From the archive, 27 August 1947: Indian proposal to Pakistan
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 27 August 1947
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
LAHORE, AUGUST 25 (DELAYED).
Master Tara Singh, the village schoolmaster who rose to be one of the chief leaders of the Sikhs, declared in an interview in Amritsar to-day that he hoped there would one day be a return of Sikh rule in the Punjab. Sikhs felt for the Punjab, he said, as the Jews felt for Palestine. If not checked within three or four days the present trouble would spread and become extremely difficult to control.
He recited a long list of grievances against the Musilms in general and against Pakistan and the West Punjab Governments, the boundary award, General Rees's Boundary Force, and especially against its British officers, whom he accuses of being pro-Muslim (the extreme virulence with which the Boundary Force is accused of partisanship by both sides is indirectly a great tribute to it).
Life is slowly returning to the shattered city of Amritsar, which looks as if it had been bombed heavily, and the surrounding countryside is quieter. Muslims are on the move and there are few Musilms villages left to burn. Master Tara Singh's appeal for peace, dropped in pamphlets from aircraft, is thought to have had a favourable effect, although, it was a double-edged document declaring simultaneously that the Sikhs would never accept the boundary award and must be prepared to fight to death for their just rights.
10,000 killed near Amritsar
According to the best neutral sources not fewer than 10,000 Muslims have lost their lives in the Amritsar district alone during August. Three battalions with tank support have been actively engaged in breaking up Sikh raiding parties in one affray they killed 61 men but now their main task is the protection of refugees. The Sikhs have displayed the same ruthlessness and brutality as in the Jullundur district. Out of one Muslim village of 350 people which fought off a large Sikh mob for six hours only 40 survived. Women and children have been beaten to death and tortures have been inflicted.
Lady Mountbatten's Tour
Lady Mountbatten left to-day by air for Jullundur and Amritsar to tour the refugee camps and hospitals of the East Punjab. She is accompanied by the India Health Minister, Mrs. Kaur. Both are expected to return to-morrow.
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 27 August 1947
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
LAHORE, AUGUST 25 (DELAYED).
Master Tara Singh, the village schoolmaster who rose to be one of the chief leaders of the Sikhs, declared in an interview in Amritsar to-day that he hoped there would one day be a return of Sikh rule in the Punjab. Sikhs felt for the Punjab, he said, as the Jews felt for Palestine. If not checked within three or four days the present trouble would spread and become extremely difficult to control.
He recited a long list of grievances against the Musilms in general and against Pakistan and the West Punjab Governments, the boundary award, General Rees's Boundary Force, and especially against its British officers, whom he accuses of being pro-Muslim (the extreme virulence with which the Boundary Force is accused of partisanship by both sides is indirectly a great tribute to it).
Life is slowly returning to the shattered city of Amritsar, which looks as if it had been bombed heavily, and the surrounding countryside is quieter. Muslims are on the move and there are few Musilms villages left to burn. Master Tara Singh's appeal for peace, dropped in pamphlets from aircraft, is thought to have had a favourable effect, although, it was a double-edged document declaring simultaneously that the Sikhs would never accept the boundary award and must be prepared to fight to death for their just rights.
10,000 killed near Amritsar
According to the best neutral sources not fewer than 10,000 Muslims have lost their lives in the Amritsar district alone during August. Three battalions with tank support have been actively engaged in breaking up Sikh raiding parties in one affray they killed 61 men but now their main task is the protection of refugees. The Sikhs have displayed the same ruthlessness and brutality as in the Jullundur district. Out of one Muslim village of 350 people which fought off a large Sikh mob for six hours only 40 survived. Women and children have been beaten to death and tortures have been inflicted.
Lady Mountbatten's Tour
Lady Mountbatten left to-day by air for Jullundur and Amritsar to tour the refugee camps and hospitals of the East Punjab. She is accompanied by the India Health Minister, Mrs. Kaur. Both are expected to return to-morrow.
