Press and Partition of Punjab

An attempt to focus on the ‘little voices’ that should have been heard but were swept away; of what transpired on the ground, the dusty lanes and bylanes of Punjab’s villages and small towns, Raghuvendra Tanwar gives a slice of history from below. Exclusive excerpts from his book Reporting the Partition of Punjab 1947, Press, Public and other Opinions

MUCH has already been written on the Partition of Punjab. But surprisingly most of the accounts have handled it as if it were little more than a political event, an achievement whose human dimension, if at all, was only peripheral.

This work is not therefore a story of the complex negotiations, the political intrigues, the political rhetoric that preceded the division of Punjab, nor even of how and why the partition of Punjab came about. It is, in fact, an attempt to focus on the voices’ that should have been heard but were swept away; of what transpired on the ground, the dusty lanes and by lanes of Punjab’s villages and small towns; outside the secluded chambers where British officials conferred with Indian leaders deciding the future of people with whom both had nothing in common. In this sense it is also a story of the partition of Punjab which begins from where most other mainstream histories have ended. It starts from a time when Punjab’s partition had become a certainty. It attempts to deal with the period of partition itself.

The work proceeds to reach the inner embedded meanings and motives, not only of key players — both British and Indian — but also, and more pointedly, the ordinary; the kind who had no stake in the games and pulls of political power either way — the millions of ordinary souls who had not an inkling of what was happening and why it was happening.

The Tribune (Lahore), along with the Civil & Military Gazette was the leading opinion maker with a long and distinguished history of publication. Gandhiji had once called it the ‘best views paper in India’. It had moved to Simla in August 1947. Just as the Dawn (Delhi/Karachi) and Pakistan Times (Lahore) represented the Muslim League’s point of views, The Tribune usually found itself on the side of the Hindu and Sikhs, which in Punjab also meant the Congress. ‘It exemplified the impact of many trends on the Punjabi press... The Tribune was more widely quoted abroad than any other Indian newspaper cited even in the halls of Parliament....It was the first English newspaper that recorded local events of minor national importance..In 1945 it had... the largest circulation of an English newspaper in Punjab.

A special word needs to be said for the Dawn. Its importance like that of the CMG was far in excess of what its circulation figures tend to suggest. It rivalled The Tribune in importance and had as good a network of reporters. Even as their views differed intensely, between the two there was hardly any news that got away. It played in P unjab for the Muslim League the role that The Tribune played for the Congress and Akalis. It was greatly fond of targeting Sardar Patel and held him responsible for many of its own problems. It was relatively much softer on Nehru. Started by Jinnah in Delhi, it remained the platform from where he and the League responded to others or initiated their point of view. It moved to Karachi in circumstances that were not as bad as those in which its rival The Tribune moved from Lahore to Simla.

***

‘As the Meos were forced out from the Gurgaon region, the same was happening to Hindus and Sikhs in Lahore, leading The Tribune to publish fearsome advice essentially for non-Muslims: ‘don’t desert lahore like cowards...remove your women folk, children, valuables, consider your homes like castles, fight like soldiers to save civilization from jungle raj’. Lala Jagat Narain, Convener lahore Rakshak Samiti also appealed to people not to leave, their ancestral homes in panic.

As the situation rapidly deteriorated there was a widespread demand in Lahore in particular to post if possible detachments of police which had representation from all the communities. The Tribune took up the issue with the governor and said that if it was not possible to post a larger number of mixed policemen in Lahore the city’s control should be handed over to the military and that beavy punitive taxes be imposed on localities indulging in arson and killings. A day later, it suggested to the governor that the highly regarded Gurkha military units be brought into Lahore. It also sought the Governor’s intervention in ensuring the protection of the properties of peoples who had fled Lahore.

***

A report by the Statesman was cited by The Tribune:’(the) attack was described by an official as evidence of careful planning. Weapons used were modern arms, even defenders used modern arms, in one case a mortar was used to break into the villages defence.

Active medical missions were also sent to the Mewat region by the organisers of these relief camps. The effort of these private organisations was greatly supported by the Delhi Municipality in terms of water, vaccination, food, etc.

In view of the menace of the rumours and unfounded reports being circulated both governments decided to issue on a daily basis an official press release dealing with issues that were likely to interest the common people. In this context it was also resolved to take strict action against newspapers that were publishing stories without basis.

This decision of the conference was rather surprising, because not only were the leading newspapers of Lahore and Delhi clearly taking sides under the patronage of the respective governments, but the little information that was actually available was being disseminated only through the newspapers. The resolution of tough action, however, saw no further action, the government did little more than request newspapers to check their facts before going to press. The Tribune, the region’s leading English anti-Partition, anti-Muslim League paper had been virtually pushed out of Lahore under dangerously dramatic circumstances on 15 and 16 August. It shifted to Simla with extremely limited resources and remained out of print for several weeks. With the CMG alone taking a fairly objective role, this left the Delhi-based HT to counter the Dawn and the PT which were also supported by the Eastern Times — all three had no problem in associating fully with the Muslim League or the Pakistan perspective, which in early September was little more than that the killings were triggered by the Sikhs and the Muslims were only reacting into this.

Both Radio Pakistan and All India Radio charged each other of being biased and for exaggerating the killings on the ‘other side’.

To counter the influence of Pakistan Radio, particularly in the greatly surcharged atmosphere of the Hindu and Sikh relief camps in the western districts, the Government of India even arranged for the supply of 12 radio sets so that people could listen to All India Radio.

While Delhi and Lahore, even in the worst of days, saw only a temporary closure of newspaper offices, in Amritsar the situation was different. The Akalis were keen to tell their side of the story but were unable to arrange for printing paper, so much so that, Master Tara Singh even asked Major Short to request the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar to provide some newsprint. This could not be arranged.

But Master Tara Singh said: ‘Let Mahatma Gandhi pay more attention to the property of Hindus and Sikhs. It is not a popular government that pays more attentions to the rights of the disloyal than the loyal citizen.’ In the same statement he strongly attacked leaders who were appealing to Hindus and Sikhs to return to Pakistan: ‘no Hindu and Sikh can be loyal to Pakistan’, he said.

(Excerpted with permission from Reporting the Partition of Punjab 1947, Press, Public and other Opinions by Raghuvendra Tanwar. Manohar. Pages 622. Rs 1195.)

HOME