S/PV.232 Security Council

Before 1 call upon the representative of India, 1 must rectify an omission. Yesterda.y [231st meeting] the representative of Argentina requested permission to make a brief statement. If there is no objection, 1 shallcall upon· him now, and im nediately thereafter the representative of India will make his statement. représentant je M-. ARCE (Argentina) (translated jrom Spanish) : The resolution which Was adopted at the [230th] meding of 20 January 1948,4 dealing With the appointment of a commission of three mernbers to deal with the questions at issue be- 'Ibid., Supplement for November 1948, pages 67-87. ~Ibid., No. 6, 231st meeting. . 'Ibid., Supplement for November 1948, pages· 64 and 65. . 1 know that it is not the fi.rst time that this has occurred. It is, however, the fi.rst time it has occurred since Argentina was elected a member of the Security Council. Ta avoid an interruption of the debate on the agenda which took up all th.e time of the previous meeting, 1 put off tbJ.s statement until today. 1 do not abject ta the permanent members of the Security Council foregoing the use of theu privilege, if. they consider it advisable, but if they do sa, it should be don~ publicly. Abstention is a way of concealing the veto, either because it is not desired ta vote affirmatively, in arder ta avoid establishing a harmful precedent with regard ta contrary decisions in the future, or because it is not desired to vote in the negative, in arder not ta appear to oppose a good decision, or in arder ta decrease the size of the target which the privilege offers ta those who combat it. That is all 1 have ta say. Mr. NOEL BAKER (United Kingdom): 1 do not want ta start a debate on the statement made by the representative of Argentina, but on behalf of my Government, 1 think 1 ought ta make a reservation with regard ta the substance of what he said. Every written constitution is always developed by the practice of the institutional organs whieh bave ta work it. A process of development has, doubtless, begun in the Security Council, as it has begun in many most important and, as l think, most valuable ways in the General Assembly. Hitherto, as 1 understand it. the abstention by a perman.:lnt member of the Security Council in a vote on a matter of substance is, by practice and precedent in the Security Couneil, not considered a negative vote by that member, and 1 hope and trust that that understanding and practice will be adhered ta.

1 shall also caU upon the representative of France, but the Council will no doubt feel that at the moment there need be nodebate on this question. No doubt severa! members of the Security Council will want. ta make reservations on the Argentine representative's statement. Mr. DE LA TOURNELLE (France) {translated jrom French): 1 quite agree with the remark which the representative of the United Kingdom has just made. The French delegation has a!ways maintained bath in the General Assembly and in Coun~il and of the United Nations. 1 have and can have no quarrel with the length of his speech. The speech has, 1 think, also established a record for the calculated venom of its attack on India, fOl" the irrelevancy of much of its contents to fue subject under debate, for the deliberate omission of relevant mati:ers; and for its c1~verdistortion of facts. What 1 do deeply regret and deplore is that the representative of a· neighboUling State witll which we wish to live on terms of peace and friendship should have permitted himself to lavish numerous grave accusations against my Government, accusations many of which are not only untme in fact, "but some of wbich l feel the representative of Paldstan himself could not have believed to be true. Ou behalf of my Govemment 1 must en::phatically repudiate these charges. These false accusations have been made in" the hope of obscuring , the real issue on which the Government of Pakistan has no effective answer. The difficulties of the representative of Pakistan in meeting the case of my Government on the main issue can, however, furnish no excuse for a statement full of the .most offensive allegations based, as l hope to point out, on a perverse and distorted presentation of facts. It has been stated that my Govemment has been a party to a weIl-laid plan for the extermination of Muslims in India, and" it has been suggested that the religion and culture of over 35 million Muslims within the Union of India are in danger. l am sure that some, at any rate, if not all, of the members of the Security Couneil are aware of the approximate number and distribution of the Muslim population in the Indian· Union. We have in the India of today over 35 million Muslims distributed in varying proportions all over the country. Their proportion in the southern provinces-Bombay, Madras and the Central Provinces-is smaller than in the Provinces of West Bengal and the United Provinces, and CIe I.Hstricts round about Delhi. Large masses of these 35 million Muslims, even though small minorities, "~ave lived and are living a normal and peaceful lif(~, tmdisturbed and unmolested, all over these provinces of the Indian Union. Is not this single faet sufficient to prove that the allegation that the Government of the Indian Union is out to exterminate Muslinis is a deliberate and gross distortion of the truth ? . It is equally important to note that while there has been a large movement of populations between In the face of all these glaring facts, 1 submit that the accusation against my Government of a planned extermination of Muslims, or of its having been guilty of assistiug in snch a plan, is preposterous and does not deserve serious notice. However, at the proper stage it will be my duty to deai in detail with the facts on which an attempt has been made to base the accusation. This accusation comes from a Government which has failed woefully to discharge its responsibility to the minority in its territory. The representative of Pakistan has deliberately ignored happenings in Pakistan which, as 1 hope to point out in the proper context, are the real cause of most of the unfortunate happenings in the Indian Union. Before the partition of the country into two Dominions, the territory now constituting West Punjab had a large Hindu and Sikh population. There was aIso a substantial non-Muslim population in the North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan. In effect, by reason of the atrocities perpetrated in West Punjab and other places, nearly the whole of the non-Muslim population, excepti11g persons forc~bly converted to Islam and abduc/;ed women, have left these areas of West Pakis';an. The position in Sind is that nearly onethird of the non-Muslim population has aIready com~ away, and a large nmnber of non-Muslims are awaitirrg transport for the purpose of leaving Sind. While a part of this migration of non-Muslims is even now taking. place from West Pakistan, the inovement of Muslims from India into West Pakistan has pratically come to a stop. And this situation is not coufined to West Pakistan. Thel'e has recently been a continuous migration of non- Muslims from East Bengal into West Bengal while there' is no such migratic.::l of Muslims from West Bengal into East Bengal. What 1 wish to direct attention to is the necessary inference, namely, that the overwhelming body of Muslims in the Indian Union are feeling quite secure in Indian territory and do not desire to m~ve away from it. Even in the Punjab, while in East Punjab about In view of these facts, could it be suggested that there is the slightest foundation for the accusation made against my Government that it has a desire, much less a plan, to exterminate the Muslims? On the other hand, the definite and proc1aimed policy of the Government of India, of Mahatma Ghandi and of the All-India Congress Committee, is actively to discourage the migration of any more Muslims from India and to create the conditions for giving confidence to thŒ;~ Muslims who have migrated but who wish to return to their tomes. As recently as 6 January 1948, there was news from Karachi of a massacre of Sikhs and the most extensive looting of their property. 1 shall go into details at a later stage. On 12 January there was an attack on a non-Muslim refugee train coming from Bannu, in the North West Frontier Province, at the Gujrat Station situated in West Punjab. According to a dispatch by Mr. Colin Reed to the London Daily Telegraph, 1,300 refugees were massacred, 150 were wounded and 400 are missing. The total number of refugees in the train was about 3,000 and, according to our infor.,. mation, the 400 missing passengers include 300 women who were kiènapped. A military escort of Indian Union troops accompanying the train was almost wholly destroyed. Tribesmen who ha.ve a concentration at Gujrat and local Muslims participated in the attack on the train. 1 ask the members of the Council to contrast the tra:llquillity which now prevails in the territory of the Indian Union with the spirit of lawlessness, murder ane1 massacre rampant even today in West Punjab and Sind, evidenced by the two occurrences which 1 have mentioned. If 1 were minded to follow the example of the representative of Pakistan, 1 would rely on these occurrences as evidence of a plan by the Pakistan Government to exterminate non- Muslims. l do nothing of the kind. 1 do not wish to emulate him in making fantastic and unsupportable accusations. Ille root cause of these massacres and killings, and of.