A look back at the partition

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SriKumar
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Re: A look back at the partition

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nachiket wrote:
SBajwa wrote: Cows and buffaloes were a common sight in city streets. Hindus respected the ox because they believed it to be Shivji Maharaj's mount. The cow was, of course, sacred to all Hindus.
:D
Fascinating and bizarre if true. I know of no such belief in Maharashtra about Shivaji Maharaj's mount. Wonder what would make Hindus in Lahore believe that, unless it is some kind of misinterpretation on the writer's part. All of Shivaji's statues everywhere in MH show him on a horse, which makes sense since that is what everyone rode into battle, not oxen.
It says: Shiv-ji, not Shivaji. :D
Shiv-ji's Nandi bull, yaar........ now you've got me trying to imagine Shivaji Chatrapathi on an ox. :rotfl:
Last edited by SriKumar on 26 Nov 2019 05:45, edited 1 time in total.
nachiket
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Re: A look back at the partition

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:rotfl: I was thrown off by the "Maharaj". Never seen that used after Shivji's name. So my mind automatically converted it to Shivaji.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/s ... ore/203610
Last days in Lahore

By Khushwant Singh

IT was one day in mid-June, 1947. Hot, still and silent. People were rudely shaken out of their siestas by shouts and exploding crackers. Since March, their nights had been disturbed by sporadic gunfire and mobs yelling in the streets,hurlingslogans like missiles. From one end Muslims armed with knives and lathis shouted Naara-e-Takbeer followed by full-throated Allah-O-Akbars. From the other end came the reply: Har Har Mahadev and Boley-se-Nihal-Sat Sri Akal. Stones were thrown at each other, abuses exchanged, and unwary pedestrians stabbed to death. The police fired to disperse mobs, a few people were killed before peace was restored. Next morning, the papers reported the casualties like Muslims Vs the Rest cricket scores. The scote was invariably in favour of Muslims. The chief mason for Muslims having the upper hand was that the umpires were Muslims. Over 80 per cent of Punjab Police was Muslim; the state government was Muslim-dominated. It was the same story all over western Punjab. Hindus and Sikhs had begun pulling out of Muslim-dominated towns to Lahore. And finding Lahore equally unsafe, trudged on to Amritsar and towns of eastern Punjab where Hindus and Sikhs outnumbered Muslims.

That June afternoon of 1947 remains etched in my mind. I had returned from the high court when I heard the uproar. I ran up to the roof of my apartment. The sun burnt down fiercely over the city. From the centre billowed out a huge cloud of dense, black smoke. I did not have to make guesses; the Hindu-Sikh mohalla of Shahalmi was going up in flames. Muslim goondas had broken the back of non-Muslim resistance. After Shahalmi, the fight went out of the Hindus and Sikhs of Lahore. We remained mute spectators to Muslim League supporters marching in disciplined phalanxes chanting: Pakistan ka Naara Kya/ La-Ilaha-Il-Lal-lah.

The turmoil had little impact on the well-to-do who lived around Lawrence Gardens (today's Bagh-e-Jinnah), and on either side of the canal which ran on the eastern end of Lahore. We went about in our cars to our offices, spent evenings playing tennis at the Cosmopolitan or the Gymkhana Club, had dinner parties where Scotch which cost Rs 11 per bottle flowed like waters of the Ravi. In elite residential areas, the old bonhomie of Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai-ism continued. We placed a lot of faith in the Unionist government of Khizr Hayat Tiwana who had Hindus and Sikhs in his cabinet and was strongly opposed to a separate Muslim state. League leaders turned their ire on him. Processionists chanted: Taazi Khabar, Mar Gaya Khizr. Then he threw in the sponge. Overnight he became the hero of Muslim sloganeers: Taazi Khabar Aayee Hai/Khizr Hamara Bhai Hai.

The juggernaut gathered speed. Hindus and Sikhs began to sell properties and slip out towards eastern Punjab. One day I found my neighbour on one side had painted in large Urdu calligraphy Parsee Ka Makaan. One on the other side had a huge cross painted in white. Unmarked Hindu-Sikh houses were thus marked out. We were within walking distance of Mozang, a centre of Muslim goondas. I did not see anyone being killed but, unknown to me, escaped being murdered myself. I had gone to do a case in Abbotabad. I decided to walk down to Taxila to catch a train to Lahore. I was surprised to see the road deserted. Suddenly a lorryload of Sikh soldiers pulled up and a lieutenant ordered me to get in. "Are you crazy?" he shouted. "They have killed all Sikhs in neighbouring villages and you are strolling The Singhs with Manzur Qadir and his wife I along unconcerned." At Taxila station, I noticed the train halt at a signal. Sikhs were dragged out and killed. At Badami Bagh, there was another massacre. Locked in my first-class bogey, I neither saw nor heard anything. At Lahore, my friend Manzur Qadir (later foreign minister of Pakistan) was on the platform to take me home.

By July 1947, stories of violence against Muslims in east Punjab circulated in Lahore, and a trickle of Muslim refugees flew westwards. This further roused Muslim fury. The last time I went to the High Court I saw a dozen Sikh students of National College in handcuffs. They were charged with the murder of two Muslims on Grand Trunk Road, running in front of their college. Among them was Ganga Singh Dhilion, later pioneer of the demand for Khalistan. They were produced before Justice Teja Singh, the only Sikh judge. He heed them on bail. That had become the pattern of justice.

A week before Independence, Chris Everett, head of the CID in Punjab who had studied Law with me in London, advisedme to get out of Lahore. Escorted by six Baluch constables, my wife and I took a train to Kalka to join our two children who had been sent ahead to their grand-parents in Kasauli. By arrangement, I met Manzur Qadir coming down from Simla and handed him the keys of my house.

Then, I drove down to Delhi. There wasn't a soul on the 200-mile stretch. I arrived in Delhi on August 13, 1947. The next night I was among the crowd outside Parliament House chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. We heard Sucheta Kripalani's voice over loudspeakers singing Vande Mataram. Then Nehru's Tryst with Destiny speech. What a Tryst it was! And what Destiny!
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by vishvak »

Over 80 per cent of Punjab Police was Muslim; the state government was Muslim-dominated.
..
We remained mute spectators to Muslim League supporters marching in disciplined phalanxes chanting: Pakistan ka Naara Kya/ La-Ilaha-Il-Lal-lah.
..
The turmoil had little impact on the well-to-do who lived around Lawrence Gardens (today's Bagh-e-Jinnah), and on either side of the canal which ran on the eastern end of Lahore. We went about in our cars to our offices, spent evenings playing tennis at the Cosmopolitan or the Gymkhana Club, had dinner parties where Scotch which cost Rs 11 per bottle flowed like waters of the Ravi. In elite residential areas, the old bonhomie of Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai-ism continued. We placed a lot of faith in the Unionist government of Khizr Hayat Tiwana who had Hindus and Sikhs in his cabinet and was strongly opposed to a separate Muslim state. League leaders turned their ire on him. Processionists chanted: Taazi Khabar, Mar Gaya Khizr. Then he threw in the sponge. Overnight he became the hero of Muslim sloganeers: Taazi Khabar Aayee Hai/Khizr Hamara Bhai Hai.
For those who claim that partition was one off and things just happened one off.. every one else other than la la Lawrence lands was butchered it seems or looted and kicked out.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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SBajwa
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Re: A look back at the partition

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https://www.punjabpartition.com/single- ... Rawalpindi

Partition stories often show the ugliness of humanity, some stories over burden the reader with explanation but there are some stories that clearly show the inflection point that started it all. The genesis of the violence that engulfed Punjab in 1947. And all this began on March 6th in the Rawalpindi district.



