A lot has been written, commented and debated about the Jammu massacres of October-November 1947 in the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides the scholars of India and Pakistan, there have been many scholars from Europe, America and even Australia have penned down the Jammu massacre and what all happened in the State of Jammu and Kashmir immediately after the partition of Indian Subcontinent. This brief research is aimed to create a perspective of the Jammu Massacre and related events, took place in Jammu and Kashmir immediately after Pakistan came into being. This research is divided into three parts: (a) Who killed the Muslims in Jammu and surrounding areas and who ordered these massacres, (b) What all has happened with Muslims of Jammu; the sequence of events (massacres), and (c) What were the aims and objectives, India wanted to attain from this massacre.
Nevertheless, tracing the causes of the Jammu Massacre, it is widely believed by Kashmiris and scholars from across the globe that this massacre was the outcome of two significant previous events: firstly, the events of massive killings of Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan which erupted immediately after Pakistan came into being and a huge Muslim population from almost all parts of India opted to migrate to Pakistan, fearing an unsecure and dangerous future in India after the partition, secondly, the famous Poonch Revolt in the former Poonch Jagir against the Dogra Rule and their wish to join Pakistan, the new Muslim State in South Asia. As a result of this revolt and fight against Dogra forces, the non-Muslim population from Poonch, Mirpur and Muzaffarabad migrated to Jammu area of the state, thus having the sentiments of revenge against Muslims of liberated parts of Kashmir; the Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
This reality is mainly derived from the fact that the killers of Jammu Muslims were same people who killed the Muslims while crossing into Pakistan from East Punjab to Pakistani Punjab. They were Akali Sikhs and Hindus from East Punjab and Jammu Province of the State and members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from India including the Jammu area. Besides these two groups of the militants, a huge number of the retired soldiers and Junior Commissioned Officers of the Indian National Army (INA) also participated in the Jammu Massacre. This reality brings a clarity and conclusion also that the Jammu Massacre was not an incidental event(s) but a formally very well-organized event, planned at the highest level by Indian Government with all details meticulously worked out including; the killers, weapons, logistics, vehicles and, over and above, the ideology behind the entire massacre. The evidences of the killers are available in the researches of scholars like Ved Bhasin and Ilyas Chattha. Ved Bhasin was the famous journalist from Jammu Province of the State with active journalism and founder and editor of the Jammu and Kashmir daily Kashmir Times. Ilyas Chattha has done his PhD, covering the events of partition and killings in 1947 including the Jammu Massacres.
The international historian and scholar, Ian Copland (teaches history at Monash University, Australia) has covered the troubled history of India and Pakistan and has written widely on the history of India and Pakistan. He also uncovered the brutalities and massacres took place in Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Jammu Massacres of October-November 1947. He covered the sequence of events that took place in the Jammu Province. As per details provided; the massacres in Jammu were done to take revenge from the Muslims because of Hindus and Sikhs were evicted from Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir) and to take the revenge of Poonch revolt by Maharaja. Though the abovementioned scholars blame Maharaja of Kashmir for all the massacres and unrest in entire Jammu and Kashmir, nevertheless, after October 27, 1947, Maharaja was powerless and just used as a puppet. He never had the desire to join India, rather wanted to keep the state independent or else joining Pakistan. Indeed, all manipulation was done by Indian Government, especially Prime Minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the mid of October 1947, the RSS, Akalis and former soldiers of INA started attacking the villages in various parts of Jammu Province having Muslims populations. The state officials provided arms and ammunition to the rioters. The administration had demobilized many Muslim soldiers in the state army and had discharged Muslim police officers. Most of the Muslims outside the Muslim dominated areas were killed by the communal rioters who moved in vehicles with arms and ammunition, though the city was officially put under curfew. There are various estimates of the number of Muslim killings during Jammu Massacres; the authentic sources reveal that, the number of killings were more than 300,000. A similar number were forced to migrate towards Pakistan.
Indeed, India wanted to make changes in the demography of Jammu Kashmir, thus used the strategy of widespread massacres of Muslims including Jammu massacre and mass migration to Muslims towards Pakistan. Tracing the history, in 1941, Jammu Province of the State had 62% Muslim population while in 2026, the Muslim population in Jammu province is just 32%. This was the result of Jammu massacres and coercing Muslims of Jammu to migrate to various parts of Pakistan. The current demographic changes, taking place in IIOJK is indeed the continuation of what Indian Government conceived in 1947.
— The writer is HOD-IR, NDU, Islamabad.