· other brutal, unmentionable crimes, is to he found in the continual preaching of hatred of one community by Muslim leaders for a number of years. This reprehensible propaganda was essential to and inseparable from the ideology on which the Muslim League founded itself. The Muslim masses have been continually fed and nurtured on this doctrine of hatred, and their fanaticism has been excited by cries of Muslim religion and culture being endangered. It was inevitable in these ..circumstances that mass disorder should break out. It began with an . orgy of killing and detestable crime in Calcutta by the Muslims, and resulted in a equally violent retaliation by the Sikhs and non-Muslims in These crimes led to an infiux of large masses of the population from Muslim majority areas into non-Muslim areas. These refugees brought with them tales of the horror and woe they had suffered. The result was an excitement among t.'le non-Muslim population in the places in which the refugees bad arrlved. This excitement gave rise to a desire to exaot retribution and to retaliate on the Muslim population in their mids1. Thus arose from time to time the retribution and retaliation leading ta crimes, equally heinous and obnoxious, against Muslims by non-Muslims in various parts of the territories 1 have mentioned. These crimes in their turn led the Muslim population in the affected areas to go to Muslim majority areas, sa that there was a stream of these Muslim refugees fieeing from East Punjab, Delhi and sorne other places towards West Punjab and Sind. It bas not beeI1 possible to estimate the very large number killecl in these various happenings, so great and varied have been these outrages in some parts of the country. Some estimates of the population whicb has migrated from either side of the border to the other side have been aboUt 5 millions. That is the true picture of these killings, of the refugees and of the transfer of population. These events have been the result of mass incitement and mass frenzy. It is obvious that, with feelings of this nature pervading large masses of the population, it was inevitable that the forces of law and order should also be affected. These feelings naturally affected the miE'is of the police and military of either community, and it was found that these forces of law and order failed to do their d~ty ta preserve it. However, notwithstanding this attitude and conduct of the forces of lawand order, in our submission it is fantastic ta attribute these evcnts to a preconceived plan of destruction or of driving away parts of their populations by either Governmen1. Yes, there was connivance and encouragement by some provincial governments of these happenings. Such connivanceand encouragement can be demonstrated to exist in events at Calcutta, where the Muslim League Government was in power and also in Lahore, in West Punjab. There has been a great deal said about genocide in the document submitted on behalf of Pakistan [document 8/646] and my friend on the other side has said something about i1. 1 have already pointed out. the fantastic nature and, indeed, the d'I~tre sables de sont politique, doctrine ces tants The .true responsibility, as 1 have already stated, for fuese most unfortunate occurrences which led ta the loss of sa many lives and such detestable crime, lies on the heads of those who, in arder ta further their policies, deliberately preached all over the country the doctrine of communal hatred-some of whom now occupy responsible positions in the Government of Pakistan. In our view, the story of these happenings all over India, the events in East Punjab and the East Punjab States, and the detailed accounts of them to which the repre5entative of Pakistan has referred, are totally irrelevant to the issue now existing between India and Pakistan in regard to Jammu and Kashmir. It has been alleged that these events form a background to the situation and that this situation can only be understood in the light of the background which the representative of Pakistan has tried ta depict. That' is again a suggestion which we cannot accept. dans dans oriental, dont absolument rien maintenant concerne allégué que situation, situation le Nous motifs dehors été du cours uniquement blème problème ce Cachemire envahisseurs, le l'égard éclaircir questions sentant mons compliquerions sentation soulevé en que éga"'" en trouver le rapports We submit that these events and the causes which Ied ta them are altogether beside the point. We say that they have been introduced into the answer filed on bèalf of the Govemment of Pakistan and into the speech delivered by its representative merely in arder ta confuse what we regard as a very clear issue. That issue, broadly speaking, is whether in reference ta the invasion of the State of Jammu and Kashmir by the tribesmen and others, Pakistan has failed ta discharge its obligations as a friendly neighbouring State ta India in the manner which we have alleged. We submit that no light can be thrown on that issue by examining the various matters constituting the background which have been adverted ta by the other side. Indeed,.we feel ~at we should be confusing the issue and making Ifs position more difficult if we went into those matters. However, as these matters have been ~one ~to, it will be my duty ta deal with them nt detai!. 1 assure the Council that my Government has nothing ta conceal in these matters, and 1 hope ta satisfy the Security Council in this respect in due course. It is surprising that the representative of Pakis- !an, in his anxiety ta find suppcrt for his allega- Itons, shoud liave been d.'1ven to rely on untrue and unauthenticated reports. The Security Council 1 shall give the members of the Council another example of how the representative of Pakistan has not hesitated ta distort facts. He stated the other day that India had sent a duplicate copy of its appeal to the Security Council [document 8/628J ta the Pakistan Govemment by cable in a cipher to which the Govemment of India knew the Pakistan Govemment did not possess tqe key. On 31 December 1947 the Govemment of fudia dispatched its complaint to the Security Conncil, the text of which was sent to the Government of Pakistan on the same day. On the same day, again, we repeated to Pakistan $e text of our complaint. On 1 January 1948 we received a telegram from Pakistan reporting that our message was undecipherable. Thereupon we dispatched to Pakistan a message repeating the text of our complaint to the Security Council. On 2·January 1948 we again received a message from Pakistan that its Govemment could not work our messages in the automatic decoding machine called·" Publex ". Thereupon we sent, on 3 January, very detailed information in regard ta the working of ... Publex" messages. On 4 January we received a message from the Pakistan Government ta the following affect-tbis message is dated 3 January from Karachi: .. Please cancel our telegram No. 19 of date. We have deciphered telegram. Regret inconvenience." These facts should have been lmown, 1 submit, ta the representative of Pakistan. His inference that my Government sent a cable to the Pakistan Government, knowing that the Pakis~" Govemment could not decipher such a cabk, was most unjustified. This, in itself, is a matter of small moment, but 1 mentioned it. It is typical of many such inaccurate statements made·on behalf of the Govemment of .Pakistan. It has been put before the Council, in our submission, as a wholly distorted picture, which has been subtly supported by facto; inaccurately stated. The one issue, and the prime issue, before the Council il!; the issue relating to the invasion of Kashmir..Our contention is, putting it again very broadly, that Pakistan has, as a neighbouring peaceful State, failed to discharge its duties inasmuch as ithas permitted transit to these invaders through its territory; or, to use the expression which.· has been used· here, it has permitted warlike passage to these invaders through its territory. And we say further that In draw the attention of the Secutity Council to a dispatch by Douglas Brown published in the London Daily Telegraph. 1 shall read the fo116wing passage : .. The tribal leaders clâiïne'd thât there were 60,000 Pathans always fighting in Kà:shm.ir, each man fighting for about a molith at aime. They said they used all routes, but owing to Pakistan's lack of co-operation, found it best to cross the' Stateof Swat. The casualties so far have been about 400 dead and 250 wounded." That is the material part of the passage. 1 read it in order to makethe following submissionthatas many as 60,000 tribesmeIi are in Kashtnir territory. "'hat is m.ore, not orny are they there, but they are being constantly reinforced, so that the tribesmen who go there are there for about a D1onth, and theIi are replaced by others who aIso get into Kashmir. 1 wish to draw attention· to what 1 may term the inescapable fact resultiiig from the geographical position of Kashmir vis-à-vis Pakistan. Is it possible for those 60,000 tribesm.en to be there and to be maintanied as a fightiri:g force, as they are, without the willing co-operation of Pakistan for the passage of these people to and fro through Pakistan? One has only to look at the map to see that it is inconceivable that these làrge hordes of tribesmen should be able to pass through Pakistan territory without-I shall put it in the mildest way-the co-operation of the Pakistan Government. If one looks at the map, one finds that they have had to travel at least 100 miles through Pakistan territory to get into Kashmir. 1 put the following question· to the members of the Council, as men representing responsible Govemments and as men of affairs who linderstand these matters: Is it conceivable that these Jllrge forces or hordes of tribesmen could go through Pakistan territory in this manner, and be rnaintained in Kashmir, without the co-operation ?f the State of Pakistan ? That is really a simple ISSUe, and the only conclusion which one can draw about it is inescapable by reason of the geographical considerations to which 1 have aIready ieferred. However, the, matter does not merely rest there. We have recently received news of tribes- .. An armed band has reached Lahore, nearly 300 mile.