The Pindi Sikhs and Hindus were considered the cream of the Punjabi elite with their big Havelis in the Rawalpindi City. One such haveli was at the city's Chowk Saidpur. They were the major zamindars and businessmen, and also formed the educated class of the district. The Bedis, Suris, Sahnis, Sethis, Sobtis, Chadhas, Ahluwalias were the richest residents of Pindi, as they had lots of land, in different Canal Colonies of Punjab, and owned bungalows and palatial houses in Pindi. Next came the Khatris from Bhera which consisted of the Chopras, Khoslas, Bhatias, Bajajs, Kapoors, Sachdevas, Khuranas and others.



The pain of what they endured in the Spring of 1947 was the single most important event that bifurcated the Hindu/Sikh and Muslim relations forever. There is no event past or present that made this separation permanent in Punjab. If we look back in history to identify the single most important event of the 20th century that marked the beginning of this separation, it was Rawalpindi.

The tribesmen of Murree attacked the Rawalpindi City and the villages of Thoha Khalsa (map), Doberan, Thamali, Kallar, Dera Khalsa and other parts of the Kahuta region on March 6th. These tribesmen were then joined by thousands of Muslim villagers of the district. Photographs of the aftermath can be seen here.





From the Panthic article:

"

All the Sikhs after hearing the emotional lecture of Sant Gulaab Singh agreed to move to his house. They brought all their money, jewellery and gold etc, along with them and assembled at his house. In total about 1200 Sikhs assembled at his house. They fortified the haveli by making bunkers and replacing regular doors with heavy doors. They covered the walls of the haveli with shields of iron. First of all they secured a large room and brought all Saroops of Dhan Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee over there. Over 36 saroops were brought to that room. Big tanks of water were filled and large quantity of fire-wood and grains was stocked up. They were in great danger, so they all started doing paath day and night. They asked Guru Sahib for strength to save their faith. On March 8, 1947 while the sangat was doing Siri Rehraas Sahib paath, many thousand Muslims came and surrounded the building.



They were shouting “Allah ho Akbar”, “Muslim League Zindabad”, “Kaffron ko Mar do” i.e kill the infidels. There must have been at least 6000 Muslims and all had weapons. Many had guns. Some were on horse backs and they were shouting anti Sikh slogans. They were uttering obscenities against Master Tara Singh and other Sikh leaders. The sangat kept doing simran of Vaheguru Vaheguru. The Muslim crowd assembled in the school building. It is not clear what was decided in that meeting but when they came out of the meeting they started burning the shops and houses owned by the Sikhs. Then they attacked the haveli where all the Sikhs were present. The Sikhs had some guns and they kept the crowd away.



On one side of the haveli, they attacked with great vigour. Sardar Partap Singh, a very brave young man, took along with him about 8-9 Singhs and attacked the attacking Muslims. They attacked with so much force that the Muslims were pushed back. One of the bullets hit Sardar Partap Singh on his leg.



The next day again the Muslims came back but this time they did not wait for the night. They came back around 10am. The Muslims again attacked but could not get in the haveli. Then the Muslims sent a representative to talk to the Sikhs and Hindus holed up in the haveli. Sant Gulab Singh refused to accept their conditions that they should disarm themselves.This way the fight went on for 2 more days. Finally on the last day, the Muslims came with bombs and said that they would bomb the haveli if the Sikhs and Hindus did not get out of there.



The Muslims promised by swearing on the Koran that they were only interested in the gold and money and not in killing anyone. The Sikhs and Hindus had no choice but to get out. They did ardaas and moved out, leaving all belongings behind.After they came out, they got surrounded by the large crowd of Muslims. The Sikhs and Hindus arrived at the sarovar of the local Gurdwara Sahib. The pathaans armed with latest weapons surrounded the Sikhs and Hindus sitting around the sarovar. The Sikhs were chanting “Satnam Siri Vaheguru”. By then about 10,000 Muslims came where the Sikhs and Hindus were. Along with them, they had a dozens of barbers lined up to cut the hair of Sikhs. Children were crying for food and milk. Old and young were helpless to do anything. The whole scene was a scene from hell.

"

Other reference material can be found here:

https://tribune.com.pk/story/619750/ago ... partition/

http://thohakhalsa.blogspot.com/p/history_7.html

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/ ... s-decision

http://bit.ly/2wg3RP2



Eye witness account by Sardar Pritpal Singh of Thoha Khalsa, who as a young child attempted suicide along with his sisters and mother but survived somehow.



This video shows the well where Sikh and Hindu women jumped into to save their honor from the mobs.



Photographs of the survivors of Thoha Khalsa



Author Urvashi Butalia talks to the survivors of Thoha Khalsa and describes the events that took place in March, 1947 in the Rawalpindi district.



Excerpt:

"

My name is Basant Kaur. My husband's name was Sant Raja Singh. We came away from our houses on March 12, and on the 13th we stayed out, in the village. At first, we tried to show our strength, and then we realized that this would not work, so we joined the morcha to go away. We left our home in Thoa Khalsa on the 12th. For three or four days we were trapped inside our houses, we couldn't get out, though we used to move across the roofs of houses and that way we could get out a bit. One of our people had a gun, we used that, and two or three of their people died. I lost a brother-in-law. He died from a bullet they fired. It hit him and he died. So we kept the gun handy. Then there were fires all around, raging fires, and we were no match for them. I had a jeth, my older brother-in-law, he had a son, he kept asking give me afim [opium], mix it in water and I will take it.



My jeth killed his mother, his sister, his wife, his daughter, and his uncle. My daughter was also killed. We went into the morcha inside the village, we all left our houses and collected together in the centre of the village, inside the sardaran di haveli, where there was also a well. It was Lajjawanti's house. The sardar, her husband, had died sometime ago, but his wife and other women of the house were there. Some children also. They all came out. Then we all talked and said we don't want to become Musalmaan, we would rather die. So everyone was given a bit of afim, they were told, you keep this with you…I went upstairs, and when I came down there was my husband, my jeth's son, my jethani, her daughters, my jeth, my grandsons, three granddaughters. They were all killed so that they would not fall into the hands of Musalmaans. One girl from our village, she had gone off with the Musalmaans. She was quite beautiful, and everyone got worried that if one has gone, they will take all our girls away…so it was then that they decided to kill the girls. My jeth, his name is Harbans Singh, he killed his wife, his daughter, his son…he was small, only eight days old. Then my sister-in-law was killed, her son and her daughter, and then on the 14th of March we came to Jhelum. The vehicles came and took us, and we stayed there for about a month and then we came to Delhi.

