Mass Violence

• Some 500,000 people killed

• Another ~10 million made refugees

• Tens of thousands of women were raped, abducted, forcible married, or murdered

Contributing Factors

• Leaders ignored available information, especially Sikh warnings

◦ March 1947: attacks on Sikhs in Rawalpindi

◦ Sikhs vowed to defend themselves in future

◦ Assembled private militias or jathas

◦ Muslims and Hindus in Punjab also formed private armies

◦ Sketch map line provided spark

◦ Refugee Special trains were easy targets

◦ Ethnic cleansing nearly complete on both sides of the Punjab boundary

• British shortcuts

◦ Attempt to lump Sikhs in with Hindus

◦ Decision to put off question of Kashmir’s accession

• As princely state, Kashmir theoretically had choice between India and Pakistan

• Hindu maharajah (of Muslim majority state) sat on fence

• Pakistan-supported raiders invaded

• India airlifted troops to Srinagar, theoretically in response to prince’s accession to India

• First Indo-Pakistani war resulted

Experiences on the Ground

• Alan Campbell-Johnson’s view of refugees (Mission with Mountbatten 200-201)

• Bir Bahadur Singh’s recollection of his sister’s death (Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence 156)

Conclusions

• Radcliffe’s lines became troubled borders

• 1947 left bittersweet legacy of terrible violence and triumphant independence