~ from the entrance ta the Khyber Pass. It is quartered within 100 yards of the West Punjab Assembly in an old hotel originally requisitioned by the Provincial Government for refugee relief headqu~ers. The men of the Suleiman Khel and Shinwari tribes are behaving with their usual abandon and disregard for conventions. Tribal dances are now being held on the lawn of the hotel, and drum b~ats throb down the MaU. .. In spite of a recent local ordinance prohib·· iting the bearing of arms, every man is carrying a rifle, the firing of which appears to express his appreciation of the dances. SA far, these 'joyshots' have not reminded the police of their duty. "Later today, they danced through the streets in a big farewell to sorne of their comrades who were leaving for Jammu. Before Queen Victoria's statue in Charing Cross, they paused, still dancing. They appeared to be in a happy mood, but, as the procession proceededdown the MalI, the tempo of the drums quickened and a fusillade of rifle shots stampeded sorne horses and a small camel caravan." That is the situation in Lahore. The inference, we submit, is obvious. Not only in the distant borderland between the North West Frontier Province and the tribal areas are the tribesmen trickling through in the very graphic manner in which my leamed friend described them- .. scampering down the bills like goats "-but they also come in well organized bands right through the capital of West Punjab. There, they are very hospitably received. Police regulations are suspended. They are allowed to do what they like. And it is while living there that they bid farewell to their brethren, sorne of them going to fight in Jammu. That is what the telegram says, but the matter does not rest there. Sorne United States newspapers acmally carried photographs of tribesmen being organized in Pakistan territory. 1 shall not weary the members of the Council with a great number of photographs, but 1 do wish to mention notre nies. réponses longue passage en per que de Royaume-Uni tière chaque minés. Mais y a-t-il eu, Uni rable hommes non encore mire, connaissance, lorsque elles après de lence. qui près été les membres amicalement, motif de avant-postes pendant toutes riser nais Cachemire Comme si sion supposons. W1Iat has been Pakistan's answer? Frankly, we have found it somewhat difficult ta understand Pakistan's answer, because in our view it has been somewhat inconsistent. It has been said: .. We have done everything short of war to prevent the tribesmen from coming through our territory." That is one answer. Additional answers have been given by my friend on the other side of the table: "We have a long boundary, and it is difficult to control the tribesmen. They come down in the wintertime to do their marketing and occupy themselves." It has aIso been se.i1: •• The tribesmen have been coming in that manner through the border aIl these years." 1wish to make the important observation that Uiltll 15 August, the United Kingdom was in : charge of the frontier, and tribesmen did come ! down every year, some few of' them for certain ! purposes. Was there ever such an influx of : tribesmen when the United Kingdom was guarding the frontier, as we have witnessed on this : occasion? Were these armed men alloved to come . down not onIy into West Punjab but also into the neighbouring State of JanlIDU and Kashmir, as happmed on this occasion ? 1 understand that the practice was aIways that outposts were maintained and that when these tribesmen came, they were alIowed to go into this territory, their arms being taken away for the time being for the purpose of preventing them from doing mischief in the terrltory. We understand that such military outposts as were located in the frontier territory or near it in northem Pakistan have been witbdrawn. We know not for what reasons they have been . withdrawn, but the explanation advanced is that the tribesmen are friendly. However, we do not 1 know the reason. i Is it too much to suggest, under the circum- 1 s~ces that have transpired, that this deliberate WIthdrawaI of militarv outposts which existed through all these year; has been resorted to for ~e purpose of conniving at the entry of these tribesmen into Pakistan territory so that they will be accorded a free and comfortable passage into Kashmir? As 1 have aIready stated, we do not know, but we do suggest this as the motive behind the withdrawal of outposts. hPakistan's ans;:ver is that it ~as don~ everything s ort of. war to prevent this warliIœ passage through ItS territory; but has,the Security Council la armées Stories have recently appeared in the newspapers of the visits of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to these tribal areas, and it has been suggested that these visits were made with a view to prevailing upon the ttibesmen to abstain from entering Pakistan territory and passing into' Jammu and Kashmir territory. What are the true facts in that cOMexïon? Here again 1 draw attention to à coinment made by the special representative of The Statesman, a British;.owned lie\\TSpapl~t which is published at Delhi and Cal'- ètitta. Tae ~omment reads: .. Strength of complàint lii, tribcsmenof atrests in Pakistan of those persisti:lig in thefr journey to Kashmir raises suspicion efpropaganda. It is difiicult to align these c0lI1plaints with ptèsence of many huildred àrIÎled Pathans, which 1 saw myself on Pakistan bordrer of District of Jammu, and undonbted presence at least of severa! thousand tribeslI1en on Azâd front in Kashmir:' In other words, what hasbeèn resorted to is not really for the purpose ofprèventing or pèrsuading evel1 the tribesmen to desist from what they are doing. 'Fhere is, if the CQrrespondent's. view is correct, on the one hand, a show of peJisuasion ;.there is, on the,other hand, C(H)peration or connivance, atany rate, in the passage of these people through Pakistan territory. We have àlso à report of statem.ents made by the Prime Ministerof Pakistan on bis visit to Peshawarin a speech delivered 15 January. This is what hels teported to have said iD. that speech: .. The Indian Govemment Wère determined te bring Kashmit intO'their fold by sheer weight of arins, which Muslims would never tolerate. Their àction contrasted mostunfavourably with Pakistan's resttaint in not sending troops to Junagadh." He 'went on ~er to say that .. the tribesmen would hé tteàtèd in all respects as citizens ·of Pakistan." Proceedingonthe assumption, which 1 do, that this report is a correct one, here is the Priine Minister of.Pakistan statingthat these. tribesnien are to be treated in aU respects as citizens of Pakistans. Comment on a statement of that Id.nd is .need1essô It wouldrestilt·in. the necessary inference that these tribesmen., treated as Pakistan nationals, are allowed to go in thousands into the State of JàIllIDu and Kas'hmir \Vith aview to what they are demg thete; After what I have:submitted to' theSecurity Céuncil,paJ.1i.cularlyin .regard' to this part, submit !hat the inference is iiresistible thatPakistan is deliberately co-operating with these masses of tribesmen who. have goneinto Jammu and Kashmîr. That statement in a letter by a respollsible officer of the Government of the North West FrQntier Province indicates and establishes the existence of a base which has in it tribesmen varying in number from 1,000 to 5,000 at a place called Parachinar. Could there be any clearer documentary evidence of the existence of these bases which we allege exist in the State of Pakistan for the use of these tribesmen ? Speaking very broadly again, if V/hat 1 have placed before the Security Council is sufficient -and 1 say it is-to lead certainly to the inference that Pakitsan is co-operating with· the tribesmen, 1 submit that Pakistan c1èarly has cOttmlitted a breach of its international obligations. May 1 put the position in this way. Pakistan protests that it is anxious to discharge its international obligations, .hm that it is unable to keep these tribesmen from going 'into Jammu and Kashmir. That is, as 1 am sure the members of the Security Council are weIl aware, no answer. AState cannot say that it is unable ta restrain warlike passage through its territory to others, and permit an invasion of a neighbouring State. :Qut .l~t. us suppose for a moment-I do not admit it-that Pakistan was right in the view it ~as· put forth. Surely, then, the remedy is very SImple. Pakistan .should openly state, "We are unable to keep th~ tribesmen away. Either assist us· in keeping them away, or we shan have to adopt sorne other method of doing this." If ~akistan's contention is a true one, that, 1 submit, IS the straight and direct answer which it should ~ve. As we have aIready stated more than once, if that is· the true situation, we are quite willing t~co-operate with Pakistan to get rid of these tribes. It would raise no difficulty at an so far as our Government is concerned. But it will not do, I subnût, for a friendly neighbouring GQvemment ta state, as Pakistan seems to, that it is una.ble ta deal with the tribesmen, and at the same time permit nothing to· be done to deal with those tribesmen. .That is the short position in regard. to the : ~ad issue. 1 submit that those who know af!airs 1 1 Armed forces. Leaving that point aside for the moment, 1 tum to a statement made more than once on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, namely, that this army which has entered the State of Jammu and Kashmir is what it calls an army of liberation. Before 1 take up that point, let us assume that it is an army of liberation, which in fact it is not. However, let us assume that it is. Would that be any answer on behalf of the Pakistan Government to the issue raised? With respect, 1 submit it is no answer. Suppose that in aState there is a revolution or an insurrection. Does that justify_·and again 1 call upon the Security Council to consider this point-a neighbouring State in co-operating with the invadersfrom beyond its borders who are going into the State in which the revoIt or insurrection is taking place ? Assuming that there is something to be liberated in Jammu and Kashmir, which of course we say is not true, 1 submit that, even SO, the attitude taken by the Government of Pakistan is not· justified. But, undoubtedly, the question for the consideration of the Security Council, in its large context, is: ls this an army of liberation? 