Editing 1947 Rawalpindi massacres

{{Short description|1947 massacres of Sikhs and Hindus in Rawalpindi}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| image     = Rawalpindi massacres Thamali.jpg
| caption      =Skeletal remains of people burned to death at [[Dhamali Kallar Syedan|Thamali]] during the Rawalpindi massacres
| date       = March 1947
| place      = Rawalpindi Division, [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| target     = [[Hindu]]s and [[Sikh]]s
| perps      = [[Muslim]] mobs
| goals      = [[Massacre]], [[ethnic cleansing]], [[Sexual violence]], [[Forced conversion#Islam|forced conversions]]
| methods    = [[Riot]]ing, [[pogrom]], [[arson]], [[rape]]
| causes = [[Muslim]] mobs
| fatalities = 2,000 – 7,000
}}


The '''1947 Rawalpindi massacres''' {{efn|also known as the '''1947 Rawalpindi riots''' and '''Rawalpindi massacre of 1947'''<ref>
{{citation |title=Witnessing Partition: Memory, History, Fiction |first=Tarun K. |last=Saint |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2019 |isbn=9780429560002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbKoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT168}}
</ref>}} were a series of violent incidents marked by widespread violence, massacres, and rapes targeting [[Hindus]] and [[Sikhs]] by [[Muslim]] mobs in the Rawalpindi Division of the Punjab Province of British India in March 1947.

This outbreak of violence occurred in the context of escalating communal tensions leading up to the partition of India.
The violence was instigated and perpetrated primarily by the [[Muslim League National Guards]], which was the militant wing of the [[All-India Muslim league| Muslim League]]. In addition to these guards, local cadres and politicians affiliated with the League, demobilised Muslim soldiers, local officials, and policemen played significant roles in the atrocities.{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=685}}{{sfn|Hajari|2015|p=108}}

The Rawalpindi massacres followed the collapse of a coalition government comprising the Punjab Unionists, Indian National Congress, and Akali Dal, which had been dismantled through a six-week campaign orchestrated by the Muslim League. The riots resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2,000 to 7,000 Sikhs and Hindus, triggering a mass exodus from the Rawalpindi Division. By the end of April 1947, approximately 80,000 Sikhs and Hindus were reported to have fled the region.{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=24}}
These incidents marked the first instance of partition-related violence in Punjab that exhibited clear signs of ethnic cleansing.{{sfn|Talbot|2019|page=10}}{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=67}} They also heralded the onset of systematic violence against women that accompanied the partition, characterized by rampant sexual violence, rape, and forced conversions. Many women resorted to mass suicides alongside their children, and others were killed by male relatives out of fear of abduction and rape. The events are  referred to as '''the Rape of Rawalpindi''', highlighting the brutal nature of the violence inflicted during this tumultuous period.{{efn|The earliest use of this term comes from an eponymous 1947 booklet containing images from the massacres, compiled and published soon after the massacres.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chandra |first=Prabodh |title=Rape of Rawalpindi |date=1947 |url=https://archive.org/details/rawalpindi-riots-photographs-march-1947/page/10/mode/1up |via=archive.org }}</ref>{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=221}}}}

==Background==
[[File:Punjab 1909 (Rawalpindi division).jpg|thumb|[[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]] with the northernmost [[Rawalpindi Division (British India)|Rawalpindi Division]] highlighted in cyan]]
In the [[1946 Punjab Provincial Assembly election|1946 Punjab provincial election]], the [[Muslim League (Pakistan)|Muslim League]] (ML) won 75 of the 86 Muslim seats in the province and emerged as the biggest party, but failed to win any non-Muslim ones and fell short of the magic figure in the 175 seat assembly.{{efn|[[Bertrand Glancy]], the governor of the province at the time, estimated that the League had the support of only 80 members overall.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=113}}}} The Muslim [[zamindar]]-led secular [[Unionist Party (Punjab)|Unionist Party]], which had won 18 seats, of whom 10 were Muslim, formed a coalition government with the [[Indian National Congress]], which was the second biggest winner after the ML, winning 51 seats, and the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]], which had won 20 seats, all from Sikh constituencies.{{efn|The coalition ministry claimed to have the support of 94 members in total.{{sfn|Talbot|2013|pp=149-150}}}} The Unionist leader [[Khizar Hayat Tiwana]] was elected the [[Premier of the Punjab|premier]].{{sfn|Talbot|2013|p=148}}