"



Author and Historian Ishtiaq Ahmed, writes:

"

These were not riots but deliberately organised military campaigns. Long before the disturbances broke out secret meetings were held in mosques under the leadership of Syed Akbar Khan … ex-MLA, Capt. Lal Khan of Kahuta, Tehsildar and Police Sub-Inspector Kahuta, Maulvi Abdul Rehman and Kala Khan MLA, in which jihad… was proclaimed against the minorities and emissaries were sent out to collect volunteers from the rural areas…. The armed crowds which attacked Kahuta, Thoa Khalsa, and Nara etc. were led by ex-military men on horseback… armed with Tommy guns, pistols, rifles, hand grenades, hatchets, petrol tins and even carried field glasses.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah never condemned these atrocities and not a single statement was made by the Muslim League denouncing the ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs in Rawalpindi. And during the discussions between Jinnah and the Sikh representative, the Maharaja of Patiala, on 19th May 1947, in which Jinnah was pleading with the Sikhs to join Pakistan in order to prevent Punjab's partition, the notion that the Sikhs would entertain the idea of joining Pakistan after what the Muslims did to them in Rawalpindi was out of the question.



The events in August saw the armed Sikh jathas going berserk on the Muslims in east Punjab to avenge the killings in west Punjab. Revenge and counter revenge created its own vicious cycle in the summer months of 1947.



At the end of the violence in Rawalpindi, about 8,000 to 10,000 Sikhs and Hindus were slaughtered in the district. The official announcement of the intent to create a separate Muslim state of Pakistan was still months away but this one event had sown the seeds of a permanent fissure between Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims in Punjab. Punjab at the time was still governed by the British, but the writing was on the wall that the British wanted to get out of India as soon as possible. There was no law and order in Punjab and everyone was left to fend for themselves.

First of all minorities were disarmed with the help of the local police and by giving assurances on oaths on the Holy Quran of peaceful intentions. After this had been done, the helpless and unarmed minorities were attacked. On their resistance having collapsed, lock-breakers and looters came into action with their transport corps of mules, donkeys and camels. Then came the ‘Mujahideens’ with tins of petrol and kerosene oil and set fire to the looted shops and houses. Then there were Maulvis… with barbers to convert who somehow or other escaped slaughter and rape. The barbers shaved the hair and beards and circumcised the victims. Maulvis … performed forcible marriage ceremonies. After this came the looters, including women and men.

SBajwa
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Re: A look back at the partition

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Violence, Martyrdom and Partition: A Daughter’s Testimony
By Nonica Datta

https://books.google.com/books?id=tPQtD ... di&f=false
vishvak
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Re: A look back at the partition

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First of all minorities were disarmed with the help of the local police and by giving assurances on oaths on the Holy Quran of peaceful intentions. After this had been done, the helpless and unarmed minorities were attacked. On their resistance having collapsed, lock-breakers and looters came into action with their transport corps of mules, donkeys and camels. Then came the ‘Mujahideens’ with tins of petrol and kerosene oil and set fire to the looted shops and houses. Then there were Maulvis… with barbers to convert who somehow or other escaped slaughter and rape. The barbers shaved the hair and beards and circumcised the victims. Maulvis … performed forcible marriage ceremonies. After this came the looters, including women and men.
Something similar happened in Syria when isil horde descended .. from different countries all over world. The minority populations were disarmed by same defenders around; monies were exchanged; butchering beheading loot plunder were done by invaders; new rulers rose up; hordes spread to more areas even in Iraq when it is weak (still is weak); jihadi corridors and jihadi airway was opened; and so on and so forth till winter came for isil (Russians) and bombed the fk out of barbarians.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

^
And the Pakistan apologists including British sympathisers or whitewashers( like Ian Stephens, Ian Morrison, Leonard Mosley, Percy Howard et al) maintained that the killings by the Moslems in West Punjab were spontaneous, individual or at least unorganised and not pre-planned. The two articles posted above prove what a sick farce that idea is. The apologists are quite muted when it comes to that period between March-July/1947, when the killings were heavily in 'favour' of the Moslems. The Sikhs were even taunted that they had lost their vigour and martial ability, since many Sikhs were killed in Amritsar itself in March 1947. The Sikhs retaliated with interest starting in the second week of August 1947. The Moslems of course, continued with their slaughters, but this time, their was a massive response.

The British accounts of that horrible year, tend to be highly scrutinous and critical of the Sikhs and Hindus, and gloss over killings by Moslems( though they are thrown in here and there for good measure).
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Re: A look back at the partition

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Varoon Shekhar wrote:^
And the Pakistan apologists including British sympathisers or whitewashers( like Ian Stephens, Ian Morrison, Leonard Mosley, Percy Howard et al) maintained that the killings by the Moslems in West Punjab were spontaneous, individual or at least unorganised and not pre-planned. The two articles posted above prove what a sick farce that idea is. The apologists are quite muted when it comes to that period between March-July/1947, when the killings were heavily in 'favour' of the Moslems. The Sikhs were even taunted that they had lost their vigour and martial ability, since many Sikhs were killed in Amritsar itself in March 1947. The Sikhs retaliated with interest starting in the second week of August 1947. The Moslems of course, continued with their slaughters, but this time, their was a massive response.

The British accounts of that horrible year, tend to be highly scrutinous and critical of the Sikhs and Hindus, and gloss over killings by Moslems( though they are thrown in here and there for good measure).
Between March and July of 1947 people living in the area west of River Ravi had no clue where to go and what part will become India and what will become Pakistan. Rawalpindi had 60% non-muslims and most of the property owned by them., it became part of Pakistan. Rich people moved to Amritsar or Delhi where they already owned buildings. Poor people had nowhere to run and settled in around villages in Punjab-Haryana. Till 2000 or so there existed an orphanage in Karnal for the victims of 1947 violence (mostly ladies who were brought back from Pakistan and could not found their families).
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Re: A look back at the partition

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Varoon Shekhar wrote:^
And the Pakistan apologists including British sympathisers or whitewashers( like Ian Stephens, Ian Morrison, Leonard Mosley, Percy Howard et al) maintained that the killings by the Moslems in West Punjab were spontaneous, individual or at least unorganised and not pre-planned. The two articles posted above prove what a sick farce that idea is. The apologists are quite muted when it comes to that period between March-July/1947, when the killings were heavily in 'favour' of the Moslems. The Sikhs were even taunted that they had lost their vigour and martial ability, since many Sikhs were killed in Amritsar itself in March 1947. The Sikhs retaliated with interest starting in the second week of August 1947. The Moslems of course, continued with their slaughters, but this time, their was a massive response.