1 admit that it is an army ; it is not a mere band of raiders. It is a trained, equipped army, equipped with mottar arms and led by officers. It is an army, not of liberation, but an army which bas dealt death and destruction to Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims alike, indulging in loot, arson, and abduction of women. What this army has done in Jammu and Kashmir, is, 1 submit, a very powerful indication of the fact that it has not come there to help the people of Jammu and Kashmir in any fight which they may be conducting against those who ruled them. The army is there for the purpose of loot, and in what it has done it has not differentiated among Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. In this connexion, the Security Council will recollect that a very large pereentage of the population of Jammu and Kashmir is Muslim. If you take the State, by and farge, it is 78 per cent Muslim; the ·percentage is less in Jammu. In certain parts, the proportion of Muslims to non-Muslims is much more. There is plenty of evidence as to what this .. army of liberation" did in the territory of 1 shall not burden the members of the Security Councll with giving the details of what they did in the Convent. These details have already been partly mentioned in the statement submitted in behalf of my Govemment, and 1 do not wish to repeat them. But the point is that this is what has been called u the Army of Liberation." 1 refer the members of the Security Councit to The Statesman, the British-owned newspaper which 1 mentioned a little while ago, dated 11 November 1947. This is what is stated by the special correspondent: "Following the heels of the Indian troops which occupied Baramual on Saturday,"-that is a place about thirty to forty miles away from Srinagar, in the Kashmir Valley-" 1 visited !te ransacked town today. Entering it in company with Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was an experience. Twelve persons who met us at the entrance saon swelled into a crowd of one thousand. They were the remnants of a town of 13,000 whièh, fourteen days ago, was occupi.ed by invaders. Ali others had fled to the top of the adjoining mountains.... The army yesterday, marched into an aImost deserteq. town. !ts shops were open but empty. The tribesmen, it is no exaggeration to say, have stripped the town clean. Mohammed Abdullah, a rich cloth merchant SI -that is the name of a Muslimu took me to ms house. It stood on the main street and was .Baramula's most imposing three-storied building. Every room of it was completely bare. Abdullah said; 'They have robbed me of 45,000 rupees in cash, all my jeweIry, utensils, clothes and carpets. They visited my house six times. Each time they took what they could, until there was nothing left to rob.' . . . A Muslin labourer said: 'There is no woman in the town V/hose earrings and bangles have not been stolen. They visited every house and looted il. They have robbed me of my quilts.' " That is the army which, it is suggested, came into Kashmir and Jammu for the liberation of the Muslims of Kashmir. 1 refer the members of the Security Council to a dispatch by Robert Trumbull to the New York Times, dated 10 November 1947. This is what it says: The Chicago Daily. Tribune of 3 November 1947, has this news: .. Max Desfor,'an Associated Press photographer,said today he saw more than ~enty villages in flames while flying over a section of the Kashmir Valley extending within twenty miles of the capital. The villages, in an area ten miles long and ten·mues wide. apparently had been set :fir~ by the Muslim ~vaders who are scouring the Valiey and moving iJ:1 the direction of Srinagar.!' We have a ~spatch from the Times of India of 13 Noyember wbich states: .. Baramula, after thirteen days in the raiders' hands, resembled an orchard after the visitation of a swarm of'locusts, reported the Times of India special representative in :Baramula. . . The tribal raiders ha.d sacked the town, looted and bumed property,and killed inhabitants who camé their way~ Prison.ers, captured from among the raiders, reported that 280 trucks, loaded with loot, had been sent across the frontier by the raiders. They stated that they had joiD.ed in tesponse to appeals by Abdul Khâyun Khan, Premier of' the North West Frontier Province." Entering. Baramula, .in a cQnvoy headed by Major-Gelleral Kaivant~ the cOrrespondent found the. ,J:oad lined with cheering crowds .of Muslims, Sikhs and IIindQs, m~ll, women >and children ch~~ring andsobbÏJlg. ~~using th~re, may 1 state that that is far froID. their being a li.,erating army. It W3$ the Inc!h.m. .ArIny, wbich reached them a few clay~later and succ9~~q thei@abita~" ~ tha~ were 'left, wmch was welcomeq as a liberating ~y not only by the S~s ~d the Hindus, but .by cheeringcrowds of Musllins. .. Here some English nuns had been killed by the invaders because these women had dared to resist the tribesmen. . . .. One of the war prisoners admitted that there was wireless contact with the advance base of the invaders and Abdul Khayun Khan, the League Preinier of the Frontier Province, and the Pir of Manki Sharif, who, with bis band of faithful armed desperadoes, is fisbing in the troubled waters of Pakistan. About a crcre (i. e. 10 million) of rupees' or ~ore worth of property.looted from Baramula town (a thriving trade centre) was c!1I'l'Îed openly into Pakistan territory in no: less than 280 lorri~s. Corpses are stiI1'floating on the Jhelum, mute witnesses to the savagery of the SQ-Called Mujaheeds. This prosperous trading town of Baramula is now deserted, denuded. ûnly a thousand are there out of a totàI population des des Premier Pir bande dans les luéà ville été sur 'le Des moins Cette maintenant totale d'Un s'est petits une de qui sion musulmane. dépêchè 12 Garde sa ROQlPai,.t 0« musulmane l'oppression blir islamiques ments et honte nisations.» nisations apporté fique o~ 14,000. About a thollsap.d have been killed, and the rest have fled to the hills aiId . . . they are coming back in a trickle." f'ÏIlalJy, on that fact, 1 would refer to statement of·the Chief of the Poonch MusUm Guards who, horror-stricken with whathad been done at Baramula, resigned as the Chief of the National Guards of the Muslim League. ThiS statement appears in a dispatch of the Unjted Press of India, dated 12 December 1947 which reads as follows: Il l\{ohammad Akram Khan, SaJ,ar-i-AIa of tlie (poonc~) Muslim National Gqards has resigned frOlD. the Muslim National Guards..• Dissociating hiIIlself from these organizations, he says in a statelD.ent, '1 had imagined .. that my leaders of the MllsUm Conference were fighting ag$st autocracy, against oppression of aIl sorts and for an Azad. Kashmir based on Islamiç conceptions of justice and equality. But these four months and a hau: have fully opened my eyes to the reality. Today 1 am qshamed to own my connexions with thes~ organizations.' He adds, ' 1 know these organizations' and their patrons from Pakistan have brought misfortlme 19 the peaceful, freedomloving-people of myhomeland. Having seen with lllY ovm ~Yes the devqstation in Baramula, 1 know tbese tl'adets in.Islam. are only pettythieves, cutthroats and 1'l1fflans'. Concluding, he says, 'We know the brav~ fight which our freedom-Ioving people are puttim?; up under the leadership of °vu je misme et «Nous This is a statement by a person who is the Chief of the National Muslim Guard in Poonch. 1 think 1 have stated enough to show what it was my object to establish, that what came down from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir was not an army of liberation but an army bent on destruction. Therefore, the whole fabric, 1 submit, reared by the representative of Pakistan on the thesis that here you have an invasion, and we have to relieve the' Muslim brothers in distress, is entirely without foundation. A naïve suggestion was made, not perhaps very definitely, that these atrocities which took place were the work of some Sïkhsat any rate that is what 1 understood the representative of Pakistan to say. WeIl, 1 have pointed out and submitted abundant evidence to show that it is not and cannot be attributed in any manner to the Sikiïs, as those in charge of Pakistan must know. It is the work of the free-booters who are aUowed to get into the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. If, then, this invading force-as 1 have pointed outhas not for its abject the liberation of the people of Kashmir, for what object has it been allowed ta enter Kashmir and Jammu? The object of Pakistan, in letting these men through its own territory into Jammu and Kashmir, is clear. The object was-and that is our suggestion in submission of the complaint which we have made to this Council-to coerce Kashmir and Jammu into accession to Pakistan. That really has been the object of the attitude and the action of the State of Pakistan in regard to Kashmir. The key to the whole position lies in a speech recently delivered by a prominent figure in Pakistan. 1 am referring to a gentlemen called Firoz Khan Noon. In a recent speech which he made in the West Punjab Assembly, and which we have in a telegram of 15 January, he stated that .. Pakistan without Kashmir was inconceivable," and that he could, .. not visualize a Pakistan in which Kashmir could ever be a110wed to go under domination of the Indian people." That is the key to the whole conduct and attitude of Pakistan in regard to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. It is and has been Pakistan's desire and policy, and it has adopted measures to implement, it, to coerce this State, which is entitled to make its -own free (';hoice, into acceding to P~.­ kistan. That alone explains the conduct of the Dominion of Pakistan in regard to the State of Jammu and Kashrrü!', I have dealt broadly with the issue of Jamrnu and Kashmir and 1 sha11 now proceed to deal with what has been caUed the background of these events by the representative of Pakistan. 