The Partition of India

Tested against the primary record

1. SupportedThe 1941 census figures were to be taken as authoritative for the notional division, and the Boundary Commissions were to work from contiguous majority areas plus other factors.

   Rests on documents from: Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Boundary Commissions; Mehr Chand Mahajan, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress); Din Mohammad, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League); UK government.

   The statement read to the Commons on 3 June 1947 says the 1941 figures would be authoritative; the award reproduces the terms of reference; and both the League-nominated and the Congress-nominated judges argue Gurdaspur from the 1941 census. Four producers carry the same basis.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. Clement Attlee, Prime Minister, in the House of Commons, India (Transfer of Power) (1947)p. 36

      The Provincial Legislative Assemblies of Bengal and the Punjab (excluding the European members) will therefore each be asked to meet in two parts, one representing the Muslim majority districts and the other the rest of the Province. For the purpose of determining the population of districts, the 1941 census figures will be taken as authoritative. The Muslim majority districts in these two Provinces are set out in the appendix to the White Paper of which copies will be available when I sit down.

   2. Clement Attlee, Prime Minister, in the House of Commons, India (Transfer of Power) (1947)p. 37

      For the immediate purpose of deciding on the issue of partition, the members of the Legislative Assemblies of Bengal and the Punjab will sit in two parts according to Muslim majority districts (as laid down in the Appendix to the White Paper) and non-Muslim majority districts. This is only a preliminary step of a purely temporary nature as it is evident that for the purposes of final partition of these Provinces a detailed investigation of boundary questions will be needed; and, as soon as a decision involving partition has been taken for either Province, a Boundary Commission will be set up by the Governor-General, the membership and terms of reference of which will be settled in consultation with those concerned. It will be instructed to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. It will also be instructed to take into account other factors. Similar instructions will be given to the Bengal Boundary Commission. Until the report of a Boundary Commission has been put into effect, the provisional boundaries indicated in the Appendix to the White Paper will be used.

   3. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Punjab Boundary Commission, Report of the Punjab Boundary Commission (the Punjab... (1947)¶ 3

      3. The terms of reference of the Commission, as set out in the announcement, were as follows:— “The Boundary Commission is instructed to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will also take into account other factors.” We were desired to arrive at a decision as soon as possible before the 15th of August.

   4. Din Mohammad, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League), Report of Mr. Justice Din Mohammad, 5 August 1947pp. 383 to 385

      Itremains now to examine the statistics of the district of Gurdaspur. It is not disputed by the Indian National Congress that on the basis of 1941 census the percentage of the | Muslims is 51,14 and that of the non-Muslims 48.86. The difference, therefore, is not .8 as was stated by His Excellency the Viceroy in the Press Conference but 2,28 and this obviously is not negligible: This district is divided into four Tehsils, i.c., Gurdaspur, Batala, Shakargarh and Pathankot, and the community wise population of the district is as follows:- Community Gurdaspur Gurdaspur Batala . Shakagarh Pathankot Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Hindus in- 283,192 59,970 33,433 116,553 376,227 cluding S.C. . Sikhs 221,261 76,695 116,413 20,573 7,580 Christians 51,528 . 23,323 20,753. 4,779 2,673 Ad-Dharmis 7,582 302. 177 ---- 7,103 Jains 25 22 o- wooe 3 Muslims _ §89,923 171,498 =. 209,277 149,600 59,548 Total 1,153,511 328,819 380,053 291,505 153,134 (en on os 0 0 00 wa 0 OE SP Fe HY OO A Ak OF 8 8 > Om AH CR PU We DR OS HH The percentage of Muslim population in the four tehsils is as stated below:- Per cent Gurdaspur Tehsil , 52.1 Batala Tehsil . 55.06 Shakargarh Tehsil 51.3 Pathankot Tehsil 38.8 The Muslims, therefore, though in majority in the district as a whole are in minority in the tehsil of Pathankot.

   5. Mehr Chand Mahajan, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress), Report of Mr. Justice Meher Chand Mahajan, 3 August 1947pp. 327 to 328

      Now I proceed to examine the case from the point of view of the administrative units situate in the tract between the Beas and Ravi, i.e., districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar and the district of Lahore. The first district that I will consider is the district of Gurdaspur. This district is split up in two parts: (i) the part beyond the Ravi, and (ii) the part of the tract between the Ravi and Beas, The district measures 1,827 square miles. Its population according to the census of 1941 is 1,153,511, of this Muslims are 589,923 and non-Muslims 563,488, the difference being 26,435 in favour of the Muslims. The percentage works out to. 51.14 Muslims and 48.86 non-Muslims, These figures need amendment in view of an - arithmetical error that was discovered in original census register of the Shakargarh Tehsil - by the counsel for the Congress and an affidavit was produced before the Commission on this point. According to this affidavit instead of the Muslim majority of 7,695 in the . Shakargarh Tehsil the real majority of Muslims is only 1,627. This error will affect the total of the whole district and reduce the Muslim majority from 26,000 to 20,000 and thus affect the percentage calculation as well.

