The 1947 Communal Violence in Lahore

1. The 1947 Communal Violence in Lahore. Today, I am going to talk about the communal violence that erupted in Lahore on the very creation of Pakistan in 1947. Lahore being the 2nd most populous city of today’s Pakistan, is one of the three oldest living cities of the world and had undergone a great deal of violence and forced migration in 1947.

2. Here, you can see the map of Indian sub-continent before its partition into Pakistan and India in August 1947. From early 16th century to 1857, the Indian sub-continent was predominately ruled by Mughals. Gradually, Mughals lost their empire in the hands of British and by 1857, the British have established themselves as the rulers of Indian sub-continent. The Indian sub-continent was divided into two separate nation-states, India and Pakistan, in 1947, with the end of 150 years British rule in the region.

3. But with a huge price, 12 to 15 Million people were forcibly transferred between the newly created states. Somewhere, between 1 to 2 million people were murdered. 75,000 women were raped by men of different religion.

4. The history of partition begins with the formation of Indian National Congress in 1885 with demands of participation of educated Indians in the government. At first, the Congress was not anti-British, however, with the passage of time and increasing popularity, the Indian National Congress became active in independence of India form British rule. Skeptical of the Congress’s ruling elite of majority Hindus, in 1906, All India Muslim League came into being in order to protect and represent the interests of Muslims in India which formed 25-30% of total population. Later, the party demanded a separate homeland for Muslims in name of Pakistan. The basis for such a demand lay in the promulgation of Two-Nation theory which was first echoed in the gathering of Muslim League in 1930 by Allma Muhammad Iqbal, the famous poet, a philosopher and a leader of Muslim League. Iqbal asserted in his ideology of two nations that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations having different religious philosophies and social customs. On March 23rd, 1940, this ideology of two different nations was transformed into demand for a separate state for Muslims of Indian subcontinent by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the presidential address of All India Muslim League. And by 1947, the British rule came to an end with the creation of Pakistan and India.

5. From 11th century till 1947, Lahore had been under rule of Afghans, Mughals and Sikh and the capital of Punjab province. Here, you look at the map of Punjab before partition. Punjab was one of the main provinces of British India. The word ‘Punjab’ means ‘Land of five rivers’. Historically, Punjab has been a region within and around these five rivers with its own language, culture and life style. The eastern part of Punjab was populated with Hindus and the western part of Punjab had a majority of Muslims. Lahore was almost at the center of Punjab and continued to serve as its capital under Muslims, Sikh and British regimes.

6. All of whom had contributed to its cultural heritage and social life in their own way. Muslim, Sikh and Hindus all had their historic buildings, religious places, legacies, socio-cultural festivals and a lot more to relate to Lahore. At the beginning of 20th century, the British took a keen interest in its development and built hospitals, colleges, roads, libraries and museum. The political, social, cultural and economic activates happening at Lahore had a meaning and impact all over British India. Lahore, undoubtedly, was one of the principal cities of Indian sub-continent. However, what made Lahore an experience of heart touching life was its inter-communal amity. The three major, religiously based communities - Muslims, Hindus and Sikh were living in a peaceful co-existence for centuries.

7. In Punjab, traditionally, caste and professions were interlinked. The neighborhoods were built around caste or clan and each caste or clan had its community organization in the form of council of elders. For instance, Kocha-e-dardian (Locality of Tailors). While some parts of Lahore were having majority in Hindus like Shaalmi, Dhobi Mandi. Other parts had a majority of Muslims living in it like Kocha-e-darzian itself (Locality of Tailors) had a majority of Muslims living there. A third part of Lahore which was relatively at the outskirt, hosted the elite and rich people from all the three communities who were relatively more mixed.