The British accounts of that horrible year, tend to be highly scrutinous and critical of the Sikhs and Hindus, and gloss over killings by Moslems( though they are thrown in here and there for good measure).
The Sikh retaliation has made such an impact on pakistani psyche that they are fearful of them and there are many grandmother/grandfather tales that give them the jeepers. You get the fear that this has on their minds when you see some of the paki serial episodes where sikh characters are shown.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by sanjaykumar »

Is there a memorial anywhere in India to those Hindus/Sikhs who died in this most horrific manner, I cannot imagine how family members were killed by relatives, people who chose death over Islam.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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sanjaykumar wrote:Is there a memorial anywhere in India to those Hindus/Sikhs who died in this most horrific manner, I cannot imagine how family members were killed by relatives, people who chose death over Islam.
There is a partition museum very close to Golden temple on Amritsar but that does not have many details.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by sanjaykumar »

I will definitely see that museum.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by manjgu »

its a good museum ... pl carry a id if u plan to visit the museum.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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sanjaykumar wrote:Is there a memorial anywhere in India to those Hindus/Sikhs who died in this most horrific manner, I cannot imagine how family members were killed by relatives, people who chose death over Islam.
It was not just about not choosing Islam, a lot of women were killed by their own family to prevent them from experiencing what those frenzied mobs did to minority women in Lahore. I read two other versions of this type of stories (one happened in a gurudwara) over the years.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by sanjaykumar »

Muslim_League_Attack_on_Sikhs_and_Hindus_in_the_Punjab_1947

Available on the web.

I have known about this book for years but never had the stomach to read it.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

[quote="sanjaykumar"]Muslim_League_Attack_on_Sikhs_and_Hindus_in_the_Punjab_1947

/quote]

Same here, for 20 years i've known about it. There is no counter to the chronicle by Paki or British apologists, because the facts are irrefutable. All they can say is that it was part of the general atmosphere of communal tension between the communities on the eve of the British departure. One British writing at the actual time, ( Ian Morrison of the Times of London) had the insufferable mendacity to link it directly to the Bihar and UP riots in 1946, where Moslems got the worst of it. Pro-Moslem League Indian writer A.Noorani, blames the Sikhs for starting it because Tara Singh brought down a Moslem League flag pole.

Sickening is absolutely right.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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vishvak
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by vishvak »

Imagine a scenario for analogy of environment pollution control as policy. An earlier pact (Kyoto) died due to non-adherance, so the new standards were put in place with 'new average' ie every one who adhered earlier now has to adjust more, while those who broke it hide behind the same mechanism (average out).

So the gangs of kabali/irregular somehow are never affected by current issues ie population control, hatred, violence, etc till new normal is achieved while the cool dudes make their career out of lecturing non-believers who are ready to buy guilt.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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Check from 4:25 onwards. The Porki (Covert to Muslim from Sikh) is :(( humne Sikho ko Kartapur corridor diya lekin hum kaise bhoolehge Sikh o ne hamare saath kya kiya partition ke waqt.
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Re: A look back at the partition

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SriKumar wrote:
sanjaykumar wrote:Is there a memorial anywhere in India to those Hindus/Sikhs who died in this most horrific manner, I cannot imagine how family members were killed by relatives, people who chose death over Islam.
It was not just about not choosing Islam, a lot of women were killed by their own family to prevent them from experiencing what those frenzied mobs did to minority women in Lahore. I read two other versions of this type of stories (one happened in a gurudwara) over the years.
There is a need for a massive and detailed museum to memorialize the 100 million Indians killed and enslaved in Jihad over last 1000 years. Partition, Op Searchlight, Kashmir Jihad is just the continuation of the same gradual churn by the Jihad Machine to push out and replace Indics. If we don't remember it, we wont learn from it. And if we wont learn from it, we wont avoid it from repeating again in our own neighborhood someday.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by SriKumar »

I agree atleast partially, which is why I am glad SBajwa bothered to post his articles. I still cannot get my mind around a situation where one has to deliberately kill one's mother/sister/etc etc 'to protect them'. That such extreme situations happened so recently is disturbing. The mountain range Hindu Kush means 'Hindu Death' or Hindu Kill or something like that.....an Iranian friend told me. I read somewhere that so many Hindus who were taken prisoner and marched across the mountain range died in the cold and extreme conditions- I did not google this. These have to be marked and not forgotten. The danger of remembrance is that we get tied even more strongly to the past, but clearly, this past must be remembered atleast in a dis-interested way...or else ..... 'those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it'.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by sanjaykumar »

Kush is the same as in khud kushi. Suicide. Self kill.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by SBajwa »

SriKumar wrote:I agree atleast partially, which is why I am glad SBajwa bothered to post his articles. I still cannot get my mind around a situation where one has to deliberately kill one's mother/sister/etc etc 'to protect them'. That such extreme situations happened so recently is disturbing. The mountain range Hindu Kush means 'Hindu Death' or Hindu Kill or something like that.....an Iranian friend told me. I read somewhere that so many Hindus who were taken prisoner and marched across the mountain range died in the cold and extreme conditions- I did not google this. These have to be marked and not forgotten. The danger of remembrance is that we get tied even more strongly to the past, but clearly, this past must be remembered atleast in a dis-interested way...or else ..... 'those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it'.
This has been happening ever since Islam was created. There is no such thing as Sufiism. Even Aurungzeb is called as Sufi dervish. The Sufis like baba Farid and kabir are long dead and their Islam is not the same as today. Bottomline is that all Sufis had only one agenda which was to convert people. And I mean all songs (punjabi included) and everything else like paintings and movies
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Vips »

sanjaykumar wrote:Kush is the same as in khud kushi. Suicide. Self kill.
Kush means Kill (not self kill). Hindu Kush means Hindu Kill or kill Hindus.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by sanjaykumar »

Khud means self.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by ramana »

Please post full text as I am on a phone.

How four Christian votes made Pakistan possible
Perhaps the name of Pothan Joseph is no household word in our country. But journalists, such as those on the editorial staff of this publication, would know it. An Indian Christian, Joseph was one of the earliest and greatest journalists in our Subcontinent. He was also a staunch opponent of British rule and an indomitable freedom fighter.

With the aid of his typewriter and his journalistic skills, he promoted the views of many notable people of his time, such as Annie Besant, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Motilal Nehru, and, most significantly for us in Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Joseph started or developed 26 different newspapers, including the Hindustan Times, the Indian Express and the Deccan Herald. In 1941, when the Quaid decided to establish the daily Dawn, he recruited Pothan Joseph as its first Editor.Yes, the Sole Spokesman of the Subcontinent’s Muslims, with the historic Lahore Resolution only recently passed, chose a Christian editor to be his mouthpiece in projecting the Muslim cause and the Pakistan concept.

Is this so surprising? Scarcely. It was entirely consistent with the sensibility of the leader who would deliver his famous “You are free to go to your churches” speech less than six years later. It was also entirely consistent with the political inclinations of the Christian community to which Pothan Joseph belonged.Let me introduce those of my readers who may be unfamiliar with the name to Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha, a prominent Christian leader of pre-Partition Punjab. Hailing from Pasrur, near Sialkot, Singha moved to Lahore. He rose to Registrar of Punjab University before entering politics. Elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1937,Singha would emerge as a staunch supporter of the Pakistan Movement. Moreover, he forcefully and courageously used his position as Speaker of the Punjab Assembly to further the cause of Pakistan.

