ANNIHILATION
By Chanakya
This city exists no more but the pain persists in the hearts of those who were ruthlessly hounded out of the land which they so dearly loved. It is a story of the total annihilation of a
town called Mirpur, in the heart of Kashmir valley, cradling bustling activity of it’s over 25,000 inhabitants. But in one full swoop of the Partition of India and Pakistan, in 1947, Mirpur first turned into a ghost town and later obliterated itself from the map itself.
Mirpur was founded 600 years ago and was named after two saints, one a Muslim, Wali Hazrat Mirshah Gazi and another a Hindu, Gosai Budhpuri, who lived in different villages. The town became a symbol of love between the two communities. In time it emerged as a trading centre and the market place became the dividing line of the city, with temples and mosques built on both the sides.
At the time of Partition, Mirpur was a district headquarters. It was after India gained independence that the residents of Mirpur lost their right to live. Soon after independence, some Muslim families started leaving the town in a phased manner.
The catastrophe that fell on Mirpur was that while its accession to India was finalized on October 26, and it remained a part and parcel of the same for about a month, it could not be saved from falling prey to the hawkish designs of the enemy. Despite assurances that had been constantly pouring in from the headquarters that ample forces were being dispatched to rescue it from ruination, it was allowed to perish.
Another bolt from the blue which struck Mirpur was that it was under siege for full two
months and when the D.C. (Rao Rattan Singh) realized that the
fall of the town was imminent, he sat down with some of his trusted officials to sort out an alternative route of escape. Alas! That also did not work. He failed miserably and ran
away ignoring all the citizens. Then came October25….The fall of Mirpur.In a violent and annihilating bid, Kabailias (a hilly mercenary group) entered Mirpur and hewed everyone in sight. Who sent them is a question better left unanswered to avoid any more pain.
I can only talk here about the plight of the Mirpuris and their exodus. Mirpur had become a pawn in the political game. Atrocities were committed against
women. To save the honour of their women, the men slit their throats or gave them poison.
They had to walk in the cold for 4 to 5 days without food or water. On the way, would come in groups, the raiders and take away all the valuables, women and kill the men.
Many of those fleeing were rounded up and taken to Alibaig
camp where they were kept in a deplorable condition. Many women were abducted from the camp, never to be seen again, men were lured out on pretext of jobs and hacked to pieces. This continued for three and a half months till an American Red Cross Society team came to the camp and managed to take care of the inmates, who were finally taken
out of the camp and shifted to Amritsar refuge camps under the care of the Government of India.
It is told that only 4000 of the total population lived to tell their tale. The survivors of Mirpur still have tears in their eyes when they talk of the holocaust. A senior citizen belonging to Mirpur once said to me in the doleful words of Lord Byron
My hair are gray
Not with years
It grew white
In a single night.
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