Moslems Start War Of Revenge: Great Pakistan Exodus

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 September 1947, Page 4

Moslems Start War Of Revenge: Great Pakistan Exodus

LAHORE, September 2. More than 1,000,000 homeless feardriven refugees are estimated to be on the move , streaming both ways between East Punjab and West Punjab. A Pakistan Array communique says that more than 100,000 nonMoslems crossed one bridge over the Sutlej river in the last 36 hours. The Daily Express correspondent says: “There are Sikhs and Hindus whose turn has now come to flee from the communal terror as Moslems in the Pakistan area of the Punjab open a war of revenge. It is estimated that 1,000,000 non-Moslems are moving out of Pakistan, leaving behind them burned and looted villages and uncounted mutilated dead. Ceaseless Attacks

“Armed Moslem bands are harrying [hem ceaselessly as they make for safely across the border of Indian territory. Their panic rush is the sequel of the arrival in Pakistan of 500,000 survivors of the Sikh war of extermination in East Punjab.” The Daily Mail correspondent says that Moslems in. Lahore, which is a Pakistan, city, have started to move again following strong rumours that Sflchs from the east plan an invasion. The Army reports increasing tension in the East Punjab districts of Jullundur and Ludhiana, where Sikhs attacked 10,000 Moslem refugees moving away from the Amritsar district. The refugee caravans carried with them 200*wounded.

Police Look On

When the Simla district train reached Delhi yesterday it was learned that 50 passengers had been removed and killed on the journey, while police and Indian Army officers looked on. This is an isolated incident on the Simla line. The worst train attacks have been in the Punjab. Strong military guards are to be set on all trains between Delhi and Lahore.

Brigadier Thimayya, Indian liaison officer with the Boundary Force, who arrived at Shekhapura on August 24 with, a convoy of lorries to evacuate refugees, told the Prime Minister of India (Pandit Nehru) that he saw police shooting down people as they ran from burning houses, lie found about 50 police inactive outside the police station, while Shekhapura was blazing and the shooting was going on.

Nehru's Tour

Reuter’s correspondent in Lahore said: “The last 200 Sikhs and Hindus in Shekhapura, which is 25 miles from Lahore, are huddled amid flies and filth in a tiny courtyard in a blackened, reeking town which was once a flourishing trading centre. The men among them broke into tears when Pandit Nehru, who is touring the riot-devastated areas, assured them of speedy evacuation. “A crowd of Moslem refugees from the East Punjab stopped Pandit Nehru’s car as he drove through the wrecked streets and demanded that he stop the war. Pandit Nehru, mistaking them for local Moslems, asked who started the war. When they answered ‘The Sikhs,’ Pandit Nehru leaned from his car in a fury and sa ; d: ‘Liars, fools, rogues!’ “Pandit Nehru told Hindus, Sikhs, and Moslems at Lyallpur, in West Punjab, that he would stay in the province until peace was restored.