There is a context that we who live in this country today urgently need to grasp. At a time when many of the so-called Ulema were categorically opposed to the Pakistan concept, to the Muslim League, and especially to Mr. Jinnah, the leaders of the Christian community were consistently strong supporters of the Quaid-e-Azam’s vision.In 1942, the All India Christian Association assured unconditional full cooperation to the founder ofPakistan. The leaders of the Church in the Punjab strongly endorsed the Pakistan concept and advised their brethren to move to Pakistan when it would come into existence. The evolution of the Pakistan concept saw an intellectual like Joshua Fazluddin write in the daily Inqilab that the region of Pakistan, with its connection to Central Asia and its own distinctive history, was a separate country from the rest of India. Fazluddin considered himself in harmony with Chaudhry Rehmat Ali (who devised the name Pakistan) regarding the separation of this territory from India “as it was in accordance with the Voice of God”.

Some other examples are Chaudhry Chandu Lal, Fazal Elahi, journalist Elmer Chaudhry (the latter was the father of Squadron Leader Cecil Chaudhry, celebrated Pakistani war hero and educationist) and B.L Ralia Ram. The Christian community, as an expression of admiration of Mr. Jinnah and support for the Pakistan cause, arranged a number of receptions in his honour. On November 19, 1942, a grand reception was arranged at the King’s Garden, Lyallpur (now Faisalabad). The very next day, another reception was hosted at the large hall of Lorang’s in Lahore, which was attended amongst others by Miss Fatima Jinnah, Sir Sikandar Hayat and Nawab Mamdot. On that occasion, Mr. Jinnah said, “We will never forget your favour as you have cooperated with us.”

To return to Dewan S.P. Singha and his historic role, following Mountbatten’s June 3 Plan, when the Partition of India was announced, Dewan Singha and the Christian community in Punjab expressed their opposition to the Partition of Punjab and demanded that the whole of Punjab be included in Pakistan. Joshua Fazluddin, in a news statement, warned the Congress that the division of the province would result in a human disaster.

A meeting of the Punjab Legislative Assembly was held on the 23rd of June, 1947, to consider whether the Province, still undivided at the time, should be part of Pakistan or of India. The three Christian members of the Assembly had met the night before at Singha’s Davis Road home and had decided to vote for the inclusion of the whole of Punjab in Pakistan. On the morning of the meeting, Master Tara Singh, leader of the militant Sikh Akali Dal Party, stood on the broad flight of steps in front of the Assembly with a bared kirpan, threatening to use it on any member who would vote in favour of union with Pakistan. Coming up the steps, Dewan Bahadur Singha confronted the armed Sikh leader, announcing that he indeed intended to vote for Pakistan, and challenged him to do his worst. A scuffle broke out, but violence was prevented by other members.

The vote itself was 88 for remaining with India and 91 for joining Pakistan. The three votes (actually four) which created the majority were the three votes of Christian members Dewan Bahadur Singha, Mr. Cecil Gibbon and Mr Fazal Elahi, plus Singha’s additional vote as Assembly Speaker.

And thus it was decided that Punjab would be part of Pakistan.

But the division of Punjab itself – the Great Tragedy of the Partition – now came to the fore. When the proceedings of the Boundary Commission took place, the Christian leaders, led by Singha, recorded their statement that for the demarcation of the Boundaries, the Christian populations should be included with, and in fact termed as, Muslim populations.

Chaudhary Chandu Lal served as a lawyer for the Christian community, inter alia visiting Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts to obtain a resolution from the Christian populations there that they wished to be included in Pakistan. Mr. Cecil Gibbon appeared before the Commission to demand that the city of Lahore must be considered as part of Western Punjab. (Some of the readers of this piece may be surprised to learn that the fate of that historic city was ever at issue, but it had been!) Gibbon additionally desired that all the Anglo-Indian Christians in Punjab should be transported toPakistan.

When the horror that was the Radcliffe Award was announced shortly after Independence, one of the first voices raised in concern was that of Dewan Bahadur Singha, who asserted that the Plan was tailored so as to wreck Pakistan’s economy while facilitating Indian occupation of Kashmir.

Clearly, the Christians had supported the cause of Pakistan in the belief that a Muslim society by its nature would be more secular and fairer to them than the caste-ridden Hindu society that would inevitably emerge in India. Pakistan, they believed, would be more concerned for the rights of minorities. Observing the deadly antics of the Hindutva mobs presently prevailing in India, that assessment, it seems, was at least partly correct.

But, for the other part? Well, in August 1947, Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha became the first Speaker of the new West Punjab Assembly, an office he endeavoured to fulfill with dignity. However, after the passage of the Objectives Resolution in 1949, he was obliged to step down as it was now felt that a non-Muslim should not preside over a Muslim House.

And today? The oppressed condition of the great mass of Christians has improved not a bit and they suffer the same caste-based strictures and prohibitions at the hands of Muslims as of Hindus. The better educated Goans and Anglo-Indians, fearing or experiencing discrimination in their jobs and businesses, have been trickling out of the country and a special cultural strand is being lost to us.

Even worse, violence against Christians has become the order of the day. Churches have been attacked, the homes of Christians have been torched, and innocents are being viciously targeted. Punjab is the province where Christians are targeted the most. The vast majority of attacks against Christians have taken place in the very Province that Dewan Bahadur S. P. Singha had struggled to make a part of Pakistan.
Last edited by Gerard on 06 Dec 2019 08:11, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Gerard »

Jinnah persuaded to return to politics by Ahmadiyya Missionary
The history behind Jinnah’s return to Indian politics in 1934 makes for an inconvenient truth. The man whose eloquent persuasion left Jinnah no escape in returning to politics, has been forgotten in the annals of official Pakistani history. That man was not Liaqat Ali Khan and certainly not Dr. Muhammad Iqbal but Abdur Rahim Dard – an Ahmadi missionary in London.

August 14, Pakistan Independence Day, is a date of great significance for Pakistanis everywhere but it has a particular resonance for Matiallah Dard, vice-chairman of Bexley Multi-Faith Forum and Thamesmead Inter-Faith Forum.

Imam of London Mosque Abdur Rahim Dard
It was Mr Dard’s uncle, Maulana Abdur Rahmin Dard, who persuaded Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder and first leader of Pakistan, to leave London to go and further the cause of Muslims back home in India.

Jinnah, himself a Muslim, had been involved in politics in India and was particularly concerned about the situation of Muslims in the predominantly Hindu country.

In 1928, after studying the constitutional plan devised by a committee of the All India Congress Party, the Second Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community highlighted the dangers this plan could mean for Muslims in a book entitled “Muslim Rights And The Nehru Plan”.

Maulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar, paid tribute to the work of the Ahmaddiyya Movement in fighting for an independent Muslim state in India with these words,“It will be ungrateful if we do not mention (the Second Khalifa) and his well- disciplined Community who have devoted all their efforts, irrespective of doctrinal differences, towards the welfare of the Muslims. These gentlemen are, on the one hand, taking an active interest in the politics of Muslims and, on the other, energetically engaged in promoting the unity, organisation, trade and preaching among Muslims.
“The time is not far away when the attitude of this organised sect of Islam will provide guidance for the Muslim nation in general and for those persons in particular who are idly sitting under the domes of Bismillah and making boastful and empty claims of service to Islam..”
In the early 1930s, having despaired of any progress being made in getting Hindus & Muslims to live together peacefully, Jinnah left India and worked as a barrister in London.