After withdrawing from the [[Cabinet Mission]] plan in July 1946, Muslim League leader [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] called for “[[Direct Action Day|Direct Action]]” in August. The calls for direct action were followed by large-scale rioting and violence in [[Calcutta]], which gradually spread elsewhere during the following months.{{sfn|Brass|2003|p=76}}{{efn|The Punjab province is said to have remained unaffected by such violence due to the coalition government in place.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=178}}}} In December 1946, rioting was reported from the [[North-West Frontier Province]] (NWFP) after a Muslim League campaign to oust the Congress government in that province.{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=23}} The neighbouring [[Rawalpindi Division]] received thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees who had been driven out from the [[Hazara Division|Hazara district]] of NWFP.{{sfn|Hajari|2015|p=88}}{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|pp=131-132}} In January 1947, Tiwana banned the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] and the [[Muslim League National Guard]], which prompted large “direct action” demonstrations by the Muslim League throughout the province that later turned violent.{{sfn|Ahmed|2019|p=52}}{{sfn|Hajari|2015|pp=97-99}} The Muslim League campaign worsened communal tensions in the province, which had already been raised after previous year's election campaign.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|pp=74-75}} On 20 February 1947, British Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]] announced that the British will leave India by June 1948.

==Events==
On 2 March 1947, Khizar Hayat Tiwana resigned as premier in light of the Muslim League agitations and campaign against his ministry, and the official announcement of the imminent end of British rule.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=178}}{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=23}} Although anticipated, a Muslim League-led coalition could not form due to the League's inability to assuage the fears of non-Muslim legislators, who had become increasingly hostile to the League and the demand for [[Pakistan]].{{sfn|Talbot|2013|p=161}}{{efn|Much of this increased hostility is blamed on the League’s communal election campaign and later agitations in Punjab.{{sfn|Talbot|2013|p=161}}}} Akali Dal leader [[Master Tara Singh]] notoriously made a public spectacle of his disapproval of the Pakistan demand outside the Punjab Assembly on 3 March.{{sfn|Hajari|2015|loc=pp. 103-104: "A crowd of Leaguers had gathered outside [the Punjab Assembly] to heckle the Hindu and Sikh politicians, shouting “Quaid-i-Azam Zindabad!” and “Pakistan Zindabad!” Tara Singh whipped his kirpan out of his scabbard and waved it above his head. “Pakistan Murdabad!” he roared. Death to Pakistan!"}}{{sfn|Khan|2017|pp=84-85}} Communal clashes erupted in [[Lahore]] and [[Amritsar]] on 4 March after Hindus and Sikhs began demonstrations against the Pakistan demand. On 5 March, which marked the Hindu festival of [[Holi]], armed Muslim mobs started attacking Hindus and Sikhs in several cities of [[West Punjab]], including the cantonment town of [[Rawalpindi]] and [[Multan]], killing close to 200 in the latter with the casualties being mostly Hindu.{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=207}}{{sfn|Hajari|2015|p=104}} Several villages in the [[Multan District]] were attacked after dark, and many Hindus were killed and their properties looted or destroyed.<ref name=chatterjee>{{cite journal |last=Chatterjee |first=Chanda |title=Muslim League Direct Action and Popular Reaction in the Punjab: The Multan and Rawalpindi Riots, March 1947 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=59 |year=1998 |pages=834–43 |jstor=44147056 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147056 |access-date=12 April 2023 }}</ref> With no government in sight, Governor [[Evan Meredith Jenkins|Evan Jenkins]] imposed [[governor's rule]] in Punjab.{{sfn|Ahmed|2019|p=53}}