1 have already stated that this background is reaUY of tan, cet nière suivante : frontières bus bataille indienne. mane) branlantes) taires Cachemire. Dawn dans qualifiait « tan, Ali pour bulletins bri~en not only in the one Dominion but in both Dominions) consists of two ideologies which have been prevailing in India in recent years. When 1 1 say Indis) 1 take it as a whole) as it was before fuep&tition. ' One is ,thè ideology of the Indian National Congress, which the representative of Pakistan has nlready in part described: The ideology of the Congress was founded upon the concept of a secular political State in which the individual) whatever hi.s faith) was to be the citizen. That was the ideology of the Indian National Congress) an ideology which made for unitY and h&mony. Contrasted' with tbis) on the other hand) was the ideology of the Muslim League. The basis of that ideology was religion. The memberslüp of funt organization was confined to Muslims, and the ideal was a sep&ate State to be erected in the Muslim majority &eas of British India, a State to be dominated by those professing the Muslim faith. And it is this ideology which is refiected in Pakistan's attitude tow&ds the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Putting it in extreme and lay language) the point of view taken is this: Cl Here is aState with a population, we shall say, 78 to 80 per cent Muslim. Pakistan is a Muslim State. Howcould we possibly tolerate this population of nearly 78 or 30 per cent :(lot joining the Muslim State which is its neighbour) but thinking of joining another State in which the Muslims are comparatively a small minority ? " That is the i ideology which is the basis of the Muslim League. 1t is the ideology which impresses itself upon those in charge of the afi'airs of Pakistan and makes them, as it were, aim at the forcible accession t of that State to the Dominion of Pakistan.] In the United States publication Life of 5 January 1948, t.h.at ideology is set forth, as follows : "In the rugged hills near Pakistan's northern borders last week, turbaned Muslim tribesmen fought pitched battles with regular Indian Army troops. Across the new Muslim nation trains pounded over the rickety raiicoads collecting arms and volWlteers for the tribal raids into the neighbouring State of Kashmir. The Muslim League newspaper Dawn referred to the raiders in Kashmir as the 'liberation army' and to New Delhi announcements as ' enemy communiqués'. " Yet in the Pakistan capiUil of Karachi, the country's creator-dictator, Mohamed Ali Jinnah calmly insisted that it was none of his doing. Thi~ seemed a strange c1aim when daily reports told of frequent Pakistan casualties and when Jinnah .. Now that he had signally succeeded, Jinnah seemed to have little or no realization of the frightful economic consequences his infant country faced. Fol' the most part he remained in absolute seclusion, emerging only occasionally to denounce the villainous Hindus for all of Pakistan's many li .. s. The two ideologies which 1 have mentioned naturaJly led to a confiict in India as it was before its partition. The Muslims were organized on th~ basis of religion. They were told that they were a separate nation, that their religion and cülture were different, and that since they were in danger, they must organize for their protection. This was a propaganda of hatred against the other communities. The matter did not rest merely at a propaganda of hatred, but violence was open1y preached. 1 have here' an extract from a speech delivered by the same gentleman 1 mentioned a short while ago, Mr. Firoz Khan Noon, as Jar back as 9 April 1946. He said: .. 1 tell you tbis much. If we find that w~ have to fight Great Britain for placing us under one central Govemment of Hindu Raj, then the havoc which the Mùslims will play will put to shame what Khan Ha1aku did." .Khan Halaku was a well-known raider and freebooter who killed many thousands of persons.· That was· the violence preached by responsible and prominent Muslims. Mr. Suhrawardy, Muslim Leaguer and one time Premier of' Bengal, stated, also in April 1946, .. Muslim masses are· straining at the leasb and .1 wish the Qaid-e-Azam to test us. Muslims wRnt to be the ruling class in this sub-contînent." So, the Muslim masses having been incited---I tbink it is correct to describe them as .. straining at the leash "-and that being the explosive situation, it was soon followed by the most violent disorder. Late in July 1946, the Muslim League resolved on what they called a .. direct action programme:' In the month of August 1946, in Calç:utta, what was called .. Direct Action Day" was celebrated, and 1 think 1 am correct in saying That was the beginning of the happ~illngs in that city. It was followed two or three days later by equally violent retaliation on the part of the Hindus and Sikhs-the non-Muslims-and the mass of victims was very large. There was also an immense loss of property. This formed the subject of a judicial inquiry presided over by Sir Patrick Spence, the Chief Justice of India, and two other learned judges belonging to the Indian judiciary. The inquiry occupied several months but it could not be concluded before the partition, after which the commission of inquiry was dissolved. However, the facts disclosed at this inquiry clearly revealed that in the happenings that took place those in authority-the Muslim I.cague Ministry of Bengal at that time-had encouraged if not connived at the events that had occurred on the opening day in Calcutta. Thes~ events, as l say, were encouraged and, as appeared from the evidence, were supported by various prominent members of the Muslim League. The trouble in Calcutta was followed about a month later by a tragedy, also in Bengal, at a place called Noakhali. There the arson and killings were on a smaller scale than in Calcutta, but in a sense the nature of the crimes committed was more heinous and there was a mass of forcible conversion to the Muslim religion. That was how this mass disorder began in Calcutta and in Noakhali. It was followed by a brief and terrible retaliation in Biliar by Hindus who made up the majority of the population there. Killings took place there also on a very large scale. It was during those disturbances in Bihar in October or November 1946, at a time when the Central Government in India had what it called a coalition or Interim J11Ïijistry consisting partly of members of the Indian National Congress and parHy of those representing the Muslim League, that some of the members of the Central Government f1.ew down to Biliar. At the instance of Pandit Nehru, the Prime Minister of Inma, an airplane was used in order to control the mob, and Pandit Nehru himself, risking his life, faced the mobs of Hindus and endeavoured to control them. The part played by Pandit Nehru in quelling these disturbances is weIl known, and 1 shall not trouble~ the members of the Council with quotations from the Press in the United Kingdom which depicted that part. As to what followed in November and December 1946,.the repres~ntative of Pakistan has a1ready referred to the tragedy at Gujrat ~tation and 1 shall not go into the detaiIs which the Pakistan representative has already described. Soon afterward-I think it was in January 1947-there came the announcement The Security Council is aware of the faet that aImost the whole of the Sikh population is concentrated in the Punjab. Most of the Sikhs have their homeland in the Province of the Punjab. The Security Council is also aware of the fact that soldiering is the main profession of the Sikh community. Most of the Sikhs are really martial, and they have furnished, in proportion to the numbers of their communities, the largest number of soldiers to the Indian Anny. This attempt virtually to dominate the Punjab, where the Sikhs form so large a number, naturally gave rise to a feeling of great apprehension among the Sikhs. That is how the story of the events in the Punjab began, which events had not thus far affected that Province. As a result of the tension which had been created, there were extensive .massacres in February ~md March 1947 at Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and other places. Sikhs and Hindus formed the majority of the subjects of these massacres. So great was the terror that large masses of Hindu~ and Sikhs were driven away from the Punjab. While traveling through the Punjab at that time, one could see masses of people at the rai1way stations who were trying to take trains away from the Punjab-people running away, in most cases, with what little property they owned. Be .it noted that at this time there was no persecution and no harassment of Muslims in East Punjab. The fiow of refugees was completely from the west toward the east. Those Muslims in the east were at the moment entirely unaffected. Lahore itself, the capital city of the Punjab before the partition, which became effective 15 August, presented a ghastly appearance. When 1 describe .it, 1 speak from personal knowledge, because 1 was in Lahore during the month of July 1947 in regard to the proceedings of the Boundary Commission. Houses were bumt. It was unsafe for people to travel in the streets. It was necessary even that people appearing before this Boundary Commission, like myself, be under constant guard. That was the situation in the capital city of West Punjab. As 1 have already stated, it was under those circumstances that the Sikhs and the Hindus fiew Çlway or tried to fiy away from West Punjab. Perhaps it is necessary to mention at this stage the position of the Sikhs in West Punjab. Among the richest parts of West Punjab are certain districts suchas Montgomery and Lyallpur Districts, With regard to the happenings in the West Punjab which 1 have already mentioned, the Sikh, under a reign of terror as it were, was threatened with having to leave the homeland which he had huilt with so much labour and effort. It was under those circumstances that the announcement of Master Tara Singh came,' an announcement to which the representative of Pakistan has called attention. It was an announcement during which Master Tara Singh was said to have brandished bis sword and uttered word.s which the representative of Pakistan has already mentioned to the Security Council. I am not here to give the impression that Master Tara Singh was justified in saying what he did. However, I