islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Imperialism in IndiaIn April 1947, large-scale violence, looting and arson started in the town of Dera Ismail Khan andsurrounding villages, forcing non-Muslims to withdraw to distant quarters from their homes and businesses,which, after looting, were set on flames. Assaults continued for three days, destroying and gutting 1,200Hindu and Sikh shops; the city turned into smouldering ruins. In some villages, the entire Hindu and Sikhpopulation were murdered or converted to Islam on the pain of death. Hindus and Sikhs, trying to flee, werewaylaid by Muslim mobs and murdered; their women were abducted. Violence continued in NWFP unabatedthrough the period of Partition in August 1947 until January 1948. On 22 January 1948, a Muslim mob—armed with guns, spears and hatchets, and assisted by 500–600 Muslim League militias—attacked a refugeecamp in Parachinar, sheltering some 1,500 Hindus and Sikhs. In the attack, 138 were killed, 150 injured and223 women carried away. 573In the Muslim-dominated West Punjab, violence began somewhat late. On 4 March 1947, Hindu andSikh students brought out a rally in Lahore to protest Muslims’ demand for creating Pakistan. Police openedfire on it killing a number of them. A separate procession in another part of the city was also attacked byMuslim National Guards. These incidents set Muslims on a violent fury; they attacked and stabbed the Hindusand Sikhs, plundered their shops and businesses before setting them on fire. By the evening, thirty-sevenHindus and Sikhs were dead. From Lahore, rioting soon spread to all the Muslim-dominated districts ofPunjab: Amritsar, Rawalpindi, Multan, Jhelum and Attock. 574 On the spread of the violence, Akbar Hussain,the Chief Secretary to Government (Punjab), said: ‘‘With the news of grave events radiating from Lahore,there has been bloodbath and burning in many districts and rural areas have paid the price levied byinsensate fury, as well as towns.’’ 575On March 5, violence spread to all parts of Lahore, Hindu homes and properties were vandalized,looted and set on fire. The Hindus and Sikhs were killed. Violence died down on March 11. Muslims inAmritsar, where they had strong but not dominant presence, initiated violence on March 6, by attacking a trainat Sharifpura killing the Hindu and Sikh passengers. The train reached the Amritsar Station with Hindu andSikh dead-bodies, including three in the women’s compartment. The Muslim orgy of violence, massacre andarson had begun in Amritsar: hospital were littered with dead-bodies and the injured with ‘heads almostsevered from bodies, bellies ripped open with intestine protruding from the wound, arms and legs chopped offand all kind of horrible injuries,’ records Khosla. On March 7, there was a ‘veritable inferno’ with firesraging over parts of the city. Hindu and Sikh shops and businesses were vandalized and set on fire. By March8, there were 140 deaths and numerous wounded, although many more bodies were consumed in the infernoand buried under falling buildings. The violence in Amritsar continued for one whole week: the Hindus andSikhs suffered heavily in life and properties; all the non-Muslim owned factories but one, the Jawala FlourMill, were destroyed.Also on March 5, Muslim mobs in Multan (West Punjab)—armed with clubs, spears and daggers andshouting: ‘‘Leke rahenge Pakistan, Pakistan zindabad (We will wrestle Pakistan, Long live Pakistan)’’—attacked a procession of Hindu and Sikh students, wounding several of them; it ignited barbarous violenceamongst Muslims. For three days, Muslim hooligans marched about attacking the Sikhs and Hindus withswords, daggers and hatchets killing them and looting their businesses and homes before burning them down.The barbarous hooligans even attacked the Sri Krishan Bhagwan Tuberculosis Hospital, butchered thepatients and doctors and set it on fire. The temples and gurdwaras were plundered and defiled, idols smashed,and many set on fire. The devotees on many temple premises, namely the Jog Maya, Ram Tirath, Devpuraand Devta Khu temples, were massacred. Young Hindu and Sikh girls were enslaved and carried away.573. Ibid, p. 267–73574. Ibid, p. 101–02575. Ibid, p. 105–06178