The rioting soon spread from the towns to the rural areas of Rawalpindi Division in northern Punjab. Faced with resistance from the Sikhs and Hindus in the divisional headquarters of Rawalpindi, Muslim mobs banded together and turned to the countryside.{{sfn|Ahmed|2019|p=23}}{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=23}}{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|pp=239-240}}{{efn|Some mobs had also come from neighbouring Hazara.{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=212}}}} The mobs went on a rampage, engaging in arson, looting, massacres and rape, one village after the other in the districts of [[Rawalpindi district|Rawalpindi]], [[Jhelum district|Jhelum]] and [[Attock district|Cambellpur]] (present-day Attock). Sikhs were the primary targets, but Hindus were also attacked. In one incident, on 7 March, a train was raided by a mob at [[Taxila]], which killed 22 Hindu and Sikh passengers.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=219}} Houses in the Sikh and Hindu quarters of the village of [[Kahuta]] were torched with their occupants present inside, while women were abducted to be raped.{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=223}}
[[File:Rawalpindi massacres survivors children.jpg|thumb|upright|Two children who survived the massacres with sustained burn injuries.]]
The village of [[Thoha Khalsa]] was the site of a much-publicised massacre. An armed Muslim mob laid siege to the village, asking the Sikh residents to convert to Islam. Sikh men killed female members of their families to prevent their abduction and rape, before being killed themselves by the attackers. More than 90 Sikh women and children committed mass suicide after jumping into a well to avoid rape.{{sfn|Butalia|2013|p=45}}{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=24}}{{sfn|Hajari|2015|p=111}}<ref name="tribune pothohar massacre">{{cite web|last=Singh|first=Ajmer|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/the-march-massacre-in-pothohar-443900|title=The March Massacre in Pothohar|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=7 March 2023}}</ref> The death toll at the village is estimated to be around 300. A similar massacre, mass suicide and looting also took place at the village of [[Choa Khalsa]], where around 150 Sikhs—and a smaller number of Hindus—were killed,<ref name="tribune pothohar massacre"/> and in the Sikh village of [[Dhamali Kallar Syedan|Dhamali]].{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|pp=223-231}}

