THE Jammu Massacres of October–November 1947 remain one of the darkest and least-discussed tragedies of the Partition era. While much has been written, debated and analyzed by scholars from Pakistan, India and across the world including Europe, America and Australia, this article seeks to provide a concise, research-based perspective on the Jammu Massacre and its broader context in the early months following the creation of Pakistan. This analysis is structured around three key questions: (a) Who killed the Muslims in Jammu and surrounding areas and under whose orders? (b) What actually happened during the massacres? C) What were India’s underlying motives and objectives behind these events?
Historians generally agree that the Jammu Massacres were not spontaneous. They were the consequence of two preceding developments. First, the communal violence that erupted across northern India following partition had already led to the large-scale killing of Muslims migrating from India to Pakistan. Millions of Muslims, fearing for their safety in the newly created India, undertook perilous journeys towards Pakistan. They were attacked by Hindu and Sikh mobs, particularly in East Punjab. Second, the Poonch Revolt in the former Poonch Jagir against the oppressive Dogra regime added fuel to the fire. The Muslim population of Poonch, inspired by the creation of Pakistan, rose up against Dogra forces, demanding accession to the new Muslim State. As a result, many non-Muslims from Poonch, Mirpur and Muzaffarabad fled to the Jammu region. They arrived with vengeance in their hearts, eager to retaliate against the Muslims of what later became Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Evidence from multiple scholarly works shows that the Jammu Massacre was not an isolated or impulsive outbreak of violence. It was a well-organized campaign, meticulously planned at the highest levels. The principal perpetrators included Akali Sikhs and Hindu extremists from East Punjab and Jammu, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a large number of retired soldiers and Junior Commissioned Officers from the Indian National Army (INA). Together, these groups formed armed militias that carried out mass killings, often under the direct supervision of the Maharaja’s administration and Dogra troops. Notably, the research of Ved Bhasin, a prominent journalist from Jammu and founder of The Kashmir Times and Dr. Ilyas Chattha, whose doctoral research covers the partition-related massacres of 1947, confirms these findings. Both highlight that the massacre was coordinated and backed by the Dogra state, with support and facilitation from elements within the newly formed Indian government.
Australian historian Ian Copland of Monash University has also documented these events. He notes that the Jammu killings were carried out to avenge the expulsion of Hindus and Sikhs from the liberated areas of Azad Kashmir and to crush the Poonch Revolt. However, he and others agree that by late October 1947, the Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, was effectively powerless. Having fled Srinagar on October 26, he became a mere pawn in India’s political game. The true architect behind the events, many scholars assert, was Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who sought to secure Jammu and Kashmir for India while sidelining the Maharaja. Nehru’s government found a willing ally in Sheikh Abdullah, who was used to legitimize Indian control over the state. Although estimates vary, credible historical sources indicate that over 300,000 Muslims were killed in the Jammu region, while an equal number were forced to flee to Pakistan. Refugee columns stretching from Jammu to Sialkot carried horrifying tales of carnage and betrayal.
The ultimate aim of the Jammu Massacre, as revealed through historical evidence, was to alter the demographic balance of the state in favor of non-Muslims. In the 1941 Census, Muslims constituted 62% of the population of Jammu Province. By contrast, in 2025, that figure has fallen to around 32%. This demographic transformation was achieved through systematic violence, mass displacement and state-sponsored terror during and after 1947. The current Indian policies of settlement, land redistribution and domicile laws in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir are, in many ways, a continuation of the same demographic engineering first implemented in 1947.
The Jammu Massacres of 1947 were not merely a tragic episode in the history of Partition; they were a planned genocide aimed at reshaping the future of Jammu and Kashmir. The massacre remains a painful reminder of the injustices inflicted upon the Muslim population of the region. Given the continuing human rights violations in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 1990, it is imperative that the Government of Pakistan prepares a comprehensive case at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). India must be held accountable for these crimes and compelled to cooperate with Pakistan and the United Nations toward a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, as envisioned in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions through a free and impartial plebiscite.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