At the time, Mr Dard’s uncle, who died in 1955, was Imam at the London Mosque in Southfields and he had been instructed by the spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslims, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud, to persuade Jinnah to return home to take part in politics again.

Imam Dard and Jinnah became good friends and met regularly to talk about the situation in India but it was difficult to convince him.

Mr Dard, 74, said: “Jinnah was very stern man. Even Lord Mountbatten said he was a difficult man to deal with.

“He was really obstinate. He did not change his mind easily. “My uncle told me about the whole incident.

He said he asked Mr Jinnah many times why he was living in London and why he quit politics.”

Then one day the Imam made a remark that finally hit home with the politician.Mr Dard said: “My uncle suggested that if he did not go back to India he would be a traitor to the Muslim cause. That affected him very much. “He was stunned and remained silent for a while. Then he asked my uncle what he should do.

To symbolize Jinnah’s return to politics, Dard arranged for a lecture on the future of India at the “London Mosque” in Putney London in April 1933 where Jinnah acknowledged the Imam’s role in his decision to return to political life, saying:“The eloquent persuasion of the Imam left me no escape.” The Sunday Times, London, 9th April 1933.Jinnah returned to India in 1934 and became Governor General of Pakistan when it became an independent state on August 14, 1947.

Prominent Muslim figures that have attended the London Mosque include Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Muhammad Shafi (renowned Muslim Journalist), The Agha Khan, Muhammad Zafrulla Khan and A.K. Fazlul Huq.

Mr Dard said: “I am very happy and proud that I am related to the man who sent Jinnah back to make something of Pakistan.

“If he had not gone back, there would have been no Pakistan.”
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Gerard »

Insulting removal of Princeton prof shows Pakistan has forgotten Jinnah’s view on Ahmadis
The unceremonious removal of Princeton economist Atif Mian by PM Imran Khan shows the end of meritocracy in Pakistan.

Atif Mian, the great Princeton economist who was unceremoniously removed from his position on Imran Khan government’s Economic Advisory Council, is not the one who lost out. It is Pakistan’s loss.
The story of Pakistan’s Ahmadis starts long before the creation of the country. The Ahmaddiya Movement that started as a response to Christian missionary efforts in the late 19th century found many admirers amongst other Muslim sects. Allama Iqbal, the renowned Muslim philosopher, was an admirer of the founder of the Ahmadi movement and is rumoured to have joined it for a while as well before turning viciously vehemently and vociferously against it. Maulana Azad, the great Islamic scholar, considered the Ahmadis to be “Ghulat” i.e. a group that has transgressed the boundaries of divine faith but nonetheless is reported to have mourned the death of the founder of the Ahmadi movement.

When the Muslim League and Congress turned into bitter enemies in the late 1930s, Ahmadis soon became the subject of this tussle. Even though Jawaharlal Nehru had defended Ahmadis in a public exchange with Iqbal, Congress through Maulana Azad actively encouraged the anti-Ahmadi group Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, led by fanatics like Ataullah Shah Bukhari and Azhar Ali Mazhar, to attack the Muslim League for having Ahmadis amongst its members.

There was an Iqbalian group within the Punjab chapter of the Muslim League that wanted Ahmadis out as well. They tried to introduce an oath that would require every elected member to work to get Ahmadis declared Non-Muslim. At this point, Jinnah intervened and resisted. The Punjab Muslim League’s oath was quietly shelved.

Jinnah unequivocally assured Ahmadis that they would be treated at par with any other Muslim sect. Jinnah himself was from a minority sect within Islam, and was mindful of the fact that this would open a can of worms that would damage Muslim solidarity like no other question. Jinnah’s close confidante and colleague was Zafarullah Khan, a leading Ahmadi lawyer, whose memo became the basis of Lahore Resolution. Majlis-e-Ahrar and even Maulana Madani of Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind continued to denounce Jinnah not just for his Westernised lifestyle but for having Ahmadis as his close advisers and as employees of his newspaper Dawn.
Ahmadis were not the only target of their wrath. When Jinnah appointed Pothan Joseph, a Syrian Christian, as the editor of Dawn, Maulana Madani denounced it saying that Jinnah was a secularist and unfit to lead the Muslims. In May 1944, when Jinnah went to Kashmir, he was inundated with queries about the Ahmadis, especially the Qadiani subsect of the group. On 23 May 1944, Jinnah said that Muslim League was open to all Muslims and that his advice was not to raise such sectarian issues because it would hurt not just Muslims but all communities in Kashmir and India.
It was because of this principled stance that Ahmadis threw in their lot with Jinnah and the Muslim League.

Jinnah’s other main supporter was Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood, the 2ndCaliph of the Ahmaddiya Community and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s son. In 1946 elections, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood advised all of his followers to vote en masse for the Muslim League. During Partition, Mahmood moved his entire body of followers to Pakistan. When the Kashmir war broke out between Pakistan and India, it was the Ahmadi community that cooperated with the Pakistan Army and set up Furqan Battalion comprising entirely of Ahmadi youth to fight alongside the Pakistan Army in Kashmir. The services of the Battalion were recognised and there is a letter from the Pakistan Army praising their services.

Zafarullah Khan, a barrister, had been a president of the Muslim League in the 1930s. His direct association with Jinnah came during the roundtable conferences. Jinnah called him a Muslim and praised his efforts in negotiating a trade deal for India in 1939. It was Zafarullah who represented United India in the inaugural sessions of the UN. Later, Jinnah acquired his services as a lawyer to represent Muslim League at the boundary commission hearings in Punjab, a job that even Zafarullah’s opponents praised him for.

Since Zafarullah was also the advisor to the Nawab of Bhopal, Jinnah wrote to the Nawab to release him from his duties because he was needed as a wise and trustworthy lieutenant. To M.A.H. Ispahani in New York, Jinnah wrote that there was no person more able and talented than Zafarullah who was needed in Pakistan immediately. In December 1947, Zafarullah returned to Pakistan to become its first foreign minister. Despite considerable pressure, Jinnah didn’t budge even an inch. At that time, Jinnah was also criticised for inducting a Scheduled Caste Hindu as Pakistan’s first law minister –Jogendra Nath Mandal. After Jinnah died, Mandal was ultimately driven out of the government in 1950. However on Zafarullah Khan, the government remained steadfast.
Majlis-e-Ahrar, now having re-grouped after its pre-Partition defeat, started a nationwide movement to oust Zafarullah from the government and to declare Ahmadis Non-Muslim. Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin, a Jinnah loyalist from East Pakistan, refused to accede even though he personally had no love for Ahmadis or their doctrine.