In [[Bewal]] village, a house where villagers had taken refuge was besieged and villagers were asked to surrender their arms and convert to Islam. One group of the villagers took up the offer and were subsequently converted, while the remaining were periodically attacked. The house was set on fire, following which the villagers shifted to a Gurdwara where they were attacked and massacred. One survivor claimed that out of a total of 500 Hindu and Sikh villagers, only 76 had survived, of whom nearly half had been abducted.{{sfn|Pandey|2002|page=173}} Similar attacks happened at the villages of Mughal and [[Bassali]].{{sfn|Pandey|2002|pages=172,175}} [[Kallar Syedan|Kallar]], [[Doberan Kallan|Dubheran]], [[Jhika Gali]] and [[Kuri Dolal|Kuri]] were also attacked.{{sfn|Pandey|2002|page=177}}{{sfn|Talbot|2009|p=47}} Some of the survivors had been left disfigured and mutilated, breasts of many women who had been raped were cut-off.{{sfn|Ahmed|2011|p=238}} Villages in the [[Gujar Khan]] and Cambellpur districts were decimated, dead bodies of children were found hanging from trees and girls as young as eleven had been gang-raped.{{sfn|Talbot|2009|p=47}} The [[All India Congress Committee]], in its report on the violence, described the strategy of the attacks as follows:{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=85}}{{Undue weight inline|date=April 2023|reason=A report from a political party does not hold to similar standard as views from scholars and thus a full-fledged quote is definitely [[WP:UNDUE]]}}{{blockquote|First of all minorities were disarmed with the help of local police and by giving assurances by oaths on holy Quran of peaceful intentions. After this had been done, the helpless and unarmed minorities were attacked. On their resistance having collapsed, lock breakers and looters came into action with their transport corps of mules, donkeys and camels. Then came the ‘Mujahadins’ with tins of petrol and kerosene oil and set fire to the looted shops and houses. Then there were maulvis with barbers to convert people who somehow or other escaped slaughter and rape. The barbers shaved the hair and beards and circumcised the victims. Maulvis recited kalamas and performed forcible marriage ceremonies. After this came the looters, including women and children.}} Similar accounts of the attacks are recounted in first information reports (FIRs) given to the police by survivors.{{sfn|Pandey|2002|page=172}}
[[File:Rawalpindi massacres survivors men.jpg|thumb|left|A group of male survivors of the massacre, who were converted to Islam and subsequently had their ''[[Kesh (Sikhism)|kesh]]'' (unshorn hair) cut to short length]]
The attacks were premeditated, and rumours were spread through mosques to instigate Muslim villagers.<ref name="Hajari 108">{{harvnb|Hajari|2015|p=108}}</ref>{{sfn|Khosla|1989|loc=p.107: "On March 6 meetings were held in the village mosques and the Muslims were told that the Jumma Masjid at Rawalpindi had been razed to the ground by Hindus and Sikhs and that the city streets were littered with Muslim corpses. The audience was exhorted to avenge these wrongs."}} The attackers are said to have received weapons and funds from outside, and were partly funded by the Muslim League.<ref>{{cite web|last=Abid|first=Abdul Majeed|url=https://www.nation.com.pk/29-Dec-2014/the-forgotten-massacre|title=The forgotten massacre|publisher=[[The Nation (Pakistan)|The Nation]]|date=29 December 2014|access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref> They were armed with guns, rifles, axes, swords, spears, sticks, and in two cases with hand grenades.{{sfn|Pandey|2002|page=171}} Houses of those driven out were razed and subsequently flattened up to prevent them from returning and rebuilding.<ref name="Hajari 109">{{harvnb|Hajari|2015|p=109}}</ref>{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=240}} Muslim houses were sometimes marked by their occupants to allow the attackers to distinguish them from houses of non-Muslims.<ref name=chatterjee/> The ancestral home of Tara Singh was also reduced to ashes. The mobs continued their campaign of loot and mass murder without hindrance.<ref name="Hajari 109"/> Muslim policemen aided and abetted the violence at many places throughout West Punjab, and at times responded inordinately late to appeals for help.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|page=87}}{{efn|Muslims comprised close to 75% of the police force in the Punjab province as a whole.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|page=86}}}} There is evidence of involvement of Muslim League cadres and local politicians in the attacks,{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|page=685}} but little evidence directly implicating the top leadership of the Muslim League—including Jinnah.<ref name="Hajari 108"/> However, no leaders of the Muslim League, national or provincial, offered any condemnation of the massacres.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=220}}{{efn|Political Scientist [[Ishtiaq Ahmed (political scientist)|Ishtiaq Ahmed]] notes that Jinnah had issued strong condemnations for killings of Muslims in [[1946 Bihar riots|Bihar]] a few months earlier, but never did so for the Rawalpindi massacres.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=685}}}}

==Aftermath and Impact==
[[File:Lord Mountbatten visits Punjabi riot scenes.jpg| thumb|[[Louis Mountbatten]] inspecting burned buildings in [[Kahuta]] in the aftermath of the massacres]]
The violence ceased by the middle of March.{{efn|Attacks continued till 13 March, while at some places they continued till 15 March.}} At many places, attacks ended after the army moved in to rescue survivors. Many villages had their entire population wiped out while others had few survivors.{{sfn|Butalia|2013|p=198}} The official death toll for non-Muslims killed in the Rawalpindi district alone stood at 2,263,{{efn|This figure was mentioned in a note by the Home Secretary to Punjab Government in July 1947. The number of Muslim deaths stood at 38 according to it.{{sfn|Khosla|1989|p=112}}}} however, this number was considered inaccurate due to "the widespread nature of disturbances" and a collapse of "normal administrative machinery".{{sfn|Khosla|1989|p=112}} The number was based on registered police cases and did not include such cases "where whole families were wiped out and no claims were made".{{sfn|Khosla|1989|p=112}} A contemporary [[Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee]] report put the number of dead at over 7,000.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=221}} Later scholars have given estimates ranging between 4,000 and 8,000 dead in the rural areas of Rawalpindi.{{sfn|Butalia|2000|loc=p.183: "Here [in Sikh villages around Rawalpindi], during an 8 day period from 6 March to 13 March much of the Sikh population was killed (estimates suggest 4–5,000 dead), houses were decimated, gurudwaras destroyed.}}{{sfn|Talbot|2019|loc=p.4: "The attacks on largely defenceless minority populations have earcned the violence the title of the Rawalpindi Massacres. Outlying villages in the Rawalpindi district witnessed shocking violence against Sikh inhabitants. Around seven thousand to eight thousand people were estimated to have died."}}