Although the Muslims were in majority, around 60%, yet they didn’t have a hold of economy. Hindu were the traders and owners of business all around Lahore. They owned most the shops in the famous Anarkali market, held most part of property – only two buildings were owned by the Muslims on the mall of Lahore. The Hindus were also traditionally involved in the business of money lending. As for the Muslims, they were involved in artisan and skilled professions. It is also pertinent to note that the Muslims workers i.e., fruit sellers, milkmen, vegetable sellers supplied most of the daily needs all around Lahore without any discrimination of Hindus or Muslim localities. However, Muslims were often under debt of rich Hindu money lenders.

Despite their defined roles, Muslims, Sikh and Hindus enjoyed a great deal of harmony among themselves. They studies together in the schools and colleges where Muslims were relatively less in proportion of their population, yet these places were example of true inter-communal friendship. Muslims, Hindus and Sikh individuals & families were good friends with each other. They attended and enjoyed each other’s celebrations & festivals and had some common celebrations too. They exercised general respect for all the religious figures. For instance, Hindus would shower flower petals on the religious processions of Muslims to pay respect. Similarly, Muslims would flock to enjoy the Ram Leela Festival held in the famous Minto Park. The mystic poets and saints from all religions had built such an atmosphere that practiced love and peace with each other. Help and charity to poor was given without communal differentiation. They had some limitations and each community was well aware of how to maintain those limits. Muslims knew that orthodox Hindus will not eat with them. Even, trivial matters such as drinking of water had to be done separately. However, it is also relevant to note the Hindus and Muslims who were educated at British colleges were getting mild towards strict observance of religious rituals and practices.

People had also evolved the ways and means of escaping the orthodox religious practices. Various sufi shrines and abodes, training centers of wrestlers, hideouts of opium eaters and the quarters of prostitutes were among such places where beliefs and practices were ignored.

So, the interplay between the communities was complex yet it has existed peacefully for a long time. 8. Here, you can have a look at the ratio of Muslim to non-Muslims population. Clearly, Muslims have been relatively in majority in Lahore.

9. Here, you can see that although the Muslims were large in number, they had less control on the economy of Lahore. Muslims owned half of the land and paid less revenue.

10. Although, largely, the peaceful co-existence remained between Muslim and Hindu communities, on two occasions, it was disturbed. In 1927, Raj Pal, a Hindu publisher based in Lahore published the book ‘Rangeela Rasool’ (The Merry Messenger of God). The book contained some derogatory remarks about the prophet Muhammad. The Muslims were raged. The matter was taken up by the court. Raj Pal was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and fined Rs. 1000 for provoking animosity between Muslims and Hindus. On April 6, 1929, a Muslim carpenter, named Ghazi Ilam-din-shaheed stabbed him to death. Ghazi was found guilty by the Lahore High Court and sentenced to death in July 1929. During those two years, the relations between Muslims and Hindu were strained.

In 1935, a dispute between Muslims and Sikh erupted on the area of Mosque Shaheed Ganj. The place was religiously important to both the communities and the conflict became bloody with loss of some lives. The threat to law and order remained for some days.

11. The demand of Pakistan in 1940 has increased the flow in movement of Indian Independence. In March 1946, the British Cabinet Mission arrived in India with the objective of discussing and planning the transfer of political power from British to the Indian representatives. After deliberations with Muslim League and Indian National Congress, on May 16, 1946, the British proposed the plan with that a united Domain of India would be given independence with Muslim majority areas grouped together and Hindu majority areas forming another group while a government will be formed at center. The congress rejected the idea of grouping into smaller states seeing it as the division of Dharthi Mata (Mother Land) while Muslim League accepted seeing it as the best possible solution at that time. However, in the following days, Muslim League backed off from its acceptance of the plan based on its fears of ending up in the hands of Hindu majority in the constituent assembly. The cabinet mission failed to reach a conclusion. On July 27, 1946, Muslim League formally reiterated to its demand of Pakistan and also vowed to resort to direct action for the achievement of Pakistan.

