Remembering horrors of Partition: The forgotten massacre of over 300 Sikhs in Pakistan's Sheikhupura

Islamabad, Aug 18 (IANS) The massacre of hundreds of Sikhs on August 31 - barely two weeks after Pakistan's creation in 1947 - at Chak No. 119, known as Bhuler village in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district, remains a quiet reminder of a tragedy that has received little public attention despite its place in the violent history of partition, a report has detailed.

Citing testimonies preserved by survivors and their descendants, it said that more than 300 Sikhs were killed when a heavily armed mob from neighbouring villages attacked the predominantly Sikh settlement.

“The violence was not limited to those who died in combat. Sikh women and young girls, fearing abduction and sexual assault, chose death. Several jumped into wells. When the wells could hold no more, some asked their fathers and brothers to kill them rather than allow them to be captured,” a report in ‘Khlasa Vox’ detailed.

“Bhuler, situated near Sangla Hill, had a Sikh majority that owned substantial agricultural land. Historian Kulwinder Singh Bajwa, a native of the village who now lives in Batala, notes that many residents decided to stay even after the area became part of Pakistan on 14 August, hoping the violence would eventually subside,” it added,

According to the report, Bhuler, encircled by Muslim-majority villages, faced growing tension after early looting attempts were thwarted and reports of widespread violence across Punjab reached the area.

Referring to the events recounted in Virsa Singh Bajwa’s book ‘Shaheedi Saka Bhuler’, it said thousands of armed men approached the village, beating drums, prompting Sikh residents to move women, girls and children into a house while the men assumed defensive positions despite having only a limited supply of firearms and ammunition.

“When the attackers came within range, the defenders opened fire and then carefully conserved their ammunition, hoping for reinforcements that never arrived. Roughly a hundred Sikh men eventually faced thousands of assailants. The fighting turned into hand-to-hand combat as the defence collapsed,” the report mentioned.

“Inside the house where the women and children had been sheltered, many chose death rather than the fate they feared awaited them. The attackers then took control of the village and began looting,” it stated.

The report said that a Sikh jatha arrived in Bhuler the following day, forcing the attackers to flee amid war cries. The rescuers found only a few survivors, while the remaining families were taken to a refugee camp in Amritsar and later resettled in Batala and neighbouring villages on land abandoned by Muslims who had migrated to Pakistan.

--IANS

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