Download The Punjab: Moving Journeys (Part Two)

The Punjab: Moving Journeys
(Part Two)
Early Migrations & Punjabis in the Army
Partition
Punjab
Daily life of
onthe
Expedition
The polar huts
The huts the men built were home for the shore party for the duration of the expedition.
It was here that all of the Expedition’s life could be found. You would see the men
repairing and checking equipment, writing up diaries and papers, collecting scientific
records, playing cards, smoking, having a hair cut from Anton - the ponies’ groom - or
simply occupying their time.
Early Migrations & Punjabis in the Army
Here are the ‘tenements’, the five bunks which were home to Cherry-Gerrard (l), Bowers
(standing), Oates (middle), Mears (top r), and Atkinson (bottom r).
In 2005, Sir Neil
Cossons, Chairman
of English
Heritage, visited Scott’s huts. He writes, “I
Migration
of Punjabis
within the
Punjab
was struck by how timeless they are. Their timber walls were never built to last and are
showing
signs
of the harsh
environment.
Yet they
stand proud
asthe
oneagricultural
of the few development in the 1800s as
Many
local
communities
in south
west Punjab
werestill
side-lined
during
human
landmarks
on
Antarctic
landscape.
It
was
in
these
huts
that
Scott’s
men lived, were selected from densely
they were thought to lack the necessary skills and knowledge. Instead, agriculturalists
worked
and
relaxed
during
the
long
Polar
winter
in
preparation
for
the
journey
populated Central Punjab, the areas around Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jullundar, to South.
coloniseA and develop these irrigated
hundred
years
ago
you
would
have
smelt
bread
baking,
heard
the
piano
or
watched
one of
areas.
Ponting’s slide shows. And today, as you face the untouched shelves of familiar foods –
Tate and Lyle sugar and Coleman’s Mustard - you are simply transported back into another
time.”
A buffalo cart and street scene in Punjab by P E Vernon, 1926
Food
The region was transformed from having predominantly nomadic and Muslim inhabitants to having a large Hindu and
Sikh
population.
implicationscook,
of this
became
significant
during
in 1947,
when
Thomas
Clissold, The
the Expedition’s
is baking
bread
surrounded
bypartition
his supplies.
In the
polarpeople would be again
forced
to
migrate,
but
this
time
along
religious
lines.
huts the men dined on a wide variety of foods. For example, the menu for the dinner to
celebrate Midwinter’s Day in 1911 ran to several courses. This was in stark contrast to the
monotonous rations eaten by the sledging teams, an unchanging diet of biscuits, tea and
Grants
of land
in the canal
colonies were used to reward Punjabi ex-servicemen, a large number of whom were drawn
pemmican
(preserved
meat).
from the region. The colonial authorities sought the loyalty of these men and all landowning communities in this
strategically important
Menu forarea.
the Midwinters Day 1911 – Cape Evans McMurdo Sound
Consomme - Seal
Roastbeef & Yorkshire pudding
Horse Radish Sauce
“Areas were reserved for those who contributed in the First World War. People who were in the army were given
land very cheaply as reward. Fifty years prior to this this land was just a desert, after there were canals then that
site became very good.” Member from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
Section of ‘Canal map of India, 1885’
Note: The blue lines depict the network of canals
The ‘Martial Races’
The period from 1890 to 1914 is often referred to as ‘the Punjabization of the Indian Army.’ The British divided Indian
ethnic groups into two categories: Martial and Non Martial. The following were identified as martial (military) races:
Jats, Awans, Gujjars, Balochs, Gurkhas, Sikhs, Pashtuns/ Pathans and Rajputs. This period saw extensive recruitment
into the Indian army from the martial races and led to accusations about ‘divide and rule.’ During the First World War,
Punjabi martial races formed 54 per cent of the entire British Indian Army. The Sikhs were a minority community in
India but they featured prominently within the army and were overrepresented when compared with numbers of
Muslim and Hindu soldiers from the Punjab.
“My older brother fought in the First World War and he got a pension. Many Punjabi’s enrolled in the British army;
we were the right hand of the British. With all the fighting in Punjab (the Anglo-Sikh wars in the mid-1800s) the
British saw that we were very feisty. It was our tradition then to join the army and it is now in the blood.” Member
from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
“Thousands of Punjabis died in the First World War; I think that is one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th Century,
they were cannon fodder.” Member from the Sangat Group, 2008
First World War (1914 - 18):
Over half of the 1.4 million Indian soldiers involved were from the Punjab; 64,000 Indian soldiers died.
Second World War (1939 - 45):
A third of the 1.8 million Indian soldiers who supported the British call to arms in the Second World War were
Punjabis. This became the largest all-volunteer force in history. 35,559 Indian soldiers died. Indian soldiers fought
alongside allied troops in many of the major battles during these wars. On their return home many became more
politically aware and desired freedom from colonial rule.