2. QualifiedThe Viceroy had nothing to do with the award and kept clear of the Boundary Commissions.

   Rests on documents from: Viceroy and his staff. One producer, so the verdict is capped at qualified.

   Ismay's letter says so, and Liaquat's message is what it answers; but the Viceroy's own interview record of 4 August has him saying Kashmir could join either Dominion 'provided part of Gurdaspur were put into East Punjab by the Boundary Commission', and on 4 June he had told the press it was unlikely the commission would place the whole district in the Muslim majority area. Every document here is the Viceroy's staff's own, so under Rule A the verdict is capped at qualified: the papers show a Viceroy who had a view of Gurdaspur's fate, not one who conveyed it to Radcliffe.

   The 3 extracts it rests on

   1. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1983)item 428

      (1) Gurdaspur or a large portion of it has been given to East Punjab by the award of the Boundary Commission. The report is that this is a political decision, and not a judicial one: (2) If this is so, it is a grave injustice which will amount to a breach of faith on the part of the British. Before giving you my comments on these points, let me state the background as I see it. (1) The Viceroy has from the outset made it absolutely clear that he himself must have nothing to do either with arbitration of any kind or with the Boundary Commissions. (2) The Indian leaders themselves selected all the Boundary Commissions, drafted their terms of reference and undertook to implement the award, whatever it might be.

   2. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1983)item 335

      the viceroy went on to say that he fully realised the difficulties peculiar to Bhopal. They arose also in the cases of Kashmir and Hyderabad, though not so seriously with Kashmir, which was so placed geographically that it could join either Dominion, provided part of Gurdaspur were put into East Punjab by the Boundary Commission.

   3. Lord Mountbatten, Viceroy, at his press conference of 4 June 1947, Reproduction of some answers given at the press... (1947)pp. 99 to 100

      At his press conference of June 4, 1947, Mountbatten was asked why he had, in his broadcast of the previous evening on the June 3 Partition Plan, categorically sated that ‘‘the - ultimate boundaries will be settled by a Boundary Commission and will almost certainly not be identical with: those which have been provisionally adopted.’’ Mountbatten immediately replied, ‘‘I put that in for the simple reason that in the district of Gurdaspur in the Punjab the population is 50.4 per cent Muslims, | think, and 49.6 percent non- Muslims. With a difference of 0.8 per cent you will see at once that it is unlikely that the Boundary Commission will throw the whole of the district into the Muslim majority areas.”’

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedOn the electoral rolls Gurdaspur's non-Muslim voters outnumbered its Muslim voters, 81,525 to 74,790.

   Rests on documents from: Mehr Chand Mahajan, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress); Din Mohammad, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League).

   The Congress-nominated judge's report carries the roll figures; the League-nominated judge's report, the only other producer on the point, argues from the 1941 population figures and does not mention the rolls in the passage held here. The rolls are one side's evidence, so the verdict is qualified.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Mehr Chand Mahajan, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress), Report of Mr. Justice Meher Chand Mahajan, 3 August 1947pp. 328 to 329

      There, however, a much stronger reason than this for saying that this district is anon- Muslim majority district. In order to determine the wishes of the people of the Frontier Province and of Sylhet a plebiscite was taken according to the statement of His Majesty of the 3rd of June and the persons who were entitled to vote in this were those whose names were bore on the electoral rolls prepared under the Act of 1935. If a plebiscite is taken on the lines on which it was taken in Sylhet or in the North-West Frontier Province, then it . would appear that plebiscite would go in favour of the non-Muslims, The electoral rolls disclose that in the Gurdaspur district there are 74,790 Muslims voters as against 81,525 non-Muslim voters. If for the purpose of exercise of political rights in the matter of partition the test laid down in other parts of India is the plebiscite test,then I do not see why that test should not be employed in this district when the population majority is one per cent or 1- 1/2 per cent.

   2. Din Mohammad, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League), Report of Mr. Justice Din Mohammad, 5 August 1947pp. 383 to 385

