1948 Hyderabad massacres
Part of the Annexation of Hyderabad
Date13 September 1948 (1948-09-13) - October 1948 (1948-10)
Location
Hyderabad State
Caused byAnnexation of Hyderabad, religious and cultural tensions
GoalsRetributive violence[1]
MethodsMass murder, rape, looting and arson
Casualties
Death(s)27,000–40,000 (Indian government figure)[2]

The Hyderabad massacres[3] refer to the mass killings of Hyderabadi Muslims that took place in the aftermath of the Indian annexation of Hyderabad (Operation Polo). The killings, perpetrated by local Hindu militias assisted by the Indian Army, and at times, the Indian army itself, resulted in the deaths of 27,000–40,000 civilians between September–October 1948.[4] Apart from mass killings, activists such as Sundarayya mention systematic torture, rapes, and lootings by Indian soldiers.[5]

Background

Violence

Violence occurred in many rural areas, however the worst areas afflicted were Osmanabad, Nanded, Gulbarga and Bidar[1] where "the sufferers were Muslims who formed the hopeless minority."[6]

Crimes against Muslims that occurred included but was not limited to the desecration of mosques, mass killings, seizures of houses and land, looting and arson of Muslim shops, as well as rape and abduction of women.[7][8][1]

Apart from mass killings, activists such as Sundarayya mention systematic torture, rapes, and lootings by Indian soldiers.[5]

The Pandit Sunderlal Committee that was commissioned by Jawaharlal Nehru, in his "personal capacity", and contained Pandit Sunderlal, Kazi Abdul Ghaffar, Maulana Abdulla Misri, and Farrouk Sayer Shakeri in order to "study existing conditions and help in the establishment of communal harmony."[6] Its Report contained a detailed description of the violence that took on during and after Operation Polo.[1] The report, although made in 1948, was kept hidden from public eyes, until it was made available for viewing at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.[1][9] It is unconfirmed why the report was hidden, but some say it was to prevent further instances of communal violence from happening. Vallabhbhai Patel refused to accept this report, and when sent a copy, had said, "There could have been no question of Government of India sending any goodwill mission to India...There is nothing in it about the Razakar atrocities..."[10] However, this is false, because in the Confidential Notes of the Sunderlal Report, the authors issued an entire section of Razakar atrocities.

"During our tours we also heard statements of Razakar atrocities...Their atrocities chiefly consisted in levying monthly amounts on very town and village. Whereever these amounts were willingly paid there was generally no further trouble. But at places they were resisted, loot followed. If there was no trouble during the loot trouble generally ended, in the removal of looted property, sometimes in motor trucks. But wherever there was further resistance, arson, murder, even rape and abduction of women followed."[6]

The report also conservatively put the death toll to between 27,000 and 40,000 civilian lives lost.[6] Violence against Muslims is told largely through the report, eyewitness accounts and other sources.

"In Osmanabad....the town of Latur in the same district fared even worse. Some witnesses told us that number of Muslims murdered in Latur was somewhere between 2000 and 2500...Latur was a big business centre. It had big Kutchi merchants. The total Muslim population was nearly ten thousand. When we visited the town, it was barely three thousand. Evidently many ran away to save their lives, The killing lasted twenty days...Our idea is that the total killed in Gulburga district must have been between 5000 and 8000...The district of Bidar fared at least as ill if not worse than Gulburga. The fourth district is Nanded. With the total killed according to our estimate somewhere between 2000 and 4000. When we talk of killed, we do not include those who died fighting but only those murdered in cold blood."[11]

"It appears that as the Muslim population fled in panic towards the headquarters of the state or other villages which they thought might be safer, a very large number was killed on the way and in the jungles. In many places we were shown well or Bawaries still full of corpses rotting. In one such, we counted 11 bodies which included that of a woman with a small child sticking to her breast...We saw several such wells. We saw remnants of corpses lying in ditches. At several places the bodies had been burnt and we could see the charred bones and skulls still lying there."[11]

Another important feature of the violence was the role of the Indian Army and administration in the violence of the massacres.

"...we had absolutely unimpeachable evidence to the effect that there were instances in which men belonging to the Indian Army and also to the local police took part in the looting and local crimes...soldiers encouraged, persuaded and in a few cases even compelled the Hindu mobs to loot Muslim homes and shops. In another district, a judge's house, among others, was looted by soldiers and a Tehsildar's wife molested. Complaints of molestion and abduction of girls, against Sikh soldiers was by no means rare."[6]

"We are also informed that a large mix of trained and armed men from a well-known Hindu communal organization filtered into the state along with the Indian Army from Sholapur...The Indian Army wherever it went, ordered the people to surrender all arms. The order applied to Hindus and Muslims alike. But in practice, while all arms were taken from the Muslims, sometimes with the Hindu population, the Hindus from whom the Indian military had little to fear were left in possession of their arms."[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hyderabad 1948: India's hidden massacre". BBC News. 24 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Dam, Abhirup (17 September 2015). "Hyderabad 'Liberation' Day? The Price Was 27,000 Massacred". TheQuint. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  3. ↑ Purushotham, Sunil (19 January 2021). From Raj to Republic: Sovereignty, Violence, and Democracy in India. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-1455-0.
  4. ↑ Purushotham, Sunil. "Internal Violence: The "Police Action" in Hyderabad - CSSH".
  5. 1 2 Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons. Foundation Books. 1972. ISBN 9788175963160.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Noorani, A.G. (2014). The Destruction of Hyderabad. New Delhi: Tulika Books. pp. 221–246. ISBN 978-93-82381-33-4.
  7. ↑ Gulbargavi, Talha Hussain (17 September 2022). "1948 Hyderabad Massacre: A Timeline". The Cognate. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  8. ↑ MuslimMirror (18 September 2022). "The first genocide of Muslims in independent India is celebrated each year on September 17". Muslim Mirror. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  9. ↑ Mir Ayoob Ali Khan (15 December 2013). "Telangana statehood issue: Lessons to learn from Hyderabad's past". Times of India.
  10. ↑ Nandurkar, G.M., ed. (1978, 1981), Sardar's Letters, Mostly Unknown, Ahmedabad: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smarak Bhavan
  11. 1 2 3 Noorani, A.G. (2014). "Appendix 14: The Sunderlal Committe Report on the Massacre of Muslims". The Destruction of Hyderabad. New Delhi: Tulika Books. pp. 361–375. ISBN 978-93-82381-33-4.
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