles.
     The Sikh replied in English smothered with bad language that he had better mind his own business or he would get it as well. By this time the major had taken a good look at the Sikh from close quarters and in his report noted that he had all the appearance of a military officer by his dress and by the way he held himself.
     The Sikh then walked off, but the British officer had marked him well, hoping to find him again when he could lay hands on some armed military. Most of the British soldiers left the station by truck at that time, about 8 a.m., so he went up to the restaurant to get some tea. Near the restaurant he met a Sikh captain who said he was from Bengal and Assam Area H.Q. Both were heading the same way so they decided to go together. At about 9.30 a.m. the two officers went out to look for the Sikh ringleader. By then the military arrived to clear the station for some Airborne troops, about 200 Muslims, who had been waiting outside the station since early morning to get a special train for Pakistan. Under command of an Indian captain, the Hindu troops soon cleared the station very efficiently. Our officer told them what he had seen and then {495} he and the Sikh officer walked about the station looking for the Sikh who had committed these murders, but there was no sign of him and most of the Sikhs had gone.
     There was no further trouble on the station but the Pakistan special was cancelled owing to the tension. The British officer and the Sikh captain left on a train at 12.20 p.m. for Meerut. Nothing further happened except that on the journey they protected a U.P. Muslim police officer and his sister by taking them into their carriage, as the Sikh officer had found out that the Sikh refugees on the train were after them.
     There was butchery on the trains running between Delhi and our United Provinces. On the 7th September a train left Delhi station: it got only as far as Nizamuddin, a mile or two outside, when Sikhs on the train pulled the communication cord. The train stopped and these so-called men got out and systematically butchered every single Muslim on the train. We were hard put to it to find train escorts from the United Provinces area to take trains into Delhi and were lucky not to have a major incident within our borders. General Curtis had, for some weeks previously, by pressing the local government, succeeded in getting armed police guards on to all the trains, and it is probable that the fact that he had for many days been alive to the possibility of this trouble gave him a flying start in train protection. It was between Muttra and Delhi that journeys were the most precarious in our borders. Army Headquarters (India) now introduced the death sentence for anyone in charge of a train or convoy whose charge was attacked and on which casualties were inflicted owing to his failure to act against the attackers. This was a confession of the state to which we were reduced in the Punjab.
    Sikh savagery was appalling. Long after the victim was dead they would slash and slash away at the body, carving it up. They, and many Hindus, were like dogs that had taken to killing sheepâjust an insensate, devilish lust to wallow in the blood of helpless creatures.
     We had now come to the pass where our one and only hitherto reasonably reliable radio station, All?India Radio, was communal. There was nowhere in eastern India, except the Calcutta Statesman, whither we could turn for news.
Notes:
[1] For some reason, the majority of Muslim soldiers were ordinarily reported by observers as being of the Baluch Regiment.
http://sourcebook.fsc.edu/history/tuker.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->