      Itremains now to examine the statistics of the district of Gurdaspur. It is not disputed by the Indian National Congress that on the basis of 1941 census the percentage of the | Muslims is 51,14 and that of the non-Muslims 48.86. The difference, therefore, is not .8 as was stated by His Excellency the Viceroy in the Press Conference but 2,28 and this obviously is not negligible: This district is divided into four Tehsils, i.c., Gurdaspur, Batala, Shakargarh and Pathankot, and the community wise population of the district is as follows:- Community Gurdaspur Gurdaspur Batala . Shakagarh Pathankot Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Hindus in- 283,192 59,970 33,433 116,553 376,227 cluding S.C. . Sikhs 221,261 76,695 116,413 20,573 7,580 Christians 51,528 . 23,323 20,753. 4,779 2,673 Ad-Dharmis 7,582 302. 177 ---- 7,103 Jains 25 22 o- wooe 3 Muslims _ §89,923 171,498 =. 209,277 149,600 59,548 Total 1,153,511 328,819 380,053 291,505 153,134 (en on os 0 0 00 wa 0 OE SP Fe HY OO A Ak OF 8 8 > Om AH CR PU We DR OS HH The percentage of Muslim population in the four tehsils is as stated below:- Per cent Gurdaspur Tehsil , 52.1 Batala Tehsil . 55.06 Shakargarh Tehsil 51.3 Pathankot Tehsil 38.8 The Muslims, therefore, though in majority in the district as a whole are in minority in the tehsil of Pathankot.

2. QualifiedThe fact-finding body's count is between 200,000 and 250,000 non-Muslims killed, with an equal number of Muslims believed killed in India.

   Rests on documents from: Fact Finding Organisation of the Government of India. One producer, so the verdict is capped at qualified.

   The count is the body's own, from nearly fifteen thousand witnesses and 2,094 of 19,914 villages in West Punjab by its own footnote, and the Muslim figure is a belief, not a count. One producer, and the producer says its own method is approximate: qualified.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Gopal Das Khosla, for the Fact Finding Organisation of the Government of India, Stern Reckoning (1949)p. 299

      deposed to by eye-witnesses. Taking these factors into consideration the loss of non-Muslim life has been estimated at a figure between 200,000 and 250,000. It is believed that an equal number of Muslims perished in the course of the riots in India. The loss of non-Muslim property is estimated at about twenty thousand million rupees.

   2. Gopal Das Khosla, for the Fact Finding Organisation of the Government of India, Stern Reckoning (1949)p. 298

      It is not possible to make an accurate estimate of the total loss of life or the extent of damage to property caused by these riots. Figures computed on the population basis must, of necessity, prove extremely misleading. The census returns of 1941 were not accurate even at the time they were compiled. They became hopelessly wrong, at the end of six years, when a general increase in population and local movements made it impossible to determine, with any degree of accuracy, how many non-Muslims were living in West Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province and Sind. Nor is it possible to know the total number of Hindu and Sikh refugees who later arrived in India. Rough estimates of the total number of refugees, prepared for purposes of rehabilitation and allotment to the various provinces, do not give a true picture; and the total number of non-Muslims killed or a>n\erted cannot be calculated by substracting the number of refugees in India from the number of non-Muslims residing in the area which now comprises Pakistan, for the simple reason that both numbers will be grossly inaccurate. Figures based on ^he statements of refugee eye-witnesses are a surer guide though even these can, at best, be only approximate. The Fact? Finding Organization examined nearly fifteen thousand witnesses and they bear testimony to the murder of fifty thousand non-Muslims. The incidents deposed to by these witnesses, however, represent only a fraction of the total devastation caused. Thousands of villages where riots are known to have taken place do not figure in the material collected by the Organization.* and no account has been taken of incidents not * Out of a total ol 19.914 villages in West Punjab only 2,094 are covered by the evidence collected by the Fact Finding Organization. The figures for the North-W^st Frontier Province arc 2,826 and 362 respectively, and for Bhawalpur 2.376 and 216 respectively.

Tested against the primary record

1. SupportedGurdaspur had a Muslim majority by the 1941 census: 51.14 per cent, with three of its four tehsils Muslim-majority.

   Rests on documents from: Viceroy and his staff; Mehr Chand Mahajan, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress); Din Mohammad, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League).

   The League-nominated judge prints the tehsil table; the Congress-nominated judge gives the same district figures, 589,923 Muslims of 1,153,511, and concedes the majority while disputing its size; the Viceroy's press conference and the 3 June appendix list the district as Muslim-majority. Three producers, on both sides, agree on the majority.

   The 4 extracts it rests on

   1. Din Mohammad, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League), Report of Mr. Justice Din Mohammad, 5 August 1947pp. 383 to 385

      Itremains now to examine the statistics of the district of Gurdaspur. It is not disputed by the Indian National Congress that on the basis of 1941 census the percentage of the | Muslims is 51,14 and that of the non-Muslims 48.86. The difference, therefore, is not .8 as was stated by His Excellency the Viceroy in the Press Conference but 2,28 and this obviously is not negligible: This district is divided into four Tehsils, i.c., Gurdaspur, Batala, Shakargarh and Pathankot, and the community wise population of the district is as follows:- Community Gurdaspur Gurdaspur Batala . Shakagarh Pathankot Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Hindus in- 283,192 59,970 33,433 116,553 376,227 cluding S.C. . Sikhs 221,261 76,695 116,413 20,573 7,580 Christians 51,528 . 23,323 20,753. 4,779 2,673 Ad-Dharmis 7,582 302. 177 ---- 7,103 Jains 25 22 o- wooe 3 Muslims _ §89,923 171,498 =. 209,277 149,600 59,548 Total 1,153,511 328,819 380,053 291,505 153,134 (en on os 0 0 00 wa 0 OE SP Fe HY OO A Ak OF 8 8 > Om AH CR PU We DR OS HH The percentage of Muslim population in the four tehsils is as stated below:- Per cent Gurdaspur Tehsil , 52.1 Batala Tehsil . 55.06 Shakargarh Tehsil 51.3 Pathankot Tehsil 38.8 The Muslims, therefore, though in majority in the district as a whole are in minority in the tehsil of Pathankot.