“We weren’t given much information…we couldn’t take a part in the politics. But we heard things on the news. Until
the end, February/March 1947, we were absolutely fine. There used to be Sikh and Muslim companies and we often
met. We just had a separate mess for each - the food was different. There was a Hindu platoon too and others. We
were all friends.” Member from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
“In 1985 Britain celebrated the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. They did not mention
anything about the Indian army…although at the time many ex-servicemen were here…we didn’t know how many
Indians took part in the two wars so we wrote some letters the Ministry of Defence and they told us. We thought
that we too will commemorate our contributions to the war efforts. Our British Officer joined us along with others
who served in India. 178 Indian veterans entered the hall that day.” Member from the Undivided India ExServicemen’s Association, 2008
No.4 Company Bombay Sappers and Miners' Workshops at Maidan, West Punjab, by
unknown photographer, 1897-1898
Heavy recruitment from the Punjab for the army had social repercussions as it increased the out-migration of men
from this region. As members of the British Indian army Punjabi servicemen travelled the world. Many of these men
later returned to the Punjab or settled overseas.
“The first wave of migration began between the 1860s and 1890s when the favoured position of the Sikhs in the Indian
Army attracted them to foreign lands. Many had served in Central Asia, Africa and the Far East or had acted as security
auxiliaries for British firms. Some Sikhs accompanied their fellow officers on tour and were recruited by British
companies in the rubber plantations of Malaysia.” From the book Sikhs in Britain, by Gurharpal Singh and Darshan
Singh Tatla, 2006
A Sikh sentry, Fort Johnston, Malawi by H H
Johnston, 1891
Chinese police. Hankow, Hupeh by Isabella Bird Bishop, 1891
“We’d been in the army and seen other countries. We knew that people who got out had done well and were buying
land. All the people who came over (to the UK) thought that we’d work here for 10 years, earn some money,
educate the children and go back.” Member from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
After the Second World War the reconstruction of post-war Britain, together with the emergence of the National
Health Service and rapid industrial growth led to labour shortages. The British government actively recruited from
overseas including ex-soldiers and their families from the Punjab. These early settlers often filled manual jobs at
factories, such as the Woolf Rubber Company near Southall, West London.
“The reason Punjabis settled in Southall was because the factory personnel manager was a Major in the Indian
Army and he gave them jobs because they would salute him. The second reason was that no one else wanted to
work in that Factory.” Member from the Sangat Group, 2008
Indentured labour
Because of the Punjab’s late incorporation into the British Empire fewer Punjabis migrated to the Caribbean as
indentured labourers when compared to other Indians and the Chinese. In 1895, 350 Punjabi workmen were
contracted to work on Ugandan railways in East Africa; a figure which rose to 31,895 six years later.
Indian pundits, Trinidad and Tobago, 1931
'O' trestle (mile 476) looking down stream, Kenya by J. R. Baass, 1900
Partition of the Punjab
1947: Partition
“It has taken me into my 40s to realise that my life has been defined by partition, not in some abstract conceptual,
emotional sense…but I am a child of refugees with refugee families on both sides.” Member from the UK Punjabi
Heritage Association 2008
Data collected by the British in India, alongside their underlying assumptions, played an important role in the partition
of India 1947. Two regions felt the brunt of partition, the Punjab in the west and Bengal in the east. They were both
divided by the newly drawn borders to form the independent countries of India and East and West Pakistan (later to
become Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively). Partition unleashed a wave of violence, the scale of which had not
been foreseen.
Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, was given the task of dividing up the Punjab and Bengal. He had never visited India,
was considered impartial and had less than 6 weeks to decide the boundaries. The mission of the Punjab commission
was:
“ To demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab, on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority
areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will take into account other factors.”
A paper by O H K Spate, published in the Society’s Geographical Journal in October 1947 outlines research that was
submitted to Radcliffe. Spate was employed independently by a Muslim group from Gurdaspur district to provide a
case to support the inclusion of this district in Pakistan. He explains his personal bias, alongside general misgivings
about partition:
“The fact that I favour the Muslim case in Pakistan has nothing to do with the merits and demerits of Pakistan itself,
and in Bengal my leaning is towards the other side. I doubt whether any final detached historical judgement will be
possible, so intangible and ever-shifting are the issues and morality and expedience, the attitudes and motives of
parties and personalities.”
Records:
Records maintained by the British such as the first Indian Census of 1871 had a role to play in the partition. These
records classified people and raised awareness of religious identity. It is believed that this inadvertently led to the
politicising of the population and increased competitiveness amongst the different religious groups in India.