Ahmadis thus continued to enjoy the privileges as equal citizens including the right to identify as Muslims. Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s leading physicist and scientist, joined the Pakistan government and founded the Pakistani space agency. Under his guidance, Pakistan became one of the few countries in Asia to send a satellite into space in early 1960s. He also founded Pakistan’s atomic energy commission and trained a generation of Pakistani physicists. He was the Chief Science Advisor in the Pakistan government till September 1974 when he resigned in protest over the 2nd Constitutional Amendment brought by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party government to appease the Mullahs. Pakistan’s National Assembly had just voted to declare the entire Ahmadi community out of the fold of Islam. Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami had finally won. Meanwhile, Salam went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979.
One more victim of this policy was Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad, another Ahmadi educated at Oxford University. A leading civil servant, he opted for Pakistan in 1947. He was Pakistan’s most successful secretary of finance and later went on to become the chief advisor. In 1971, he was stabbed by a religious fanatic called Aslam Qureshi after which he joined the World Bank, living out the rest of his life in Washington DC. Qureshi became an instant hero to the anti-Ahmadi groups in Pakistan and it was none other than Senator Zafarul Haq of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) who organised his legal defence and then used his disappearance as an excuse to get General Zia ul Haq to promulgate the infamous Ordinance XX of 1984, which outlaws religious practice and freedom of the Ahmadis.

The list is long of Ahmadis who tried to serve Pakistan but were murdered in cold blood.

Ahmadis have served the country on the battlefield as well, often without recognition. Major General Iftikhar Janjua, for example, was for the longest time the only Pakistani general to die in battle for Pakistan. Then there were heroes like General Abdul Ali Malik and his brother General Akhtar Ali Malik. Abdul Ali Malik won the famous tank battle of Chawinda. Akhtar Ali Malik is said to have been on verge of taking Kashmir when Ayub Khan removed him from command replacing him with Yahya Khan, who was a poor military tactician. Pakistan Air Force too had many heroes, including Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry. Ahmadis built Pakistan, and helped it survived.

The downward graph of Pakistan has interestingly followed Ahmadis’ marginalisation. This is not because Ahmadis are the only ones talented but because their marginalisation has also meant the end of meritocracy in Pakistan.

Pakistan will continue to lose unless it reverts to Jinnah’s wise words that religion caste or creed has nothing to do with the business of the state.

The author is a lawyer and former visiting fellow at Harvard Law School for religious freedom.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

I didn't realise that a section of the subcontinental Christian community played such a negative, treacherous role in that very troubled, turbulent period. I always assumed that the Christian community in the areas now part of Pakistan, were all simply resigned to their fate of living there, and that deep down, they strongly opposed partition and the whole Pakistan concept.

A vocal, visible few were actually supporting the idea, even to the extent of advocating that all Christians in East Punjab move to Pakistan! Simply astounding.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Aditya_V »

The problem is West always pushes the "Indian Seculars" together, so it is natural for them, be it TN, Kerala, New Delhi, Mumbai - Christians, Muslims and Rationalist Hindus- basically anyone Hindu Hating hating generally go together and be together- be it office politics to Actual politics these people are all brain washed that the backwardness of India is because of "Hinduism" and its evil Idol worship. So they all thought a Non Hindu nation will be egalitarian and prosperous society. Even for many Kashmiris for them the propaganda is 1000 years Islam has never lost and thats why they go with Pakistan. It will go on till Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan etc.. are in rubbles due to conflict.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by A_Gupta »

Varoon Shekhar wrote:I didn't realise that a section of the subcontinental Christian community played such a negative, treacherous role in that very troubled, turbulent period. I always assumed that the Christian community in the areas now part of Pakistan, were all simply resigned to their fate of living there, and that deep down, they strongly opposed partition and the whole Pakistan concept.

A vocal, visible few were actually supporting the idea, even to the extent of advocating that all Christians in East Punjab move to Pakistan! Simply astounding.
Jinnah had a frequent correspondent, a Mrs K.L. Rallia Ram, a Christian despite the name, and her venom towards Hindus IMO exceeded that of White Nationalists towards Africans. You need one of those compilations of Jinnah’s correspondence to see it. Only some relatively tame stuff is on the web, e.g., “Mrs K L Rallia Ram, an Indian Christian, founder of Indian Social Congress, who supported the cause of Pakistan wrote to Jinnah on 22 September 1946 from Lahore: “I wish you can also win over Sikhs. But the difficulty is that the Hindus are trying their level best to keep the Sikhs to themselves to fight their battles with Muslims. Hindus are morally and physically a coward race and so they want Sikhs to act as their militia. Do you know that 4000 Hindus left Murree two days before when somebody gave out that Muslims would create trouble”.

Even Nazaria Pakistan is struck by her vehemence.
http://www.nazariapak.info/Pakistan-Mov ... Punjab.php
“However, the case of Mrs. K.I. Rallia Ram is worth probing especially her vengeance towards the Hindus. Historians and scholars may corroborate other sources in order to probe the case of Mrs. K.I. Rallia Ram.“
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by chetak »

Varoon Shekhar wrote:I didn't realise that a section of the subcontinental Christian community played such a negative, treacherous role in that very troubled, turbulent period. I always assumed that the Christian community in the areas now part of Pakistan, were all simply resigned to their fate of living there, and that deep down, they strongly opposed partition and the whole Pakistan concept.

A vocal, visible few were actually supporting the idea, even to the extent of advocating that all Christians in East Punjab move to Pakistan! Simply astounding.

TMC MP derek o brien's brother and his family migrated to pakiland because they thought that they would be free there rather than in Hindu India.

Decades later, after no brain had lost track of them he ventured to try and trace them (very conveniently when he had access to a diplomatic passport). Long story short, he finally found them after much searching and he was devasted to see that they had all converted to pissfools.

This has always been culturally digestive cult and it spares no one in the forceful and violent assertion of its imagined superiority.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

Are there any examples of Christians from Pakistan, who moved/moved back to India? The ones who quickly moved to India are the real Indians, and they should be praised effusively. The most despicable are those that actually physically moved to Pakistan, even though they were not in any danger.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Vips »

Varoon Shekhar wrote:I didn't realise that a section of the subcontinental Christian community played such a negative, treacherous role in that very troubled, turbulent period. I always assumed that the Christian community in the areas now part of Pakistan, were all simply resigned to their fate of living there, and that deep down, they strongly opposed partition and the whole Pakistan concept.

A vocal, visible few were actually supporting the idea, even to the extent of advocating that all Christians in East Punjab move to Pakistan! Simply astounding.
No matter how accomadative Hindus have been and will be to Christians, get one thing clear in your mind - when push comes to shove Majority of Christians (of course not all) would side with the Muslims against Hindus. This is not just perceived minority brotherhood against majority Hindus in India but also would be the case worldwide.

For the majority of christians shared Abrahamic traditions/ethos with muslims counts more then the thought of being with always welcoming and accomadative Hindus.

In Kerala who do you think Christians would vote for given a choice between a popular Hindu leader from BJP and a opposition supported Muslim leader?
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

"when push comes to shove Majority of Christians (of course not all) would side with the Muslims..."