   2. Mehr Chand Mahajan, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress), Report of Mr. Justice Meher Chand Mahajan, 3 August 1947pp. 327 to 328

      Now I proceed to examine the case from the point of view of the administrative units situate in the tract between the Beas and Ravi, i.e., districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar and the district of Lahore. The first district that I will consider is the district of Gurdaspur. This district is split up in two parts: (i) the part beyond the Ravi, and (ii) the part of the tract between the Ravi and Beas, The district measures 1,827 square miles. Its population according to the census of 1941 is 1,153,511, of this Muslims are 589,923 and non-Muslims 563,488, the difference being 26,435 in favour of the Muslims. The percentage works out to. 51.14 Muslims and 48.86 non-Muslims, These figures need amendment in view of an - arithmetical error that was discovered in original census register of the Shakargarh Tehsil - by the counsel for the Congress and an affidavit was produced before the Commission on this point. According to this affidavit instead of the Muslim majority of 7,695 in the . Shakargarh Tehsil the real majority of Muslims is only 1,627. This error will affect the total of the whole district and reduce the Muslim majority from 26,000 to 20,000 and thus affect the percentage calculation as well.

   3. Lord Mountbatten, Viceroy, at his press conference of 4 June 1947, Reproduction of some answers given at the press... (1947)pp. 99 to 100

      At his press conference of June 4, 1947, Mountbatten was asked why he had, in his broadcast of the previous evening on the June 3 Partition Plan, categorically sated that ‘‘the - ultimate boundaries will be settled by a Boundary Commission and will almost certainly not be identical with: those which have been provisionally adopted.’’ Mountbatten immediately replied, ‘‘I put that in for the simple reason that in the district of Gurdaspur in the Punjab the population is 50.4 per cent Muslims, | think, and 49.6 percent non- Muslims. With a difference of 0.8 per cent you will see at once that it is unlikely that the Boundary Commission will throw the whole of the district into the Muslim majority areas.”’

   4. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1982)item 45Exhibit 1

      APPENDIX Muslim Majority Districts of Bengal and the Punjab according i. Bengal Chittagong Division Chittagong. Noakhali. Tippera. Dacca Division Bakarganj. Dacca. Faridpur. Mymensingh. Presidency Division Jessore. Murshidabad. Nadia. o the 1941 Census 2. The Punjab Lahore Division Gujranwala. Gurdaspur. Lahore. Sheikhupura. Sialkot. Rawalpindi Division Attock. Gujrat. Jhelum. Mianwali. Rawalpindi. Shahpur. Rajshahi Division Bogra. Dinajpur. Malda. Pabna. Rajshahi. Rangpur. Multan Division Dera Ghazi Khan. Jhang. Lyallpur. Montgomery. Multan. Muzaffargarh.

2. QualifiedThe allocation of Gurdaspur to East Punjab was a political decision, not a judicial one.

   Rests on documents from: Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Boundary Commissions; Viceroy and his staff.

   The Viceroy's staff recorded him, on 4 August, treating part of Gurdaspur's transfer to East Punjab as the condition of Kashmir's freedom to join either Dominion, eight days before the award; Ismay's reply to Liaquat denies any influence. The award's reasons say nothing of Kashmir; the two stated grounds that name Gurdaspur or its tahsils are the Upper Bari Doab Canal from Madhopur in Pathankot and the Mandi hydro-electric scheme, and the schedule names the State of Kashmir only as where the Ujh enters the Punjab. The papers show the motive existed on the Viceroy's side; no document in this record shows it reached Radcliffe, so the claim is qualified, not supported.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1983)item 335

      the viceroy went on to say that he fully realised the difficulties peculiar to Bhopal. They arose also in the cases of Kashmir and Hyderabad, though not so seriously with Kashmir, which was so placed geographically that it could join either Dominion, provided part of Gurdaspur were put into East Punjab by the Boundary Commission.

   2. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1983)item 428

      (1) Gurdaspur or a large portion of it has been given to East Punjab by the award of the Boundary Commission. The report is that this is a political decision, and not a judicial one: (2) If this is so, it is a grave injustice which will amount to a breach of faith on the part of the British. Before giving you my comments on these points, let me state the background as I see it. (1) The Viceroy has from the outset made it absolutely clear that he himself must have nothing to do either with arbitration of any kind or with the Boundary Commissions. (2) The Indian leaders themselves selected all the Boundary Commissions, drafted their terms of reference and undertook to implement the award, whatever it might be.

