Partition riots in Rawalpindi

The partition riots in Rawalpindi, also known as the Rape of Rawalpindi is the name given to the sectarian violence which occurred between Muslims and Sikhs, Hindus in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) during Feb-March 1947, on the backdrop of ensuing Partition of India.[1] The partition of India was the partition of British India (at the time of independence of India) on the basis of religious demographics, with Muslim-predominant regions forming Pakistan and non-Muslim predominant regions forming Republic of India. The Hindus and Sikhs in the western districts of Punjab province and Sindh had been subjected to atrocities in the communal riots that had occurred after the Direct Action Day prior to the partition of India. The communal killings on a large scale occurred in one of the northern districts of Punjab, and has been termed as the Rape of Rawalpindi.[2] Large number of Hindu and Sikh women committed self-immolation and threw themselves into wells and committed suicide after killing their female children, as this was the only method left for them to save their honour.[3] In order to save their lives large number of non-Muslims residing in the region had to accept Islam.[3]

The event has also been described in a book titled "Rape of Rawalpindi" by Prabodh Chandra, Member of the Legislative Assembly.[4] The book describes the happenings and also includes a collection of photographs of the communal incident.[5] The event has been covered in a number of partition of India related historical works.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Gillani, Waqar (March 30, 2004). "History books contain major distortions: SDPI". Daily Times.
  2. ↑ India. Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to Murder Mahatma Gandhi; Jeevan Lal Kapur (1970). Report of Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to Murder Mahatma Gandhi. Ministry of Home affairs. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 Jain, Jagdish Chandra (1987). Gandhi, the Forgotten Mahatma. Mittal Publications. p. 206. ISBN 9788170990376.
  4. ↑ Prabodh Chandra (1946*). Rape of Rawalpindi. Punjab Riot Sufferers' Relief Committee. Retrieved 31 May 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ Mushirul Hasan (1997). India partitioned: the other face of freedom. Roli Books. ISBN 978-81-7436-011-3. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Ishtiaq Ahmed (2011). The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed: Unravelling the 1947 Tragedy Through Secret British Reports and First Person Accounts. Rupa & Company. ISBN 978-81-291-1862-2. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Voices from a Cleaved Land". The Indian Express. Sep 17, 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.