Many women were abducted during the violence. 70 were abducted from the Doberan village, 40 from [[Harial]], 30 from Tainch, 95 from [[Rajar, Khushab|Rajar]] and 105 from Bamali. A further 500 were abducted from Kahuta and between 400 and 500 were abducted from Rawalpindi. Abducted women were often sold multiple times and raped by their captors.{{sfn|Butalia|2000|p=187}}

The massacres triggered a mass-migration of Sikhs and Hindus from the Rawalpindi Division to central and eastern Punjab, [[Phulkian dynasty|Sikh-ruled]] [[princely states]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Delhi]] and the [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]]. The descriptions of atrocities faced by these refugees provoked feelings of revenge, especially among the Sikhs.{{sfn|Ahmed|2019|p=54}}{{sfn|Talbot|2019|page=5}}<ref>{{citation |last=Chattha |first=Ilyas |title=Partition and Locality: Violence, Migration and Development in Gujranwala and Sialkot, 1947–1961 |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTbHcQAACAAJ |location=Karachi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-906172-3 |page=161}}</ref> The massacres had a deep impact on the Sikhs and Hindus of the Punjab, who planned to avenge them later by unleashing similar violence on the Muslims of the [[East Punjab|eastern portions]] of the province, to make way for the settlement of the refugees who had been driven out from the west.{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=24}}{{sfn|Brass|2003|p=88}}{{sfn|Hajari|2015|p=157}}{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|pp=65, 693}} The Sikhs, in particular, felt especially humiliated as parts of the Muslim press taunted them after the massacres.{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=25}} The absence of condemnation of the massacres by leaders of the Muslim League widened the growing rift between the League and the Sikhs.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|pp=2, 220}} The riots also lead to the Congress and Sikh leaders of the Punjab demanding its partition.{{sfn|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=138}} On 8 March, the [[Congress Working Committee]] passed a resolution to partition the Punjab.{{sfn|Butalia|2013|p=91}}{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=90}}

Survivors identified attackers by their names, occupations and home villages in FIRs after the massacres.{{sfn|Pandey|2002|pages=174–175}} Despite identification by fact-finding committees, few of the perpetrators were ever brought to justice, partly because of communal polarisation of the legal system.{{sfn|Talbot|2019|page=5}} The British administration threatened penalties for the worst cases of official negligence, however, these threats carried little weight owing to impending British withdrawal from the region.{{sfn|Talbot|2009|p=48}} Statements by the Muslim League were seen to be of more consequence; one prominent politician of the League offered protection for perpetrators and threatened action against such officials who maintained law and order, in the Attock district.{{sfn|Talbot|2009|p=48}} This established a precedent of impunity for officials and policemen acting in a biased manner.{{sfn|Talbot|2019|page=5}} Such failures to prosecute the perpetrators are seen to have enabled the later violence in Punjab, closer to the partition.{{sfn|Talbot|2009|p=52}}

==Legacy==
The events have produced some of the most unforgettable images of the partition violence.{{sfn|Pandey|2001|p=24}} Those who died in the violence, especially those who killed themselves or were killed by their families to prevent anticipated conversion, rapes, abductions or forced marriages—which were seen as violative of community [[honour]]—were valorised for their sacrifice and continue to be seen as [[Martyrdom in Sikhism|martyrs]] in the Sikh community.{{sfn|Butalia|2000|p=189}}{{efn|An early example of this was when an April 1947 report in ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' compared the Thoha Khalsa mass suicide with the [[Rajput]] tradition of ''[[jauhar]]'' (self-immolation by women and children to avoid rape or enslavement by invaders in the face of defeat in a war).{{sfn|Butalia|2000|p=190}}}}{{efn|Many of those who remember the victims as martyrs are themselves survivors of the massacres, or descendants of survivors.}}

