1947 Mirpur massacre

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Date	November 1947
Location	Mirpur district, Jammu and Kashmir; 33°9′N 73°44′E / 33.150°N 73.733°ECoordinates: 33°9′N 73°44′E / 33.150°N 73.733°E
Goals	Genocide, Religious cleansing
Methods	Rioting, pogrom, arson, looting, rape
Casualties
Death(s)	20,000+ Hindus and Sikhs
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The 1947 Mirpur Massacre was the killing of more than 20,000 Hindu and Sikh residents of the Mirpur city in the Mirpur District of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (present day Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir), by invading armed Pashtun tribesmen and local armed Muslims during the First Kashmir War. It followed the occupation of Mirpur by the raiders on 25 November, 1947.

Background[edit]

Soon after British India's independence, a rebellion occurred in Poonch and Mirpur districts, and the Pakistani Army conceived a military plan to invade Jammu and Kashmir. The military campaign was claimed by Indian sources to be code-named "Operation Gulmarg", which was reportedly to involve forming twenty tribal regiments and launching a swift invasion.^[6]

Before the Kashmir War in 1947, the Mirpur District had about 75,000 Hindu and Sikhs, amounting to 20 percent of the population. A great majority of them lived in the principal towns of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber. Refugees from Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab had taken refuge in Mirpur, causing the non-Muslim population to increase to 25,000.^[2]

Event[edit]

During the First Kashmir War, raiders entered the city on the morning of November 25 and set several parts of the city on fire, causing chaos and turmoil across the city. Large-scale rioting took place. Of the minority population, only about 2,500 Hindus or Sikhs escaped to Jammu along with the State troops. The remainder were marched to Ali Baig, where a gurdwara was billed as a refuge camp, but was in fact used a prison. The raiders killed 10,000 of the captives along the way and abducted 5,000 women. Only about 5,000 made it to Ali Baig, but they continued to be killed at a gradual pace by the prison guards. Hindu and Sikh women were raped and abducted. Many women committed mass suicide by consuming poison before falling into the hands of the militants, to avoid rape and abduction. Men also committed suicide. The estimates measure the death toll at over 20,000.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[7]^[8]

"A 'greatly shocked' Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan", the then president of Azad Kashmir, who visited the place during the event, "painfully confirmed that some Hindus were 'disposed of' in Mirpur in November 1947, although he does not mention any figures."^[9]^{[lower-alpha 1]}^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Aftermath[edit]

In March 1948, the ICRC rescued 1,600 of the survivors from Ali Baig, who were resettled to Jammu and other areas of India. By 1951, only 790 non-Muslims remained in areas that came to comprise Azad Kashmir; down from a previous population of 114,000 that used to live there. Many Hindus and Sikhs from Muzaffarabad and Mirpur that survived the raids became displaced within the former princely state. To their displeasure, the Jammu and Kashmir government has not given them the status and associated benefits of internally displaced people.^[3]

The date of 25 November is remembered as the Mirpur Day in the Jammu & Kashmir.^[4]

Notes[edit]

↑ Ibrahim Khan, Muhammad (1990), The Kashmir Saga, Verinag, p. 55: During the month of November, 1947, I went to Mirpur to see things there for myself. I visited, during the night, one Hindu refugee camp at Ali Baig—about 15 miles from Mirpur proper. Among the refugees I found some of my fellow lawyers in a pathetic condition. I saw them myself, sympathised with them and solemnly promised that they would be rescued and sent to Pakistan, from where they would eventually be sent out to India.... After a couple of days, when I visited the camp again to do my bit for them, I was greatly shocked to learn that all those people whom I had seen on the last occasion had been disposed of. I can only say that nothing in my life pained my conscience so much as did this incident.... Those who were in charge of those camps were duly dealt with but that certainly is no compensation to those whose near and dear ones were killed.
↑ According to a survivor, the prison guard at Ali Baig, who killed his victims with a butcher's knife chanting kalima, identified himself to Sardar Ibrahim as a soldier of Pakistan and a follower of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and said that he was following the orders of his superiors.^[10]

References[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Das Gupta, Jyoti Bhusan (2012-12-06). Jammu and Kashmir. Springer. p. 97. ISBN 9789401192316.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, pp. 28, 56, ISBN 978-9350298985
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Snedden, Christopher (2015-09-15). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. p. 167. ISBN 9781849046213.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Puri, Luv (2012-02-21). Across the Line of Control: Inside Azad Kashmir. Columbia University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 9780231800846.
↑ Hasan, Mirpur 1947 (2013).
↑ Snedden, Christopher (2015-09-15). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. pp. 172–. ISBN 9781849046213.
↑ Sharma 2013, p. 139.
↑ Hasan, Mirpur 1947 (2013)
↑ Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History. HarperCollins India. 2013. p. 56. ISBN 978-9350298985.
↑ Bhagotra 2013, p. 124.

Bibliography[edit]

Gupta, Bal K. (2013), Forgotten Atrocities: Memoirs of a Survivor of the 1947 Partition of India, Lulu.com, ISBN 978-1-257-91419-7
Bhagotra, R. K. (2013) [first published in The Tawi Deepika, 1987], "Escape from Death Seven Times", Ibid, pp. 123–125
Hasan, Khalid (2013) [2007], "Mirpur 1947", Ibid, pp. 141–144
Sharma, Ram Chander (2013) [first published in Daily Excelsior, date unknown], "Mirpur – Forgotten City", Ibid, pp. 138–140

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[Ibrahim-10] Ibrahim Khan, Muhammad (1990), The Kashmir Saga, Verinag, p. 55: During the month of November, 1947, I went to Mirpur to see things there for myself. I visited, during the night, one Hindu refugee camp at Ali Baig—about 15 miles from Mirpur proper. Among the refugees I found some of my fellow lawyers in a pathetic condition. I saw them myself, sympathised with them and solemnly promised that they would be rescued and sent to Pakistan, from where they would eventually be sent out to India.... After a couple of days, when I visited the camp again to do my bit for them, I was greatly shocked to learn that all those people whom I had seen on the last occasion had been disposed of. I can only say that nothing in my life pained my conscience so much as did this incident.... Those who were in charge of those camps were duly dealt with but that certainly is no compensation to those whose near and dear ones were killed.

[12] According to a survivor, the prison guard at Ali Baig, who killed his victims with a butcher's knife chanting kalima, identified himself to Sardar Ibrahim as a soldier of Pakistan and a follower of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and said that he was following the orders of his superiors.^[10]

[Das_Gupta-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Das Gupta, Jyoti Bhusan (2012-12-06). Jammu and Kashmir. Springer. p. 97. ISBN 9789401192316.

[Snedden_p.56-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, pp. 28, 56, ISBN 978-9350298985

[Snedden_p.167-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Snedden, Christopher (2015-09-15). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. p. 167. ISBN 9781849046213.

[Luv_Puri-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Puri, Luv (2012-02-21). Across the Line of Control: Inside Azad Kashmir. Columbia University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 9780231800846.

[FOOTNOTEHasan,_Mirpur_19472013-5] Hasan, Mirpur 1947 (2013).

[6] Snedden, Christopher (2015-09-15). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. pp. 172–. ISBN 9781849046213.

[FOOTNOTESharma2013139-7] Sharma 2013, p. 139.

[Khalid_Hasan-8] Hasan, Mirpur 1947 (2013)

[:1-9] Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History. HarperCollins India. 2013. p. 56. ISBN 978-9350298985.

[FOOTNOTEBhagotra2013124-11] Bhagotra 2013, p. 124.

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