have already mentioned to the Security Council the great provocation under which the Sikh community laboured at that tÎnle. Thousands of them had to f1.ee from the West Punjab. It was under those circumstances, in that state of excitement, that Master Tara Singh was led to say what he did. It has been suggested that -there was a preplanned conspiracy of the Sikhs, 'il conspiracy which has not been clearly outlined, but which, I gather, was a conspiracy to obtain a partition of the Punjab, and then ta do away with the Muslims in East Punjab in arder to make room for the Sikhs who would have ta move away from West Punjab into East Punjab. The representative of Pakistan has referred to somedocuments which he stated were confidential, but which have become available. I do not know what those documents are. However, I do say this: The theory put forward of a conspiracy or a plan by the Sikhs seems, to my mind, to be entirely unbelievable. The conspiracy or the plan suggests that a large majority, or a very substantial number of the Sikhs who are in the West Punjab and own this valuable property and land, plan to migrate eastward, leaving their land and property, with a view to exterminate the Muslims in East Punjab and take hold of their property. I submit that is a suggestion which is very fantastic and cannot com~ M. Cependant, des l'objet dû constances M. une nie, aurait rasser tal, quitter dans kistan d'après procurer. pendant, ration à ration rité, Sikhs et l'intention nant terminer de suggestion considération. connaissent mement plus gens occidental. tion raisonnablement sèdent tal, tal raient région. Sikhs 1 mand acceptance. East Punjab, as those concemed with the country know, is a crowded part of the Punjab. The population there is much more cen- ~alized, and the land bears a greater burden than ID the West Punjab. To suggest that Sikhs who own large farms in West Punjab should be parties to a plan to migrate ta East Punjab and take ! hold of some little bits of land which may be available ta them, or which will be made available t? them there, is, 1 submit, not a suggestion which can reasonably be gtven credence by anyone acquainted with the situation in the Punjab and among the Sikhs. 1 have already mentioned the masses of Hindus and Sikhs f1.ying from West Punjab towards East 1 began by stating that the picture which has been presented ta the Council is a distorted picture. 1 have sa described it because what has been done is ta present to the Council what IlIay be called the second chapter of the story, if 1 may use such an expression in: tegard to happenings sa closf~ at hand. The first chapter of it has been mentioned only in passing, but therein lies the real cause of what happened in West Punjab in August and Septembèr of 1947, the details of which have been so graphically given to the Council by the representative of Pakistan. There was no organized policy, no premeditated plan. What happened in West Punjab and also in East Punjab States, to which the representative of Pakistan has called attention, was but the ne.. cessary consequence of the mass feeling which was generàted by the happenings in West Punjab which came to the knowledge of those in East Punjab through refugees bringing the details of horror. That is the true picture. What ensued was what one necessarily should have expected: mass killings, mass torture, and mass abduction of wornen by one side, repeated later by the other side. By and large, that is the true picture: a burst or several bursts, if 1 may use that expression, of mass frenzy on either side Which no State and· no forces of law and arder could control, for the simple reason that it was based on divisions of religion and community. The feelings aroused penetrated the minds of the forces of law and arder themselves, sa that the police, and in sorne cases members of the military force, took sides. In that state of circumstances, the mass frenzy became difficult, if not impossible, ta control. These mass frenzies resulted in denuding the whole of the Western territory of Pakistan, consisting of West Punjab and the North West Frontier Province, of the whole of its Hindu and Sikh population, barring those forcibly converted or women abducted, and it resulted equally in a ma.. vement of Muslim population from East Punjab into West Punjab, although not ta the extent or degree of that in the case of West Punjab. Something has been said about the disorders that were encouraged or looked at orparticipated in by the forces of law and arder. Any inference At the end of August 1947 a gruesome tragedy was enacted at a place called Sheikhupura in West Punjab, in which thousands of Sikhs -and Hindus were butchered by a Baluchi regiment. The aftermath of this incident was witnessed by the Prime Minister of India in company with .officers belonging to the Government of WestPunjab. The Prime Ministers of both India and Pakistan happened to be in Lahore at the moment this happened, in connexion with the examination of whathas been called the refugee problem in India -:-people migrating from one side or the other. It was at that time, when they were in Lahore, that this news was received. Upon receiving it, the Prime Minister of India motored up to, tbis place in Lahore, and there he witnessed hundreds of corpses lying in the streets and houses of Sheikhupura, murdered by Baluchi troops who were in charge of the town. 1 have already stated that 1 do not lay any charge against the Government of Pakistan· or the Govemment of West Punjab in regard to this happening, but what 1 do emphasize is the fact that while on occasions the police andtroops were parties to the disorder, cannot support the inference which the representative of Pakistan wishes us to draw-that the Government was a party to the disorders or to the happenings. Things became so difficulf'for the Hindus and 1 Sikhs in West Punjab that some of them, in the et mohth of September 1947, rather than submit to tembre heinous ill-ti'eatment at the hand of Muslims to suicide the insults and crimes agail1st their women 'and traitements children, decided to consider mass suicide. These leurs Sikhs and Hindus put their women and children des ta death rather than allow them to be the victims à ofthese ghastly tragedies. One snch occurrence soient took place at a place called Jhang, in West Cela Punjab. Inquiries were made in this connexion, dental, and 1 cali attention to a letter dated 12 Octobe:l' tuée 19'47, addressed by the Governor of the Punjab une ta thé Prime Minister of India. This is what that au letter states: -du "-Please refer to my semi-officialletter, No. 188 GC o! 1 October regarding mass suicidesby-Hindu dus,. ID Jhang Distiicts, last month. 1 have now commis 1 re~lved a reply from Govemor, West Punjab, of trict which 1 enclose a copy for your information. My du tele~am to Governor, West Punjab. wa:sbased vous on information contained in an interceptedréport gramm.e ~!'th~ Punjab Intelligence Bureau to thePalcistan jab lUte~gence Bureau. The reply.confirms ,the inforcontenus m kiII ..ation.. Hindus and Sikhs would not themselves de _thexr wom~n and children, without the mûst seignements compelling reasons."· La, ments. pas ~nfants Jeures. .. Beginning from 15 August, big attacks were made in Sialkot, Gujranwalla, where Muslim refugees from Amritsar rural areas came with their stories of atrocities, and this was used by the big landr.ords, the Muslim National Guards, the police and the military to send up West Punjab districts in flames. .. In towns like Kamoke, Okara, Sheikhupura, the.military units of the Boundary Force worked greater havoc than anywhere else. The Baluchi regiment is said to have butchered nearly 8,000 to 10,000 non-Muslims in Sheikhupura alone. .. In rural areas. big non-Muslim areas were singled out for attack. Where the armed National Guard gangs failed to subdue the villages, which was the case generally, the military came to reinforce them and the defending non-Muslims had to fly in panic. At Many places the National Guards dressed th~mselves in military uniforms and led the attacks for the obvious purpose of scaring away the non-Muslims and looting their possessions. .. In West Punjab districts the same horrible story of mass butchery and loot, of parading non- Muslim women nakedin the ~treets of Sialkot, of public raping, brutal killing of children and babies, of hold-ups of refugee trains and caravans and.mass attacks, abduction of young non-Muslim women-the whole shameful tragedy acted with the same conlm.on features as in East Punjab. "After Premier Liaquat Ali's visit tothe Punjab .and the announcement that riots would be put down with a strong hand, everyone thought that Lyallpur would escape a big communal flare-up." Then it goes on to state what happened in Lyallpur. .. A Muslim goonda 1 threw a bomb in a mosque in order to stir up trouble and provoke the Muslims into believing that the non-Muslims had done it.This goonda was caught redhanded, but it is a shameful fact that these two League papers ran acampaign defending the goonda and asking why he had been arrested. ." On 4· September, when Mr. Hamid, the MuslimDeputy Connnissioner. was addressing a meeting of citizens, appealing. to· them .to maintain peace and condemn killing and looting, the goonda 1 Ruffian. .. There were over 500 killed, but papers like the Nawai Waqt stiU belch venom against the minonties and abuse all those .who seek to restore peace and order. •• These attacks have smoked out the Sikh minority. The three lakhs 1 of Sikhs in this district 1 sikh~ are now concentrated in big pockets and are on le the move to cross the borders. They are carrying vastes with them most of their movable property, inc1utière. ding livestock. biens, .. Lyallpur has been built on the labour of the Sikh peasant. He made these rich lands yield san golden grain in abundance. His sweat and toil had terres gone in.to the soil there. When he was thus com- Lorsque pelled to leave the land he loved, hatred filled his la heart and in many Akali ~J1ages, he listened to haine, the advice that he shouldscorch the