Sanjay Gupta
Every year November 25 is remembered as Mirpur Day. On this day in 1947 a curse descended on Mirpur, now in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Out of a total 25,000 about 18,000 Hindus and Sikhs were killed and about 3,500 were wounded.
Soon after India’s independence a rebellion occurred in Poonch and Mirpur districts, and the Pakistan Army conceived a military plan to invade Jammu and Kashmir. The military campaign was code-named “Operation Gulmarg”, which was said to be assisted and guided by British military.
Before the Kashmir War in 1947, the Mirpur District had Hindus and Sikhs, comprised 20 percent of the population. A great majority of them lived in the principal towns of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber. Refugees from Jhelum in western Punjab had taken refuge in Mirpur town, causing the non-Muslim population to increase to 25,000.
Mirpur day
During the 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 2,000 Hindus and 2,000 Sikh escaped to Jammu along with the state troops. The remainder were marched to Alibaig, where a Gurdwara was converted into a prison camp, but 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 captors. Hindu and Sikh women were raped and abducted. Many women committed suicide by consuming poison before falling into the hands of the raiders, to avoid rape and abduction. Many men also committed suicide. The total death toll was over 20,000.
Temples and Gurdwaras were demolished, the aim of the Pakistan Army and raiders was to destroy and kill Hindus and Sikhs and bring the district to a clear Muslim majority area with ease. Local Muslims also played a dirty part in driving out the Sikhs and Hindus. RSS and other organizations helped as foot soldiers to bring back the remaining Sikhs and Hindus safely to Jammu. Today no Hindu or Sikh population has survived in this region, old temples and gurdwaras have been destroyed and the land has been grabbed to build homes and madarsas for the Muslims. Many areas named after Hindu saints and Sikh saints have been renamed.
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, the President of PoK who visited the place during the event, confirmed that Hindus were ‘disposed of’ in Mirpur in November 1947. He wrote in the Kashmir Saga in 1990, “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, sympathized 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 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 kalmia, 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 this superiors.
On the 4th of Nov. 1947, heavy enforcement of the Pakistan Army took position on the ridge known as Palan-Da-Gakka and also started heavy firing and tried to besiege the small garrison of state force on the river Jhelum about 10 miles from Mirpur city. Under heavy odds, the state force decided to retreat falling back to the city. This brought the enemy right to the gates of Mirpur city which now looked within it’s easy reach. But the people of Mirpur were not prepared to give in without fighting in collaboration with the small state force. They organized the defense of the town. Together they repulsed the enemy attack with heavy losses on November 6, 10 and 11, 1947.
In the meantime, the enemy came closer to occupying almost all the posts around the city. Not only was the ammunition almost out, essential commodities such as food, water and medical supplies in the besieged city became critical. The people of Mirpur then organized committees to distribute the limited supplies among the people. After November 16, the intensity and regularity of the enemy attack on the city greatly increased. But the young and brave souls of Mirpur also displayed tremendous grit and tenacity in their defence. On Nov 19, the then thin and poorly equipped strength of the State Army had little hope of holding but of more than 3 days. In the critical situation, the State Garrison received another consignment of 25,000 rounds of ammunition dropped by air in the nick of time.
Though in – sufficient, the extra ammunition boosted the morale of the Garrison tremendously. The next day another massive attack was made on the town and the enemy managed to break through the defense on the South Western portion of the city. The enemy was then involved in hand to hand fighting by the young men of Mirpur and the soldiers of the state army. The enemy was pushed back and their attempt to enter in the city was foiled. Unfortunately on November 21, the wireless set with the Garrison went out of order and all contact with the country were lost. The air strikes of the Indian Airforce against the enemy also declined thereafter. On November 22 and 23, the enemy used its full force and showering bullets into the city from all directions. This continued day and night without any break.
On November 24, came the final blow when a full battalion of the enemy strongly supported by artillery and 3 inch Mortar Fire launched an attack on the south western part of the city. This was the heaviest attack witnessed so far. The post put up the most spirited resistance, but the enemy came in wave after wave and after six hours of ceaseless fighting, this portion of the defence was over run by the Pakistan Army units who entered the city at midnight. Alarmed by the most critical situation, the internal flying squads engaged themselves in hand to hand fight with the infiltrators and kept them on their toes at the cost of their own lives till the morning of November 25. Unfortunately at the critical juncture, the administrative machinery at Mirpur clandestinely took the decision of retreating to Jammu leaving the civil population to its fate. In an utter display of cowardness, state officers showed their backs to the enemy. Some other soldiers also left their piquets and followed suit. This created panic, chaos and confusion among the hapless Hindus and Sikhs. This way Mirpur was destroyed for ever.
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