Independence, population exchanges and loss:
Massive migrations occurred between the two newly formed states following the Partition. About 14.5 million people
crossed the borders to what they hoped was safety. Based on the 1951 Census; 7,226,000 Muslims left India for
Pakistan, while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved from Pakistan to India after partition.
The two newly formed governments were ill-equipped to deal with such large migrations; violence occurred on both
sides of the border as a result. Estimates of the number of deaths range from 200,000 to 2 million; historians generally
agree a figure of about 1 million deaths, although the true extent will never be known.
Distribution of Mohammedans. Published by OSS, 1942
Stories of partition: remembrances
The partition of the Punjab stirred many memories. Individual recollections and collective histories were shared and
sensitive subjects were openly discussed. The following comments explore unity, loss and disorientation.
“My parents were from Amritsar and they boarded a train from
there. They had a small attaché case with my mother’s
jewellery. When the train was attacked my father put the
attaché case in the window to block it. Attackers tried to punch
it with daggers. The case was scarred. Anyway, they arrived in
Rawalpindi and their baggage was dumped in the GHQ grounds
in the open. When they found a roof over their heads they went
back to the grounds to reclaim the baggage. They were amazed
to see that the jewellery was still in the case! “ Member from
the Muslim Women’s Welfare Association, 2008
“My grandmother used to tell us that when the trouble started
a local Hindu came to my grandfather and told him that he did
not want to migrate to India and would be willing to convert to
Islam along with his family, provided everyone in the village
treats him and his family as a Muslim. My grandfather told him
that he could give his personal guarantee but could not be sure
of the rest of the village. The Hindu was disappointed and left
Pakistan to go to India.” Member from the Muslim Women’s
Welfare Association, 2008
Gandhi Wallahs, Bombay, Maharashtra by D
Oliver, 1930 - 40
“A neighbour told me about when she was younger in India; she
had to move during partition to Pakistan and she really missed
India. She remembered the flowers they used to decorate her
dad’s shop when they celebrated Diwali. She would go out and
pick these big flowers with her sister but they had to move. She
really missed this.” Member from the Bradford Young
Ambassadors, 2008
“They ordered the army to make their decision about who wants to join which army, Pakistan or India. We filled out
forms, although it was defaulted so that if you are Hindu or Sikh you went to India and the Muslims had to go to
Pakistan. They often ignored requests.” Member from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
“Many Hindus and Sikhs were helped by good Muslims and vice versa. If we were to help each other then our
governments would tell us that we shouldn’t. There was no defender. We were given 2-3 weeks of lawlessness and
people were allowed to kill whomever they wanted. To this day no one has been questioned.” Member from the
Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
“Not all the Sikhs are monsters nor all the Muslims. There are good people in both communities.” Member from the
Muslim Women’s Welfare Association, 2008
“Before this happened everybody lived together and went to each other’s weddings.We lived together like
brothers.” Member from the Undivided India Ex-Servicemen’s Association, 2008
View across roofs of some houses, Lahore, by E Barnardistan, 1904
“People were being forced to leave their homes; they were being burnt and their young girls were taken away and
abused…so people killed their own to avoid them being dishonoured. I heard the story of an old woman who had to
kill her teenaged daughters before fleeing to Pakistan...” Member from the Muslim Women’s Welfare Association,
2008
Partition & migrations: imaginings
Younger participants had varying levels of knowledge about the partition of the Punjab. To explore the contemporary
relevance of partition, members of the Bradford based Cartwright Hall Young Ambassadors Group were asked to
respond to an imaginary partition of Bradford.
“Before this project I didn’t think that much about Pakistan, India and partition or anything; it was just somewhere I
called home. It just really hit home that people had to leave everything behind and start afresh their homes, with no
idea where they were going and make a huge sacrifice.”
“I’d rather practice my religion without violence, without tension; if you move with the people - it’s the same people
- it makes sense to. What is in your heart is still going to be in your heart. You can take that with you.”
“I would probably try and stay there and do what I can to survive, it would help if people, friends and family were
around, even the Christian’s who would have to move would be going through similar emotions. They might respect
you for staying. You would hope humanity would be there and they would say, ‘Ok, you made a choice, it is
probably a difficult choice but we are going to respect you for that.’
“I think I’d probably leave because of protection in numbers. You have a duty to protect yourself; your life is at risk
and your family.”
“I would sit my family down and ask them what they want to do, and then come to a conclusion; as long as we are
all together then we will be happy wherever we are.”
“It goes back to the survival; if the Hijab (headscarf) was going to cause me harm I would remove it. But if it was
just about people giving me funny looks or that kind of thing it wouldn’t bother me. But if it was life and death then,
I would remove it.”