earth before prêté d'oreille leaving it. Standing crops were burnt off, and et even the drinking water of the wells in some sur villages was poisoned by the departing Sikhs. lages, par vantait qu'aucun n'avait occidental. général de des des sikhs commis des ,chefs la ments active de anciens membres aux tant membre police qui personne au ment un ... Ghazanfarali Khan, the Piikistan· Minister, in apress statement boasted that no refugee camp of non-Muslims had been attacked in West Punjab. .. He was only hiding from the oùtside world the wholesale massacre in the Sikh refugee camp in Jaranwa11a on 8 September. Here armed Na- . tional Guards, assisted by the military, butchered 6,000 Sikh refugees and carrled away nearly 1,000 women. .. It will not do to hide the crimes committed on one's own side and concentrate only on the crimes of the other." The foilowing appears under the heading Il League Leaders Participate in Loot " : .. But this is even. more dif1icult because many of the local district League leaders are themselves active participants in looting and killing. In the Jhang District, the· feuda1landIords, .the same old >' pro-British toadies. and even the League Members of .the Legislation ·Assembly have joined in the looting and killing expeditions. .. In Lahore itse!f, an important.League Member of the Legislative Assembly is 'Rctually concemed in the looting. A truckload of looted stuff Was caught by. police, and the truck belonged to this League Member vfthe Legislative Assembly. He was too influentiala person in the League, and the scandai was promptly hush~d by the sins of ~e m.aster being visited upon a pOOl" servant of bis whO' was charged as the man responsible for carrying away, the loot. -_.- 1 A lakh is 100,000. giv~ time to those who had such looted property to remove it and bide it away. The National Guard bands that had shared with the police in the 100t fùt al') furious at this that they made a counterannmmcement in the town in the form of posters, placed all over the town, that they would not allow their houses to be searched until the houses of the police officers were themselves fust searched. The guilty officers dared not carry through the search. The whole idea of the search had to be abandoned." That is the position in West Punjab as depicted by the representative paper People's Age.\It bears out what 1 began by stating, that the probTèin that had to be faced here was the problem of the masses getting frenzied and fighting each other, the beast in the man getting the upper hand, aroused by the preaching of hatred and rellgious fanaticism. That is really what happened. If it happened" in the East P1.mjab States, it happened in a greater and in a more virulent form than in W~st Punjab. The forces of law and order did not function ~ East Poojab. To a greater degree did they not only fail to function, but they actually parqcipated: in. the crimes and in the looting in West Punjab. It is futile to attribute these happenings to any Governmental plan or to any Governmental participation. The tragic difficulty in West Punjab has resul-' ted in practically the wiping out the population of non-Muslims in that Province and in the North West F.::ontier Province.When 1 say wiping out, r dû not mean all of themhave been murdered ; a large number of them have been murdered, and .the rest have nJgrated. There is one further fact which 1 should like to mention in regard to East Punjab before 1 leave that subject. The difficulties of the Govemmellt there were fargreater than thode in West Punjab in the latter half of Aùgust and. in September because it must be ...eniembered tt... , the Punja}) having been. divideo. into two Provinces, East Punjab had to form and organize un administration wpiçh did not exist before. It was during this process oforganizing its governmental macbinery thatEl:lst Punjab was faced with the problem of having to deal. with the outbreak of.mass disorder. The representative of Paldstan has referred to happenings in certain East Punjab States during the months of, June and July. We submit that the Jndian Government is in no way concerned with Something was also said by the representative of Pâldstan with regard to censorship imposed on the Press at the instance of the Indian Government, the suggestion bcing-and as far as 1 can see, it was only a suggestion-that, having planned the extermination of the Muslims, the Jndian Government didnot desire n~wspaper correspondents.to publish the ~e facts. On behalf of my Qovernment 1 reject that charge, and 1 submit that to materiaI bas been laid before the Security Council which can ,substailtiate it. On the contrary, a nùmber of cases will be found in which the Government of Pakistan deliberately prevented journalsfrom stating. the. true facts conceming happenings in West Punjab. Actual orders were promulgatéd for that purpose. In this èormextion 1 refer the Sec~ty Council to. an extract frOIn the editorial comment of the Civil and Military Gazette, the British-owned daiiy of I"ahore, dated 30 August 1947. The extract reads : " On 25 August, in accordance with the order submitted for censorship "- there is actually a censorship in progress--" ilie following open letter wasaddressed to the Qaid-e-Azam by Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan and Khan Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot: " , Your Excellency and Gentlemen: Believing unreservedly in the sincerity of your assurances .regarding the restoration of peace in the unhappy Province of West Punjab, and in your' promises ,of protection to minorities, 1 bring, the following •to your notice as evidence, of the manner inwhich ,your assurances are bemg negatived and your promises rendered abortive. 1 do this in the hope that. the facts. stated herein may bring about t1le punishment and eIimination of those elements which are flouting your orders and Îrustrating your intentions. des' assurances concerne malheureuse aiiisi ,rités,' les manière , sont les amener ments néant " 'Passengers by the clown Sind express wbo arrived in La1).Qreon·Saturday evening bad had experiences which theY will never forget and of which they were with difficulty persuaded to speak. Aiter the train had 1eft Gujrat.a small body of passengers armed with axes and knives repeatedly stopped it by pulIing the. commwiication 'cord, and visited each compartment in,Win ferreting out those of another community and'mthIessly butchering thern.. ." 'Sometimes these crimes were committed ,while the train was moving, sometimes in '. t?e ,presenGe of parties who. rushed towards the line from the countrvside whenever a stop was ~ ' maue. press subi' des dont Lorsque de' l'ont et les. membres' des sacrant pendant d'autres qui ve;rs rêtait. en sortir voyageurs .. l So~e .passengers atiemptéd to save them- 1 ~elv~~))ycray..ling under the ,carti~ges,. ,but these ~:fu~è~t:t~;~;~d'a~:~:~g~~e~~~~: 1 ... 'Fifteen deliberate, cold-blooded murders may seem little enough to tum you gentlemen from the tremendous task on which you are en- .gaged-the creation of aState from a nation. But these fifteen shared the fate of many more. Few 1rains indeed came from Lahore from HOrth or ·east without revealing similar atrocities. U , Lives could be saved, and the extension ot the death-chain which their loss ensures prevented by the adequate guarding of trains. When at one point, the train guard of the Sind Express fired a volley of six shots, apparently over the head of a menacing mob, the mîscl'eatits turned tail and :ran. Only a few small escorts, armed with no more than two Sten guns, could conceivably have :saved' those fifteen lives and thus prevented the ,exacerbation of a blood-feud which attained fantastic and terrible proportions. This seems a :simple way in which your assurances can oe nonoured and your promises fulfilled. Will you adopt it1' .. Assuring you of my keen interèst in and high hopes for, ~e future of Pakistan, 1 am. YOUfS respectfully, the Editor." This is an open letter which is addressed by the editor to the Qaid-e-Azam, Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan and Khan Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot. This editorial continues as fol1ows : "Later on, the same day, we were informed by telephone that, after consultation with the Premier of West Punjab, permission to publish tms open 1etter had been withbeld for reasons of policy (' criteria other than tmth '). Quibbling may exonerate the Pakistan Govemment from the charge of issuing a misleading communiqué, since the ceD:sorshipwas imposed by the Governor of the Punjab .and not by the Governor of Pakistan and issued from Lahore, not Karachi. But we are concernedwith facts, not quibbles..And we,leave it to our readers to judge whether our statement regardingcensorship, or the deDial of the statement, contained in the communiqué, ' was utterly untrue and malicious ' ". Here wasan attempt to suppress the publication of an open letter by, the editor. of' the Civil and Military Gazette which stated the facts. The"reptêsentative of P~stan has referred to the destruction of property, and houses. He told mane fondément merce car sikh De tres dollars. à masse nions. The places whichhave suffered a simiIar fate in regard ta the property of Hindu and Sikhs are .Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Multan and Peshawar. 1 am mentioning ouly the principal ones. This again, as 1 began by saying, is totally irrelevant ta the question which the Security Council is called upon ta consider. As 1 have · stated,a picture has been placed before the Secur- ,jtyq.)llp.,!::ilw:qïch is at most half of tb,e real story, · and th~ h~ which fav()urs th~ viewo~ ms Government which the· representative of Pakistan has · chosen ta put. before you. 1 :have attempted, as · briefly as 1· could, ta put before the· Security Council, in some measure, the other side of the picture. ..; Something was said by the representative of 'Pakistan about the happenings·in Delhi, the capital of the'Indian Union. Looting and killing took place in Delhi during the monthof September 1947. But the question is, hàd the Govemment any participation in it or any hand in it ? 