   3. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Punjab Boundary Commission, Report of the Punjab Boundary Commission (the Punjab... (1947)¶ 9Exhibit 2

      9. The task of delimiting a boundary in the Punjab is a difficult one. The claims of the respective parties ranged over a wide field of territory, but in my judgment the truly debatable ground in the end proved to lie in and around the area between the Beas and Sutlej rivers on the one hand, and the River Ravi on the other. The fixing of a boundary in this area was further complicated by the existence of canal systems, so vital to the life of the Punjab but developed only under the conception of a single administration, and of systems of road and rail communication, which have been planned in the same way. There was also the stubborn geographical fact of the respective situations of Lahore and Amritsar, and the claims to each or both of those cities which each side vigorously maintained. After weighing to the best of my ability such other factors as appeared to me relevant as affecting the fundamental basis of contiguous majority areas, I have come to the decision set out in the Schedule which thus becomes the award of the Commission. I am conscious that there are legitimate criticisms to be made of it: as there are, I think, of any other line that might be chosen.

   4. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Punjab Boundary Commission, Report of the Punjab Boundary Commission (the Punjab... (1947)¶ 11

      11. I have not found it possible to preserve undivided the irrigation system of the Upper Bari Doab Canal, which extends from Madhopur in the Pathankot Tahsil to the western border of the district of Lahore, although I have made small adjustments of the I.ahorc-Amritsar district boundary to mitigate some of the consequences of this severance; nor can I see any means of preserving under one territorial jurisdiction the Mandi Hydro-electric Scheme which supplies power in the districts of Kangra, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Lahore, Jullundur, Ludhiana, Ferozepore, Sheikhupura, and Lyallpur. I think it only right to express the hope that, where the drawing of a boundary line cannot avoid disrupting such unitary services as canal irrigation, railways, and electric power transmission, a solution may be found by agreement between the two States for some joint control of what has hitherto been a valuable common service.

   5. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Punjab Boundary Commission, Report of the Punjab Boundary Commission (the Punjab... (1947)item 1

      The boundary between the East and West Punjab shall commence on the north at the point where the west branch of the Ujh river enters the Punjab Province from the State of Kashmir. The boundary shall follow the line of that river down the western boundary of the Pathankot Tahsil to the point where the Pathankot, Shakargarh and Gurdaspur tahsils meet. The tahsil boundary and not the actual course of the Ujh river shall constitute the boundary between the East and West Punjab.

3. SupportedThe Security Council resolved that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir should be decided by a free and impartial plebiscite.

   Rests on documents from: UK government; United Nations Security Council.

   Resolution 47 notes that both governments desire the question decided by plebiscite and recommends measures to create the conditions for one; the Commons was told on 30 October 1947 that India accepted the accession 'subject to a reference to the people of Kashmir'. Two producers.

   The 3 extracts it rests on

   1. United Nations Security Council, Resolution 47 (1948) of 21 April 1948preambular para. 3

      Being strongly of the opinion that the early restoration of peace and order in Jam.mu and Kashmir is essential and that India and Pakistan should do their utmost to bring about a cessation of aU fighting, Noting with satisfaction that both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jam.mu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, Considering that the continuation of the dispute is likely to endanger international peace and security,

   2. United Nations Security Council, Resolution 47 (1948) of 21 April 1948operative para. 1

      Recommends to the Governments of India and Pakistan the following measures as those which in the opinion of the Council are appropriate to bring about a cessation of the fighting and to create proper conditions for a free and impartial plebiscite to decide whether the State of Jam.mu and Kashmir is to accede to India or Pakistan : A. Restoration of peace and order 1. The Government of Pakistan should undertake to use its best endeavours : (a) To secure the withdrawal from the State of Jam.mu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting, and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State;

   3. Philip Noel-Baker, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, in the House of Commons, Kashmir (Situation) (1947)p. 1086

      According to the information I have received, some 2,000 armed raiders entered Kashmir, on or about the 22nd October; they took the Jhelum Valley road leading to Srinagar. It is alleged that they came in reprisal for attacks on Moslems in some parts of Kashmir reported by refugees. On 26th October, the Maharajah appealed to the Government of India for help, and asked for leave to accede to that Dominion. On 27th October His Highness was informed by the Governor General of India that his accession was accepted, subject to a reference to the people of Kashmir, when law and order had been restored. He was also informed that the Indian Government had decided to send Indian Army troops to assist in defence of the territory and people of Kashmir. I am not informed as to the exact strength or composition of the Indian forces which have in fact been sent to Kashmir.

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedThe plan of 3 June divided the Sikh community into two almost equal parts.

   Rests on documents from: Viceroy and his staff; Teja Singh, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress for the Sikhs).