Under direct action, the Muslim League planned to held massive rallies and protests throughout India. Muslim League gave the call for observance of widespread general strike on August 16, 1946. The meetings and processions were conducted throughout India with one exception. In Calcutta where 56% Muslims and 42% Hindus were living, the riots broke out and in just 72 hours, 4000 people lost their lives. This was, perhaps, the starting point for the inclusion of violence in politics. Although the residents of Lahore were still living in peaceful co-existence, yet following the incident, the strained relations could be felt among Hindus, Sikh and Muslims. 12. By the start of 1947, it was beginning to clear to the general public that the India is going to have independence yet no one knew the formal arrangements. In the elections of 1945-46, Muslims League took a majority of seats in Punjab winning 75 seats out of 175. However, the government was formed by the pro-British unionist party in collation with Congress and Akali Dal, the representative party of Sikh. Although the communal relations were starting to be tense yet no one knew that a massive violence was just knocking at the door.

The political activism continued to grow; the streets of Lahore were witnessing the day-to-day political rallies by all political parties. However, the RSS (a paramilitary Hindu nationalist organization) and Muslim Guards were marching in the streets and some people could fear from their military style. When the open activities of RSS and Muslims National Guards were curbed under the Public Safety Bill issued in the 3rd week of January, 1947 to maintain peace and order in Lahore, the Muslim League leaders resisted the police search of Muslim National Guards headquarters. However, the police found 2000 steel helmets at the headquarters. Disturbances broke out in the city following the news of the arrests. The next day, police had to use the tear gas for dispersing the angry crowds protesting at the Mochi in the walled city of Lahore. The news and rumors spread all around Lahore, the incident created an atmosphere of mistrust between the communities. The Muslim League decided to launch the aggressive movement to abolish the Unionist party rule in Punjab.

13. In early February 1947, Lord Mountbateen, the last viceroy of British India, arrived with a mandate to transfer power to the India and to get British out of Indian sub-continent within 16 months. The new viceroy opened negotiations with Ghandi, Nehru and Quaid-e-Azam - the leaders of Congress and Muslim League. It soon became clear to him that the dream of united India was not going to be realized.

In such political environment, the creation of Pakistan and India was predictable by many. It was clear that the western parts of Indian sub-continent were having the majority of Muslims and were going to be part of Pakistan whatever the political arrangements could be, the speculations, however, surrounded the questions on which side the Bengal or Punjab would end up. Most importantly, the fate of Lahore became the question of life and death, Lahore being at the heart of Punjab. The eastern Punjab had the majority of Hindus and western Punjab the majority of Muslims. All three major communities had so much to relate to Lahore, their religious places, their businesses, their legacies, their culture, their life – Lahore was their beloved city in every aspect. Muslims claimed Lahore on the basis of their majority, Hindus claimed Lahore on the basis of their role in economy and Sikh valued Lahore as it was the birthplaces of their religious leaders. But, the Sikhs were in minority in Lahore and were scattered all over the Punjab. It was in such fear that Sikh sided with Congress and fiercely argued against the creation of Pakistan.

While the aggressive movement of Muslim League proved successful and Kizar Hayat Tiwana resigned on March 2nd, 1947. On 3rd March, Master Tara Singh, a retired school teacher and the most respected leader of the Sikh community waved his sword at the footsteps of Punjab assembly with the slogan ‘Death to Pakistan’. Later that day, he virtually gave a call for communal war.

14. On the very next day, the clashes broke out in the Lahore city. There are conflicting reports of who attacked first. However, largely, it is maintained that Sikhs were the first to resort to violence.

On 6-7 March, the Muslim raiders descended upon several Sikh and Hindu majority areas in the nearby cities of Rawalpindi and Jehlum. The demobilized Muslim men who had returned from various fronts in the Second World War seemed to have planned the whole operation. Suddenly, the debt burden under which Muslims had been suffering in hands of Hindus converted into the communal wrath and fury. Around 2000 non-Muslims died in the attacks.