1 submit that nothing has been placed before the · Security Couneil to show that the Governmental · machinery participated in this, or that the Govemment policy encouraged or connived in the happenings in Delhi. In this conilexion the Press,. and 1 think the Press in the United Kingtom, cO'med many staries of attempts made by those in authority, the Prime Minister himself and others, to do their best to quell these disturbances, on more than one occasion. at personal risk ta themselves. That .demonstrates what 1 have already stated: that what happened was the outbreak of mass frenzy which, at the moment, could not be controlled by the forces of Iaw and arder. 1 .. Down with the Great Leader. " . . The happenings in Delhi are comparable to the reecnt happenings in Karachi. Mass disarder broke out. The forces of law and order made attempts to control the disorders, and some of forces the .Ministers took part and did their best ta try et to quell the.disturbances. That is precisely what les happened in Delhi also. à The latest telegram which we have received with tegard to what happened at Karachi states ; ~oncernant déclare: non-musulmans non-musulmans On ,reçu part où Gouvernep:lent des Karachi. d'assurer ,1'apPl'ovisionnement cond interdisant inauguré risations qui Plus Sukkar Nawabshah. mier .. Twenty-five thousandnon-Muslims have been evacuated as a result of what happened. Further, 50,000 remain in Karachi alone and they can be moved at the rate of 10,000 weekly. There are urgent requestsfor assistance from non-Muslims in the interior of Sind, where grave danger is apprehended at manyplaces. ,The Gove1'Ill!'ent of . Sind, however, .is obstructing movements· of Hindus from interior to Hyderabad or Karachi. .rr~mier has. be.en threatening, to stop supply of foodstuffs .10 camps. Second Magistrate has promulgated an order prohibiting departure of any Hindu ·for a fortnight. Permit system· hasbeen introduced and only those persons will be given permits who have cleared all their accounts, etcetera. Ovec 1,000 Hindus, travelling bytrain from .Sukkar ta Karachi, were forcibly detrained .at Nawabshah. The matter is being taken up by the :Prime Minister of Pakistan. .c According to latest reports from Kapur at Peshawar, frontier authorities are aIso. unhelpful. Governor of North West Frontier Province visitincr Dela Ismail Khan to ascertain .wishes of non~ Muslims.. He turned. down a· request from Kapur Jobe allowed tO accompany him, on the ground ,he pr~ferred to see things for himself. No arrangements have been mad~ for· evacuation of non- Kapur cordènt neur ·allé voir derata des du ·prétexte Auçune '~uslims. People suffering severely, being lodged ,.in.tents in, bitter,cold and snowand without adequate supplies of food. Local adminIstration has c~ation de tentes, d'appro"isionnements locale deKurram qu'on musulmans. ~erelycalled for a .report of the particular.agency III Kurram., Might weIl be considering the dispersal of non-Muslims from camps. musulmans vinces mans cident ce Nor' is any attempt being made toevacuate Ilon-:Muslims from Am, Swat and other frontier provinces. Evacuation from Bannu was suspended after Gujrat incident." ,.,That is a,telegram from Sri 'Prakash the represent~tive of the Government oi India in Karachi recelV'ed a litt!e.while ago. The oS K;apur" .refer~ r.ed to above .l~ th~ representative of, the .Governinstant, ·GouverJ,lemynt lllentlonné, tant frontière ~ent of India in the North West Frontier Pro- Vmce. " When the attack was fust reported on Monday, it was stated that nearly 100 people had been killed. The train was evacuating the refugees from Bannu, in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and reached Oujrat Station on Sunday night. Two soldiers of the escort were attempting to draw water from a pump when they were attacked by armed Pathans who seized their rifles." A telegram received .by us from New Delhi, dated 15 January, states: ... Deputy High Coinmissioner has visited Gujranwala where some survivors of Gujrat incident were collected. .. He reports that a train which was coming from Bannu, arrived Gujratabout 10.00 p.m., and a~ack by Pathans from neighbouring villages began saon after1.00 a.m. Escort, consisting of sixty soldiers ofBittar Regiment, with Sikh commander) returned theirfire until 8.30 a.m., when 1hey ran out of ammunition and were themselves wiped out. Deputy High Commissioner states there were 3,000 passengers; estimates casualties of 1,500 killed, 100 missing and 300 women kidnapped. Seven hundredsurvivors.taken to Gujranwala, and 400 more, reported by Pakistan authorities, to be in Oujrat. Value of property looted is estimated at 30 lakhs of rupees. No young women were found either in hospital or in camp, .and it is ·believed that· they were aIl kidnapped. Pakistan troûps arrived on the scene at 9 a.m. Massacre continucd, even in their presence, but they eventuaIly stopped it by firing in air and by persuasion, and threats.Police and magistrates took no action.against attackers, and complicity of civil and .raiIroadofficials is strongly suspected. Wounded .and other survivors felt insecure at Gujranwala a<.ld·had no confidence in local Mus- Iim sur~~{\~;;. Deputy HighCommissioner obtained agreement of Pakist8}1 authorities ·to transfer, all survivors to Lahore. First batch of wounded· was expected foarrive at Gangaram Hospital, 14 mor- I1ÏI1g. Strong.protest is beingmade to Oovernment of Pakistan." , :.This is. the~e position, and a Government which 4asin its ~erritory.happenings of. the sort 1 have just described? and numerous others which A word about Ajmer, wmch the representative of Pakistan referred to as one of the holy places in which the Muslim population is in danger, and which is situated in the Indian Union. Now the true facts in regard to that are-as 1 shaIl presently read from a telegrfuïl-that aIl steps have been' taken to safeguard fuis holy place, and that whatever difficulties have arisen, have arisen by reason of same differences among the Muslims locally in Ajmer. 1 now quote a telegram dated 20 January 1948 which reads as follows: "In Ajmer, trouble was started by Muslims who on 17 August attacked a Hindu religious procession, inflicting fourteen casualties. The situation was immediately brought under control and there was no disturbance until 5 Decçmber. Tension, however, continued because a number of Muslims from Ajmer and neighbouring States, who at the insistence of the local Muslim League had migrated to Pakistan, retumed to Ajmer and, meanwhiIe, there had been a large influx of non- Muslim refugees from Sind. .. When trouble broke out in December, vigorous action was taken by police and military who repeatedly fired on rioters. Large collective fines were aIso imposed on aggressors. .. As a result of these measures, the situation was rapidly brought under control and there have been no incidents since 15 December. Casualties in December were: killed, 14 Hindus, including 9 kiiIed by police and military; Muslims, 41; wounded, Hindus, 23, Muslims, 64. "The Prime Minister has visited Ajmer and hashimself said that local authorities have taken vigorous action to stop rioting. Special measures were taken from the beginning for. the protection of Durgah-that is the holy place-which was never attacked and has suffered no damage. .. It should, however, be mentioned that the problem of affording security to Muslims in Ajmer is. complicated by the existence of dispute over the management of Durgah between rival parties of Muslims." 1 have dealt broadly with what has been called the background of the situation so far as it concerns India. 1 propose nextto go on to dealwith What is the real background, namely, the background of the happenings in Kashmir itself. 1 do not know whether that would be convenient to the President and the Security Council atthis time. If there is a wish to adjourn, this would bea convenient point for the.adjoumment. The'PREs;IDENT (translated trom French): We shall now go back to the system of consecutive interpretation. - - • •. _. \ - -. - . ' 1 ~ , . ' :- ,": ' ' TWO BUNDRED AND TBIRTY~THIRD MEETING Held at Lake Success, New York, on Friday,' 23 ianuary 1948, at 3 p.ln. President :Mr. F. vÀNLANGENHOVE (Bel- -giirin). . . . '_::. . _ Present : Th..erepresentatives of_ the following c.ountries : Argentina, J3elgium, Canada, China, Colombia", France, Syrla, ,Vkrainian SovietSo- ..cialist.Republic, Union of Soviet SocialistRepub- lics, United Kingdom, United States of Anierica. 26. Official communiqué In accordance with rule 55 of theprovisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, the following communiqué was issueçl by the Security Council _through the Sl~cretary-General, and is circulated in plàce of a\lerbatim record. •• The' Securîty-Çouncil met inprivate today at Lake Success to resuine its consideration of the question of the appointment of a Governor of the Free Territory of Trieste. The replies from the Govemment of ltaly [8/644 and S/647] 1 ànd 1 The text of document S/644 reads: Sir: With reference to your letter n. 1204-S-1/DP received on December 22nd 1947,.1 have the honor to inform you that 1 have been instructed by my Government to advise you as follows : On December 23rd 1947, the - Italian Ministry of , Foreign Affairs, ,upon receipt of the official· invitation from the Security Council to consult with tiie Yllgoslav Govemment in an effort to agree'on a candidate for Governor 9fthe Free Territory of Trieste,immediately contacted theYugoslav Legation in Rome, which three ç)ays -later, _suggested the following names for the abovementioned office: 'Mr; -BohuslavEcer of Czechoslovakia; Mr. Georg Branting of Sweden; Mr. Èmil. Stangof Norway. SQbsequently, on December 31st 1947, the ItaIian Ministry of Foreign Afrail's proposed the persons' listed below: . General Henri Guisan of Switzerland ; Mr. Walter Otto Stucki of Sw~tzerland, On January3rd 1948, the YugoslavMinfster in Rome stated that h~sGoverJl!Ilentwas opposed to the candir dates last mentioned nnd suggested :