THE PARTITION OF India and Pakistan was almost complete, and the division of Punjab was also heading towards some kind of resolution. The fury of communal violence appeared to have abated and after six months of murder and mayhem, a restoration of peace was the first priority in the mind of most Punjabis. Fervent appeals for peace, jointly signed by Mahatma Gandhi, Mr Jinnah and Master Tara Singh were being dropped into the city from low-flying airplanes and there was a degree of hope and optimism about the future. Many were of the view that once the country had been divided and the boundary pillars between India and Pakistan put in place, there should be no reason for the conflict to continue. As both dominions established their own governments, their citizens ought to be able to sleep peacefully. The Government of Pakistan would make sure that the life and property of its non-Muslim residents were safe, and the Union Government of India would also extend a protective umbrella over its Muslim population.
The incidents of violence and arson in Lahore, Amritsar, and other cities hadn’t yet subsided, but there was an expectation in the public that these would vanish into thin air with the advent of 15th August. As though the angels of peace would descend from the heavens at the stroke of midnight to miraculously wipe the tears, nurse the wounds, and extinguish the fires that could still be seen all around them.
Twelfth of August came. It was hard to discern anything unusual in the air but no sooner had the sun set that Fate decided to play its hand, revealing a quiver with a lethal set of arrows that had never been seen before. It picked up its bow and unleashed a volley so devastating that the whole world was stunned.
Amidst the bustle in the streets of Amritsar that day, a seasoned observer could pick up murmurs that carried portents of a major conspiracy. Whispers could be heard saying, ‘The police force is going to be cleansed of its Muslims today. Non-Muslim policemen in Pakistan are going to be disarmed, and the same will be done to Muslim policemen on the Indian side.’ The information hadn’t come out in the public domain, but a new fervour could be seen on the faces of some of Amritsar’s most notorious thugs and hooligans. Very few had any inkling of the havoc that would ensue as a result of the changes in the police set-up.
As the afternoon gave way to evening, a deathly pall of darkness was spreading over the city. People had barely finished their dinner and were getting ready for a night’s sleep when a series of explosions reverberated from several different directions. In a repeat of the violence seen on 5th March, well over a third of the city was once again up in flames. As families fled from their burning homes, gangs of Hindus and Sikhs could be heard boasting, ‘There’s nothing to fear. We are the ones who’ll rule the streets tonight, tomorrow and the day after.’
The consequences of the event were catastrophic for the Muslims. Every Muslim neighbourhood was ablaze. Hindu and Sikh policemen were actively assisting their co-religionists in the carnage. Muslim policemen were almost invisible, while Hindu and Sikh policemen and even officers could be heard instigating, ‘Do whatever you want to fix these Muslims for good. We are here to help you in this cause.’
And the result of this incitement? A massacre of the city’s unfortunate Muslim population started in earnest. On the one hand were the activists of the Rashtriya Sewak Sangh who set upon the Muslims with chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev!’ and on the other hand were the Khalsa troopers shouting ‘Jo Bole So Nihal!’ as they brandished their kirpans and marched off to vanquish the enemy.
The reign of terror continued right through the night. Our brave men, yes, the ones who swore by their religious duty to protect the weak and declared the welfare of all as their creed when they ended their prayers by proclaiming ‘Sarbat da bhala’—the same men were out in the streets to bring glory to our noble faith and tradition. Neither the women and children were spared, nor were the old and the infirm shown any mercy. They were out to kill anyone they could lay their hands on. If a fortunate few survived the coldblooded assault, it was because they managed to hide or make a dash for safety.
The mayhem, a relentless wave of murder and loot, of arson and abduction, continued through the 13th, 14th, and 15th. It is hard to estimate how many men were hacked, how many children were impaled on lances, how many young women were violated and how many mohallas were burnt to ash during those seventy or eighty hours. But there is a stark fact about which there is no doubt. On 15th August, it was almost impossible to spot a Muslim in the walled city. They had either been killed or had managed to flee to Pakistan or were hiding in Muslim suburbs like Sharifpura as they waited for government agencies to evacuate them by trains or trucks.
It wasn’t just in Amritsar that these cowardly and crazed mobs went on a rampage. Similar tales of horror were emerging from the length and breadth of Punjab. The stories coming from Lahore were even more lurid. The city was a Muslim stronghold and had been given to Pakistan even though it had a very sizeable population of Hindus and Sikhs. Many had already moved towards East Punjab but a large number had stubbornly refused to budge, unwilling to believe that their beloved city would turn into a veritable hell for them within a mere three days. The barbarity with which the city’s Hindus and Sikhs were slaughtered, the cruelty with which children were burnt alive surpassed even the carnage in Amritsar. Even more gruesome was the manner in which Hindu and Sikh women were paraded naked through the streets of Lahore, the way their breasts were hacked to create macabre garlands. The sheer savagery with which they were attacked probably finds no precedent in history anywhere in the world.
The bestiality displayed by the people of Punjab during those three days was of a level unseen and unheard of in any society or civilization. The machinery of government stood paralysed on both sides of the border as officials high and low worked overtime to add fuel to the fires of communal strife. Armed policemen could be seen leading mobs and participating in the massacres and pillage. What could one expect from the governments under such circumstances? Mahatma Gandhi’s pleas had gone unheard, the appeals issued by leaders like Jinnah and Master Tara Singh weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. Calls from the Congress and the Muslim League urging the public to maintain inter-faith harmony and peace increasingly sounded like an out of tune raga falling on deaf ears.
The blood of innocent victims was pouring into the rivers of Punjab. Homes and businesses built over generations were callously set on fire. Women and children were being brutalized and new fortunes were being created from loot and plunder. There was no one around who could warn or restrain the uncaged beasts. Each one did what he wanted. And whatever they did was deemed to be in accordance with the laws, with their religious obligations and even with their noble customs and traditions.