Statements on record relating to the Jammu Genocide.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi commented on the situation in Jammu on 25 December 1947 in his speech in New Delhi:
"The Hindus and Sikhs of Jammu and those who had gone there from outside killed Muslims.
The Maharaja of Kashmir is responsible for what is happening there… A large number of
Muslims have been killed there and Muslim women have been dishonored."
Reference: The second assassination of Gandhi, Ram Puniyani
Ved Bhasin
“Some of those who led the riots in Udhampur and Bhaderwah later joined the National Conference and some
even served as ministers,” says Bhasin, as quoted by Naqvi in his book.
Bhasin said, the Maharaja’s administration helped and “even armed the communal marauders”.
Bhasin reported how several Muslims living outside Muslim-dominated areas were brutally killed by the
rioters who moved freely in vehicles with arms and ammunition even when the city was officially under curfew.
“The curfew it appeared was meant only to check the movement of Muslims,” he said.
`In Naqvi’s book, Bhasin recalls what then Prime Minister of J&K Mehr Chand Mahajan told a delegation of
Hindus who met him in the palace when he arrived in Jammu: `
‘Now when the power is being transferred to the people, you should demand parity.’
One of them associated with National Conference asked Mahajan how could they demand parity when there
was so much difference in population ratio.
“Pointing to the Ramnagarrakh below,” Bhasin said, “where some bodies of Muslims were still lying,
Mahajan replied, ‘the population ratio too can change.’ ”
Reference: Jammu Massacre: How a Hindu journalist recorded the Muslim Massacre, free press Kashmir, Sabreena Bhat
Sheikh Abdullah
In a speech at Panthal on the occasion of the inauguration of a canal in April, 1951, Abdullah observed :
"I want to tell those people who are anxious to bring back the Maharaja that Hari Singh will never return
to the State. He has massacred the Muslims of this place. His wife also was his accomplice in these
nefarious actions. There is no room for any murderer in this State".
These speeches which he delivered on 16th, 17th and 18th of November 1947 were considered so important by the National
Conference that they were published in a booklet form entitled Khutbat-i-Sher-i-Kashmir
by the Party. In his speech at the Museum Ground (Jammu) delivered to ‘fifty thousand’ people Abdullah declared :
“I want to tell the Hindus of Jammu who are raising the slogan of
‘Maharaja Bahadur ki Jai' (Long live Maharaja Bahadur) that I have no
difference with the slogan ; but I want to ask this much. Do you want to
see the Maharaja Bahadur as the king of only the Jammu city or the
whole State? You have to decide this, if you want to keep him as the king
of only one or two districts you can surely do so and I know that you have
arranged thus. You have emptied this area of the Muslims. But my
desire is that the Maharaja Bahadur should remain the king of the whole
of Jammu and Kashmir and not only of two or three districts.”
In his autobiography, ‘The Flames of the Chinar‘, Abdullah writes: “Upon reaching Jammu,
Maharani Tara Devi and he (Singh) distributed arms among communal Hindus and RSS volunteers.
The Muslims of #Jammu were assured of a safe-conduct to Pakistan but were massacred at a place
called Saubha. No doubt these killings were organized by the Maharaja, his bigoted wife and
(then prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir) Mehr Chand Mahajan.”
On the ground, the killing operations were organized, directed and supervised by Maharani Tara Devi
in league with her debauch Guru Sat Dev and the governor of Jammu, Chet Ram Chopra. At the
politico-administrative level, Sheikh puts the blame solely on the Dogra ruler Hari Singh and Prime Minster
Mahajan. At one point of time, Sheikh had even thought of initiating action against the duo for crimes against
humanity (Atish-e-Chinar, page 331)
Reference: The History Of Struggle For Freedom In Kashmir, Prem Nath Bazaz
The Ranbir, Jammu, Dated 1st. December 1949.
Arundhati Roy
In Jammu, to the south, the Maharaja’s forces assisted by troops borrowed from other princely states,
massacred Muslims. Historians and news reports of the time estimated that somewhere between 70,000 and
200,000 were murdered in the streets of the city, and in its neighboring districts.
Reference: The Silence Is the Loudest Sound
Dr Karan Singh
“I recall the grim atmosphere,” writes Dr Karan Singh, in his autobiography, Heir Apparent,
“…we were losing control of the outer areas.” When the last prince was watching his empire’s
steady fall, his father Hari Singh’s exit had created an anarchic setup in Kashmir — perhaps
paving way for the larger crisis.
William W Baker
According to William W Baker, Maharaja not
only ordered the local people of Poonch to lay down their arms, but his
order was for all Muslims of the state to voluntarily turn over all their
weapons to his police. When his order was resisted, the Muslims, who were
five lakh in number. Among them, two lakh were murdered and the rest
fled for their safety to West Pakistan.
Reference: Partition and Legacies of Violence: A Study of Kashmir Conflict, Inamul Haq