   The Viceroy said so at his press conference; the Sikh member's own report counts 3,767,401 Sikhs by the 1941 census, of whom 1,683,855 lived in the seventeen notional western districts and 2,073,546 in the east. Two producers agree on the division; the Sikh judge's own figures make it 45 to 55 rather than equal, so the claim is qualified by the position's own count.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1982)item 59

      I found that it was mainly at the request of the Sikh community that Congress had put forward the Resolution on the partition of the Punjab,7 and you will remember that in the words of that Resolution they wished the Punjab to be divided between predominantly Muslim and non-Muslim areas. It was therefore on that Resolution, which the Sikhs themselves sponsored, that this division has been provided for. I was not aware of all the details when this suggestion was made but when I sent for the map and studied the distribution of the Sikh population under this proposal, I must say that I was astounded to find that the plan which they had produced divided their community into two almost equal parts.

   2. Teja Singh, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Congress for the Sikhs), Report of Mr. Justice Teja Singh, 4 August 1947pp. 353 to 354

      The total population Of the Sikhs in the British Punjab according to the census figures of 1941 is 3,767,401. Out of this 1,683,855 live in the seventeen districts which according to the notional division from the western Punjab and 2,073,546 in the Eastern Punjab. This means thatif the notional division is adhered to, and the boundaries are demarcated according to it about 17 lacs i.e. a million and about seven hundred thousand of Sikhs would be left stranded in the Western Punjab, of these 1,368,962 belong to the districts of Gurdaspur, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Lyallpur and Montgomery which will be the border districts just on the frontier of the two States that are to be sovereign States.

2. QualifiedGurdaspur, Amritsar and Lahore were districts of balanced population, not Muslim-majority districts.

   Rests on documents from: Viceroy and his staff; Din Mohammad, Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League); Sikh All Parties Committee, Amritsar.

   The 1942 note's own 1931 table puts Gurdaspur at 50.8 and Amritsar at 47.0 per cent Muslim, and the 1941 table the League's judge prints puts Gurdaspur at 51.14; the 3 June appendix lists Gurdaspur and Lahore, not Amritsar, as Muslim-majority. Balanced is true of the margins and false of the label the plan used: qualified.

   The 3 extracts it rests on

   1. Sikh All Parties Committee, Amritsar, Note on the Sikhs' Position, appended to the memorandum... (1942)p. 7

      District wise Percentage of Muslim Population (1931) Jullundur Division: 1 Kangra : 5.5 ,2. Simla 3. Hoshiarpur a 31.8 4, Jullundur . 44,5 5. Ludhiana 35.1 6. Ferozepur 44.6 Ambala Division: 7. Hissar 28.3 8. Rohtak 17.1 9. Gurgaon . o2et 10. Karnal 30.5 ‘li. Ambala 31.0 Lahore Division: 12. Amritsar — 47.0 13. Gurdaspur 50.8

   2. Din Mohammad, member of the Punjab Boundary Commission (nominated by the Muslim League), Report of Mr. Justice Din Mohammad, 5 August 1947pp. 383 to 385

      Itremains now to examine the statistics of the district of Gurdaspur. It is not disputed by the Indian National Congress that on the basis of 1941 census the percentage of the | Muslims is 51,14 and that of the non-Muslims 48.86. The difference, therefore, is not .8 as was stated by His Excellency the Viceroy in the Press Conference but 2,28 and this obviously is not negligible: This district is divided into four Tehsils, i.c., Gurdaspur, Batala, Shakargarh and Pathankot, and the community wise population of the district is as follows:- Community Gurdaspur Gurdaspur Batala . Shakagarh Pathankot Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Tehsil Hindus in- 283,192 59,970 33,433 116,553 376,227 cluding S.C. . Sikhs 221,261 76,695 116,413 20,573 7,580 Christians 51,528 . 23,323 20,753. 4,779 2,673 Ad-Dharmis 7,582 302. 177 ---- 7,103 Jains 25 22 o- wooe 3 Muslims _ §89,923 171,498 =. 209,277 149,600 59,548 Total 1,153,511 328,819 380,053 291,505 153,134 (en on os 0 0 00 wa 0 OE SP Fe HY OO A Ak OF 8 8 > Om AH CR PU We DR OS HH The percentage of Muslim population in the four tehsils is as stated below:- Per cent Gurdaspur Tehsil , 52.1 Batala Tehsil . 55.06 Shakargarh Tehsil 51.3 Pathankot Tehsil 38.8 The Muslims, therefore, though in majority in the district as a whole are in minority in the tehsil of Pathankot.

