KILLING CONTINUES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22440, 22 September 1947, Page 5

KILLING CONTINUES

| REFUGEE_ VICTIMS | ATTACKS SLAUGHTER IN PUNJAB (N.Z.P.A.—Reuter— Copyright.) (11.15 a.m.) NEW DELHI. Sept. 21. Twelve refugees were killed when fanatical gunmen breaking the curfew rushed from houses and attacked a miserable, rain-drenched column ot Moslems passing through the Sikh city of Amritsar on their way to the safety of Pakistan. The city was placed under a strict curfew to clear a way for 50,000 refugees moving out of the Indian border area. The gunmen rushed from the houses and fired on the refugees until troops intervened, killing six of the attackers and wounding 37. Troops Drive Off Attackers The Indian spokesman who described this incident said 12 refugees were killed when gunmen ambushed a train carrying Moslems from Delhi. The attack occurred in darkness and ended only after the escorting troops had fired 1000 rounds. Thirty-seven refugees were injured and 40 are missing. A later 1 message states that the Premier of West Punjab, Iftikar Husain, revealed that the sword-slashed bodies of 02 children, 29 women and 30 men had been removed from the Moslem refugee train when it arrived in Pakistan from Delhi today. The attack ocurred at Beas station, 05 miles cast of Lahore. The 1000 survivors on the train were too distracted to give further details, he added. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, told a meeting in Lahore that he was determined to pull out every Moslem from East . unjao and plant him properly in Pakistan. Comment by Gliandi “The problem before us is not only the consolidation of Pakistan but the revival of the glory of Islam in the Indian sub-continent. ’To drive every Moslem from India and every Hindu and Sikh from Pakistan would mean war and ruin for the whole country, said Mr. Gandhi at a prayer meeting. Such a suicidal policy would spell the ruin of Islam and Hinduism in Pakistan and the Indian Union. New Delhi radio announced that the 1 East Punjab railways had cancelled all ordinary mail express and passenger ; trains from tonignt, except on the ■ Simla-Delhi line, in order to give first j priority to the movement of Mosems ‘ from East Punjab and non-Moslems from West Punjab. A joint India-Pakistan communique after a meeting of Mr. Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan and other Ministers said the two Governments had agreed to co-operate to establish peaceful conditions. The Governments had decided to have frequent consultations and had agreed to avoid irritating statements, to prevent inflammatory reports and to provide more security for minorities. Huge Death-Roll in Punjab The Sikh leader, Tara Singh, estimated that 200,000 Hindus and Sikhs were killed in West Punjab while fewer than 100,000 Moslems had died in East Punjab in the recent communal rioting. “I emphatically refute Pakistan propaganda that this is a Sikh uprising motivated to create a Sikh homeland,” he added. Reuter’s correspondent in Lucknow says reports from the United Provinces, where tension has been growing in the last few days, state that 153 persons have been killed and 283 injured in Hindu-Moslem rioting in the Bulandshahr district. This is the first serious clash in the United Provinces and is believed to have resulted from stories spread by refugees from the Punjab.