Yah, this has been my experience, though the 'majority' has not been huge, and the Christians in question qualify by saying that they're only against extreme Hindus. But the sympathy for Moslems does come out. Buddhists, specifically those in Ladakh, unequivocally are for Hindus and would never side with Moslems. There's a quote in one of Patrick French's books by a Ladakhi Buddhist, who states that in choosing to be with India, we can speak our minds without fear of persecution or death, whereas that would not be the case with Pakistan.
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Re: A look back at the partition

Post by SBajwa »

Thematic chronology of the violence from here
https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence ... -1947-2007

1946; August 16, The Direct Action Day or the Great Calcutta Killings : Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, chose August 16, 1946, to launch a “direct action for the achievement of Pakistan” following his refusal of the Cabinet Mission’s plan and his decision to boycott the newly elected Constituent Assembly. On that day, which was declared as a provincial public holiday by Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy (Chief Minister of Bengal), Muslims in Calcutta were asked to stop their activity and to stage a protest in the streets of the city. In the morning, Muslim volunteers forced Hindu shopkeepers to close their shops in the Northern part of Calcutta. Then, Hindus answered by blocking the advance of the Muslim League’s processions toward the Ochterloney Monument. Violence spread quickly as both the police and the military were prevented by Suhrawardy from interfering in the riots.

The official estimate of casualties, mostly Muslims, varies between 5,000 dead and 15,000 injured (Moon, 1998: 58) and 4,000 dead and 10,000 injured according to another (Hansen, 2002: 9) and 10,000 killed (Sengupta, 2007: 133). The role of the Muslim League in the organization of the riots is undeniable in regard of arming and transporting its followers. However, if Muslims were clearly the initial aggressors, non-Muslims, especially Sikhs, retaliated, hence aggravating the death toll dramatically. It is only on the fourth day of the riot, while violence was increasing, that the army intervened. Finally, violence decreased on August 22. Following the riot, thousands started fleeing Calcutta. Some were caught in the violence that spread from Calcutta to the entire Bengal region and even in Bihar. *** (Moon, 1998; Hansen, 2002; Sengupta, 2007).

1946; October 10, The Noakhali Anti-Hindu Massacre: Retaliatory violence against Hindus then spread in Noakhali district and in some parts of the adjacent Tripura district. The majority of the population in the area was Muslim, around 82%, while most of the land belonged to Hindu landlords. As a consequence of the riots in Calcutta, a massive anti-Hindu pogrom was organized by Muslim locals so as to cleanse the region from Hindu presence either by killing them or by forcing them to flee the area. The death toll is close to 5,000 dead according to the press (Sengupta, 2007: 138), though Moon considered that it should rather be counted in hundreds (Moon, 1998: 59). It is claimed that nearly 75% of Hindus previously in the area left the place. ** (Sengupta, 2007; Moon, 1998).

1947; The Bihar Anti-Muslim Riots: The cycle of retributive violence went on in Bihar where anti-Muslim riots broke out at the beginning of 1947. The constant flux of non-Muslims refugees from Bengal to Bihar and the news they propagated, especially of killings of Hindu Biharis in Calcutta and Noakhali, propelled armed bands of Hindus to attack Muslim villages in the Bihar countryside as acts of revenge. Village after village were looted and burnt and their population killed, resulting in the death of thousands of Muslims in the province by armed groups of Hindus. ** (Sengupta, 2007: 143).

1947; March 3, The Rawalpindi Massacre or the March Killings: Khirz Hayat Khan Tiwana’s Punjabi government (a coalition government gathering Congressists, Akalis and Unionists, under the leadership of the latter) resigned under the pressure of Muslim League’s demonstrations and direct actions. The day after, Hindus and Sikhs staged a counter-demonstration and threatened Muslims. The latter then retaliated and launched large-scale attacks on Hindus and Sikhs in the frontier districts, especially in Rawalpindi division.

_ By March 20, when law and order were finally restored, 2,049 people were killed and 1,103 injured, most of them Sikhs (Jeffrey, 1974: 494). Another estimate, though biased against Muslims, counts 2,263 non-Muslims and 38 Muslims casualties in Rawalpindi district alone (Khosla, 1999: 112) while another one counts 3,000 killed and 1,200 injured (Hansen, 2002: 11). *** (Jeffrey, 1974; Khosla, 1999; Hansen, 2002).

1947; August, The Gory Climax or the August Anarchy

1947; August 6: More than sixty people, essentially Muslims, were declared killed in Amritsar district, allegedly by Sikhs opposing Partition as it would divide their community and reduce them to a mere minority in both new countries (Jeffrey, 1974: 502).

1947; August 8: Muslims retaliated and killed seventy-four Hindus and Sikhs near Jalalabad, north of the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road, in Ferozepur District (Jeffrey, 1974: 503). During the first week of August, casualties are estimated at an average daily killing of about 100 people with sporadic raids killing 70 to 80 people (Brass, 2003: 87).

1947; August 13 to 19: Violence peaked during this week.In addition to derailment – the first case being the one of a “Pakistani Special” train carrying Pakistani government employees and their families from Delhi to Karachi, next to Patiala State in East Punjab, killing one woman and one child (Aiyar, 1998: 18: Hansen, 2002: 14) – attacks on train and stabbing of the passengers began. Lahore train station also became the scene of bloody carnages. On August 13, 43 non-Muslims were stabbed in the Mughalpura Railway Workshops. On August 14, 35 Sikhs were stabbed in Lahore station. On August 15, a train was held up near Wazirabad. On August 15 to 16, a Pakistani Special train was derailed next to Amritsar. Two train derailments occurred in Sialkot between August 14 and 17. Three trains were attacked by Muslims mobs in the Wazirabad-Sialkot area. Two attacks on train happened in Rawalpindi area. (Aiyar, 1998: 18-19) Notwithstanding the train attacks, bands of armed men were going on raiding villages and killing their inhabitants.

1947; August 26: A group of Pakistani Baluchi soldiers killed around 10,000 non-Muslim civilians in Sheikhupura and raped girls and women so as to dishonor the whole community and to prove its inability to protect them (Hansen, 2002: 15).

1947; September 3: Bands of Muslims and Hindus fought each other at Harnoil in Mianwali district. Muslims were supported by Pakistani military and used tanks against their opponents. The total death toll is over 3,000 (Hansen, 2002: 17: Kirpal Singh, 1972: 150).

1947; September 21: A refugee train was attacked during the night by armed Muslims at Harbanspura making 1,500 non-Muslim victims (Aiyar, 1998: 21). Finally, by October 1947, the situation improved in both parts of Punjab. However, if law and order was relatively reinstated, the burden of the rehabilitation of refugees remained till the end of 1947.

*** (Kirpal Singh, 1972; Jeffrey, 1974; Aiyar, 1998; Brass, 2003).
vishvak
BR Mainsite Crew
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Joined: 12 Aug 2011 21:19

Re: A look back at the partition

Post by vishvak »

The vote itself was 88 for remaining with India and 91 for joining Pakistan. The three votes (actually four) which created the majority were the three votes of Christian members Dewan Bahadur Singha, Mr. Cecil Gibbon and Mr Fazal Elahi, plus Singha’s additional vote as Assembly Speaker.
How's this different from those who schemed for paki lands within, by voting or not, and then stayed with India thereafter.

Primarily, democracy limits our own options but not of some exclusive ideologies (like Chinese in paki lands that were once all Indian too) so how to deal with that.
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