   3. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1982)item 45Exhibit 1

      APPENDIX Muslim Majority Districts of Bengal and the Punjab according i. Bengal Chittagong Division Chittagong. Noakhali. Tippera. Dacca Division Bakarganj. Dacca. Faridpur. Mymensingh. Presidency Division Jessore. Murshidabad. Nadia. o the 1941 Census 2. The Punjab Lahore Division Gujranwala. Gurdaspur. Lahore. Sheikhupura. Sialkot. Rawalpindi Division Attock. Gujrat. Jhelum. Mianwali. Rawalpindi. Shahpur. Rajshahi Division Bogra. Dinajpur. Malda. Pabna. Rajshahi. Rangpur. Multan Division Dera Ghazi Khan. Jhang. Lyallpur. Montgomery. Multan. Muzaffargarh.

Tested against the primary record

1. SupportedThe award placed Khulna, a district the 3 June plan did not list as Muslim-majority, in East Bengal, and Murshidabad, which it did list, in West Bengal.

   Rests on documents from: Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Boundary Commissions; Viceroy and his staff; M. K. Gandhi.

   The schedule runs the line along the Malda-Murshidabad and Rajshahi-Murshidabad district boundaries, leaving Murshidabad west of it, and southwards along the Khulna and 24-Parganas boundary, leaving Khulna east of it; the appendix lists Murshidabad and not Khulna; Gandhi's speech of 24 August deplores Khulna celebrating its entry into Pakistan. Three producers.

   The 4 extracts it rests on

   1. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Bengal Boundary Commission, Report of the Bengal Boundary Commission (the Bengal... (1947)item 5

      5. The line shall then turn south-east down the River Ganges along the boundary between the Districts of Malda and Murshidabad; Rajshahi and Murshidabad; Rajshahi and Nadia; to the point in the north-western corner of the District of Nadia where the channel of the River Mathabanga takes off from the River Ganges^ The district boundaries, and not the actual course of the River Ganges, shall constitute the boundary between East and West Bengal.

   2. Cyril Radcliffe, Chairman of the Bengal Boundary Commission, Report of the Bengal Boundary Commission (the Bengal... (1947)item 8

      8. The line shall then run southwards along the boundary between the Districts of Khulna and 24-Parganas, to the point where •that boundary meets the Bay of Bengal.

   3. Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon (eds.), Constitutional Relations between Britain and India (1982)item 45Exhibit 1

      APPENDIX Muslim Majority Districts of Bengal and the Punjab according i. Bengal Chittagong Division Chittagong. Noakhali. Tippera. Dacca Division Bakarganj. Dacca. Faridpur. Mymensingh. Presidency Division Jessore. Murshidabad. Nadia. o the 1941 Census 2. The Punjab Lahore Division Gujranwala. Gurdaspur. Lahore. Sheikhupura. Sialkot. Rawalpindi Division Attock. Gujrat. Jhelum. Mianwali. Rawalpindi. Shahpur. Rajshahi Division Bogra. Dinajpur. Malda. Pabna. Rajshahi. Rangpur. Multan Division Dera Ghazi Khan. Jhang. Lyallpur. Montgomery. Multan. Muzaffargarh.

   4. M. K. Gandhi, speech at a prayer meeting, Calcutta, 24 August 1947, as reported in Harijan, Speech at prayer meeting, Calcutta, 24 August 1947¶ 6

      Lastly, he had heard that Khulna was to celebrate its entry into Pakis tan. He deplored such celebration after the Award. But he was consoled by Shaheed Saheb that the celebration would be joint and that the Hindus were associating with it. Nevertheless, he could not regard the example with happiness. The jubilant parties ought to restrain themselves, as the aggrieved ones should accept the Award with perfect resignation. It must be regarded as final except to the extent that the ministers of the two Dominions agreed to vary it for the mutual satisfaction of the parties concerned. There was no other worthy or gentlemanly way.

2. Cannot be tested from the free recordBetween 1947 and 1967 at least 6 million Hindu refugees crossed from East Bengal into West Bengal.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   No census or government count for Bengal is held in this record; the figure stands as the scholarship's.

   The extract it rests on

   1. Joya Chatterji, The Spoils of Partition (2007)pp. 1 to 2

      Partition led to huge and unexpected migrations. In the past, Hindus and Muslims had lived cheek by jowl in Bengal, in the main quite amicably. Now they were forced to go their separate ways, with deeply destabilising consequences. Between 1947 and 1967, at least 6 million Hindu refugees from East Bengal crossed into West Bengal. This mass migration and the struggles of the refugees in the new province to find shelter, jobs and security are the subject of chapter 3.

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedRecovery was slow, contested by the courts, and done against the recovered women's stated wishes.

   Rests on documents from: East Punjab Liaison Agency, Lahore; Kirpal Singh; Survivor testimony.

   The two governments' decision of 6 December 1947, as the editor summarises it, was that all persons abducted after March 1947 were to be restored 'even against the wishes of persons concerned'. The Chief Liaison Officer's letter of April 1948 counts 16 women and 10 children recovered in Sheikhupura in a month against about 100 still to find, and 'clues' held for 47; Sarla Dutta's account has an army search reach her abductor's house and her own scream from inside a seed drum bring her out. An official record and a survivor agree that recovery was slow and contested; on consent they point opposite ways, so the verdict is qualified.