===Cultural depictions===
Images of the aftermath of the massacres were compiled by politician [[Prabodh Chandra]] and published in a booklet titled ''Rape of Rawalpindi'' in 1947, soon after the massacres. The circulation of this booklet was stopped by the government fearing retaliation against Muslims in East Punjab.{{sfn|Ahmed|2022|p=221}}{{efn|Historian [[Yasmin Khan]] states that the booklet contained one-sided and inflammatory commentary.{{sfn|Khan|2017|p=138}}}} The events, in particular the massacre and mass suicide at Thoha Khalsa, were depicted in the 1988 television film ''[[Tamas (film)|Tamas]]'', directed by [[Govind Nihalani]]. The film was based on [[Bhisham Sahni]]'s Hindi novel of the [[Tamas (novel)|same name]].{{sfn|Saint|2020|pages=99–105}}{{efn|Sahni had visited Thoha Khalsa in the aftermath of the massacres.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sahni |first1=Bhisham |first2=Pankaj K. |last2=Singh |title=Making Connections |journal=Indian Literature |volume=38 |number=3 (167) |year=1995 |pages=89–97 |jstor=23335872 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23335872 |access-date=8 April 2023}}</ref>}} An incident similar to the Thoha Khalsa mass suicide is also depicted in the 2003 film ''[[Khamosh Pani]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Manoj |title=Portrayal of Partition in Hindi cinema |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=70 |year=2009 |pages=1155–60 |jstor=44147759 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147759. |access-date=13 April 2023}}</ref> A [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] novel based on the events called ''Khoon de Sohille'' written by [[Nanak Singh]] was published in 1948. It was translated into English as ''Hymns in Blood'' (2022).<ref>{{cite web|last=Dutt|first=Nirupama|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/roundabout-hymns-of-blood-at-chakri-village-on-river-soan-101659215581092-amp.html|title=Hymns in Blood at Chakri village on River Soan|work=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=31 July 2022|access-date=12 April 2023}}</ref> Other works based on the violence include [[Kartar Singh Duggal]]’s 1951 Punjabi novel ''Nahun te maas'' (translated into English as ''Twice Born Twice Dead'' in 1979) and [[Shauna Singh Baldwin]]’s 1999 English novel ''What the Body Remembers''.{{sfn|Saint|2020|pages=151–155}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== See also ==
* [[Kamoke train massacre or 1947]]

==Bibliography==
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* {{citation |last1=Talbot |first1=Ian |last2=Singh |first2=Gurharpal |title=The Partition of India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-67256-6 |year=2009 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/in/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-regional-history/partition-india?format=PB&isbn=9780521672566}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Talbot |first=Ian |chapter=Indo-Pak massacres |editor-last=Forsythe |editor-first=David P. |title=Encyclopedia of Human Rights |publisher=OUP USA |volume=1 |year=2009 |pages=45–53 |isbn=978-0-19-533402-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1QbX90fmCVUC}}
* {{citation |last=Talbot |first=Ian |title=Khizr Tiwana, the Punjab Unionist Party and the Partition of India |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |orig-year=1996 |isbn=978-0-700-70427-9}}
* {{citation |last=Talbot |first=Ian |year=2019 |chapter=The 1947 Partition violence: Characteristics and interpretations |editor-last1=Mohanram | editor-first1=Radhika |editor-last2=Raychaudhuri |editor-first2=Anindya |title=Partitions and Their Afterlives: Violence, Memories, Living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eLaDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield International | isbn=9781783488407}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.massviolence.org/thematic-chronology-of-mass-violence-in-pakistan-1947-2007 Thematic Chronology of Mass Violence in Pakistan, 1947-2007:1947; March 3] massviolence.org

[[Category:Partition of India]]
[[Category:1947 disasters in India]]
[[Category:Rawalpindi District]]
[[Category:Sectarian violence]]
[[Category:History of Punjab]]
[[Category:Ethnic cleansing in Asia]]
[[Category:History of Rawalpindi]]
[[Category:Massacres of Sikhs]]
[[Category:Massacres of Hindus]]
[[Category:Persecution of Hindus by Muslims]]
[[Category:Persecution of Sikhs]]
[[Category:Persecution by Muslims]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1947]]