On 8th March, the Indian National Congress formally passed a resolution demanding the division of Punjab so that the predominantly Muslim part made separate from the Hindu part. The incidents of communal violence were started to be heard in the Lahore city.

15. Between 10-13 May, the Muslim criminals of Lahore who were mostly residing in the Mazang area received a packet containing churian (glass bangles) and mehndi (henna) from their counterparts in Amritasr. It was a bizzare action to shame them for their unmanliness and not finishing off Hindus and Sikhs. The Muslims goondas were incensed by that insult. Thereafter, they indulged in stabbing and killing.

The incidents of killing, stabbing and looting were becoming a routine matter. The situation was getting uncontrollable.

In the end days of May, although the Lahore city was under curfew, the Muslims set fire to Papri Mandi, a locality of Hindus.

16. On June 3rd, the British government announced the partition plan.

According to the partition plan, the Muslim majority areas had to be included into Pakistan and hindu majority areas had to be formed into India. So, a boundary commission was set up to divide the Punjab into two parts and demarcate the boundary line. Lord Mountbaten stated that the commission will divide the Punjab into two parts on the basis of majority and some ‘other factors’. The inclusion of ‘other factors’ added an ambiguity and opened up the possibility of a whole range of socio-economic and cultural arguments for each community to win the Lahore on their side.

17. The situation in Lahore was getting violent day by day. During early June, the RSS exploded a bomb in the majority area of Muslims in inner part of the city. The Muslims reacted by burning the homes in Hindu majority area of Shalmi. This led to a chain of counter-blasts and counter-burning. Although at first, all the three communities seemed at par in resorting to violence, the element that the division of Punjab was going to be made on the basis of ‘majority’ and the fact the Muslims were majority in numbers, the Muslims became vicious in their attacks on Hindus and Sikhs. Kerosene oil being cheap in price became an important weapon of Muslims. The city of communal love was burning in hatred.

On 8th July, Sir Radcliffe arrived in India to head the boundary commission. He was given only 5 weeks to demarcate the boundary between India and Pakistan. Sir Radcliffe listened to all the three communities and their claims on Lahore. Hindus emphasized on the economic contribution and development of Lahore. Sikh also pleaded on economic grounds and pointed out the religious importance of the city to them. Muslims put forwarded the case saying that Lahore has been under Muslim rule for centuries and they equally have religious places of importance. They demanded that they are in majority and Lahore being the only city with medical and engineering colleges, railway workshops and important infrastructure should go to Pakistan so that It would also serve to adjacent provinces of Pakistan having no such facilities.

On July 15th, the British parliament passed the Indian Independence act. The British declared to transfer the power in one month, around 10 months earlier than the original plan. The feared Hindus and Sikhs started migrating towards the eastern part of Punjab in great majority. Some of them hoped to get back when the things would stabilize. However, other Hindus and Sikh were realizing that Lahore will go to Pakistan but they were not accepting it easily. The confusion to which side the Lahore would lie on the international boarder played an important factor in resistance of Hindus and Sikhs leaving Lahore. Their hopes of winning Lahore on the basis of ‘other factors’ made them stay in Lahore a bit longer and becoming the target of violent Muslims. The result was of course, an increase in loss of lives.

June and July proved to be the worst months. Writ of state was not prevailing. Some of the Muslims dignitaries e.g., Magistrate Cheema was involved and facilitating in the attacks on Hindus in Lahore. The burnings, killings and raping were all happening at all places. Even the elite Hindus and Sikh had started leaving Lahore. While the Hindus and Sikh were leaving Lahore, millions of Muslims were arriving in Lahore. These Muslims were being killed and the women were being raped in the eastern part of Punjab too in the same way as it was happening in Lahore. The trains that were coming to Lahore with Muslim refugees having piles of dead bodies and women with their breasts chopped off, such incidents further added fuel to the fire. The houses were burning and the streets were filled with dead bodies. The air was filled with the smell of blood. The situation has somehow become the same in the whole Punjab. This massacre continued from June till August 1947. Here are some images to show.