   The 3 extracts it rests on

   1. Chief Liaison Officer (India), East Punjab Liaison Agency, Lahore, Demi-official letter No. 27581/CLO to the Chief... (1948)pp. 610 to 611

      (a) Seikhupura The total number of persons still to be evacuated is about 1900, out of whom at least 1300 are baazigars. Almost all of them are converts. They are being collecied in the camp and sent to Lahore from where they will be evacuated to Amritsar. These people have no camels with them. The number of abducted women still to be recovered is about 100 and the District Liaison Officer has clues of 47 out of them. The progress of recovery is very slow. From Istof April, 1948 to 25th April, 1948 only 16 women and 10 children were recovered. About 30-35 guides are always present in the camp. In these circumstances it is necessary that the District Liaison Officer must continue to work here. (b) Sargodha The total number of persons still to be evacuated is about 300. Most of them are converts, About 100 women have still to be recovered; 28 are reported to do with pathans and clues of another 70 are available with the District Liaison Officer and a list has been given to the Superintendent of Police. The progress of recovery is very slow as in other districts.

   2. Sarla Dutta, interviewed by Sruti Lodha for The 1947 Partition Archive, Sarla Dutta (oral history, first-person story page) (2024)¶ 6Exhibit 4

      Soon after, there was a military inspection in the village I was in. A few army officials came looking for girls who had been abducted. They came to Kaalu’s house and asked about me. Having received news of this inspection, Kaalu put 13-year-old me inside a big drum, in which he normally stored seeds. Although Kaalu was strict in his instruction for me to be absolutely quiet when they came, upon hearing their questioning, I slid my hand through an opening in the drum and screamed to make myself noticed.

   3. Kirpal Singh, Introduction, Recovery of Abducted Women (2005)§ xxxi

      The Governments of India and Pakistan in their meeting held on the 6th December, 1947 took the following decisions regarding the recovery of abducted women and children: 1. Conversion of persons abducted after the Ist March 1947 was not to be recognized and all such persons were to be restored to their respective Dominions even against the wishes of persons concerned. 2. The primary responsibility for the recovery of abducted persons was to rest with the local police. . 3. Social workers were to be associated actively with the scheme. The D.L.Os. were to supply information regarding abducted persons to be recovered.

2. Cannot be tested from the free recordAbout 75,000 women were abducted.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   No count of abductions is held in this record; the liaison letter counts districts, not the whole, and the books that carry the figure could not be read.

   The extract it rests on

   1. Chief Liaison Officer (India), East Punjab Liaison Agency, Lahore, Demi-official letter No. 27581/CLO to the Chief... (1948)pp. 610 to 611

      (a) Seikhupura The total number of persons still to be evacuated is about 1900, out of whom at least 1300 are baazigars. Almost all of them are converts. They are being collecied in the camp and sent to Lahore from where they will be evacuated to Amritsar. These people have no camels with them. The number of abducted women still to be recovered is about 100 and the District Liaison Officer has clues of 47 out of them. The progress of recovery is very slow. From Istof April, 1948 to 25th April, 1948 only 16 women and 10 children were recovered. About 30-35 guides are always present in the camp. In these circumstances it is necessary that the District Liaison Officer must continue to work here. (b) Sargodha The total number of persons still to be evacuated is about 300. Most of them are converts, About 100 women have still to be recovered; 28 are reported to do with pathans and clues of another 70 are available with the District Liaison Officer and a list has been given to the Superintendent of Police. The progress of recovery is very slow as in other districts.

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedAbout 8.5 million people had moved between the two Punjabs by December 1947.

   Rests on documents from: Scholarship; UK government.

   The Commons was told 8,500,000 'or thereabouts' had moved between East and West Punjab by 18 December 1947; the economists put 14.5 million displaced across both borders in four years. The two are not the same count, so they agree without confirming each other.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Philip Noel-Baker, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, in the House of Commons, India and Pakistan (Refugees, Relief) (1947)p. 1845

      No, Sir. The total number of refugees who have moved from the East Punjab to the West Punjab and vice versa is 8,500,000 or thereabouts. Large numbers of them have been resettled in towns, villages and farms in the new countries to which they have gone. The Governments have made a very great effort to deal with this matter, but I have no details.

   2. Prashant Bharadwaj and Rinchan Ali Mirza, Displacement and development (2019)p. 5

      Although the possibility that British India would be partitioned upon independence had been present for several years prior to the actual event, the partition when it finally came on August the 14th, 1947 was sudden, violent and chaotic for the millions who found themselves on the wrong side of the newly created India-Pakistan border. An estimated 14.5 million people were displaced within a short span of just four years after partition (Bharadwaj, Khwaja, and Mian, 2008, p. 39).