24. On 14 and 15th of August, 1947, Pakistan and India were created. Radcliffe award was announced on 17th August with Lahore given to Pakistan. The international boarder was fixed some 20 kilometers east of Lahore.

By that time, a vast majority of Hindus and Sikhs have already migrated from Lahore and a large number of Muslims have arrived in Pakistan entering through Lahore. The brutality and violence continued in following months too and receded when Lahore was empty of Sikhs and Hindus. 25. It is apparent that the British were winding up their empire in sub-continent. As the protests increased in Lahore, the state authority was vanishing especially after the British parliament passed the Indian Independence act and Radcliffe award was made public.
Although Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus have lived together amicably for centuries, yet, once the riots started, the social and cultural differences became prominent in no time. It can be argued that the even they lived together for a long time, there differences run deep down in social-cultural terms.
Economic disparity has also facilitated the communal violence. The Muslims were large in number but having less access to economic resources and being pressed under debts of Hindu money lenders, they found the expulsion of Hindus and Sikhs as an easy solution.
Another important factor was the conviction and confusion by the Sikhs and Hindus that Lahore might end up in India due to the weight of ‘other factors’ – the socio-economic factors had played an important part. This confusion made many some Sikhs and Hindus delay their departure from Lahore and suffer the brutality of Muslims in Lahore.

26. What happened in Lahore and other parts of India during 1947 has made an irreparable loss to the relations of Muslims and Hindus at every level. This massive violence has deeply affected the relations of India and Pakistan after independence. The link between caste and profession was quickly shed by the migrants and the neighborhood in which they settled, for the most part, no longer remained clan or caste based. As a result, their community organizations became ineffective and died over time. A fiercely upward mobile, go-getting culture replaced a society in which social and economic mobility was difficult if not impossible.

The much larger but economically backward Muslim majority was thrown into positions of command at all level. In communal terms, it became more or less a Muslim city. A tiny upper class minority comprising a few hundred hindus stayed in 1947. Most people didn’t know of their existence. In December 1992, the infamous demolition of the Babri mosque at the hands of Hindus fanatic took place in Ayodhya in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. They also killed many Muslims. The reaction in Lahore was fierce. Angry crowds went on a rampage. The old Hindu temples were razed. Some Hindus were reported to use christen names to avoid easy detection.

It is difficult to say that Lahore really became a homogenous society. Although no comparable slaughter of citizens has taken place, but then, collapse of the state and structure of authority comparable to 1947 has not taken place either. In 1953, Anti-Ahmadiyya agitation broke out in Lahore. From the late 1980’s onwards, the sunni and shia communities have been the victims of sectarian violence and terrorism.

The physical impact of migration was considerable. During violence in Lahore, around 4000 houses were shattered and 6000 houses in the walled city were badly damage. The places where Sikhs and Hindus used to reside were taken by the poor refugees. Their densities increased within a few months due to the sub-divisions of large homes and the occupation of open areas for make-shift residential accommodation. The Hindu religious and community buildings were also occupied and turned into residential accommodation. The refugee migration was the starting point of environmental degradation, increased urbanization and creation of slums in Lahore.

The departing Hindus and Sikhs left behind many remnants in Lahore – buildings, residential colonies and charitable institutions are indicative of their once very visible presence here. From time to time official policy has sought to ‘Islamize’ the names of places, localities and buildings bearing non-Muslims names. It is difficult to assess the success rate of such attempts, but it seems that for some time to come the Hindu-Sikh heritage will continue to be echoed in popular usage. Especially places which continue to serve the people of Lahore such as Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Gulab Devi Hospital, Jan ki Devi Hospital, Dayal Singh College and Dayal Singh Library are likely to retain these names.

27. Thank you!