[Reader-list] 'Problems of Migration between India and Pakistan'

[Shivam Vij]

  Problems of Migration between India and Pakistan

  Full text of the speech delivered by 
  Dr Shyma Prasad Mukherjee 
  in the Indian Parliament on 
  15 November 1952 

  Words: 10,919. 
  

We are to discuss today a matter of very vital
importance not only to millions of individuals but
also to the entire country. It is not the first time
that this matter is coming up before the House. It has
been given to me to place the viewpoint of a large
number of citizens of this country on this grave issue
during the last two and-a-half years.

Today I feel overwhelmed by a sense of sorrow, as also
a sense of responsibility and duty, as I start to
speak on this motion. I feel, along with many, that
the policy hitherto pursued by the Government of India
has not been at all satisfactory and it has failed to
achieve the objective in view. Many of us have
expressed opinions which have not been found
acceptable to the government. The issues before us are
so momentous that none of us would like to proceed in
an atmosphere of anger or passion but would like to
place our respective viewpoints with the utmost
frankness in the hope that before it is too late a
solution of this gigantic problem can be found.

The question of the minorities in Pakistan has been
settled during the last five years in different ways.
So far as West Pakistan is concerned, today it stands
virtually denuded of its minority population. During
the last fortnight, two shiploads of Hindu migrants
came from Sind to India and I do not know how many
thousands are still there.

So far as East Pakistan is concerned, at the time of
partition the population of the Hindu minority was
about 1.4 crore. According to government figures,
about thirty lakhs have come out during the last five
years. We do not accept the accuracy of these figures,
but I do not wish to go into the details. If we refer
to the last census report of the Pakistan government
itself, it appears that nearly forty-five lakhs of
Hindus have come out, because according to that census
the present Hindu population in East Bengal is about
ninety-five lakhs.

Pacts and agreements were enacted between India and
Pakistan on this issue, not once, not twice but thrice
and all of us remember vividly the tragic
circumstances under which the pact of 8 April 1950,
was enacted between the prime ministers of India and
Pakistan. It fell to my lot to oppose that
pact---oppose not in the sense that there was nothing
good in that pact, but oppose it on the ground that
the very people who were responsible for carnage were
being again entrusted with the responsibility of
looking after the minorities. I felt that this scheme
would not work. How grand were the wordings of that
pact? I have the language before me. I do not wish to
re-read it, but all the high sentiments which were
expressed and rightly expressed remain unfulfilled.
After all, what was being asked from Pakistan? Nothing
unnatural or unique was being asked from her. W! e
merely asked her to function as a civilized state and
look after her minorities, but in spite of the flowery
language that was used on that occasion, the basic
principles of the pact have been violated by Pakistan
during the last two-and-a-half years and we have
witnessed during the last few months another mass
migration.

Here one point which I would like to emphasize and
which is extremely important is that it is only when
large-scale exodus takes place that public opinion in
India is shaken. It is only when these unfortunate
people come, not in hundreds but in thousands and even
lakhs, carrying with them tales of woe, of shame, of
misery and of humiliation, that public opinion is
shocked and our government starts considering the
matter de novo. But if migration is not on a large
scale, but on a homeopathic scale, then obviously it
does not attract sufficient notice and it is sought to
be concluded that perhaps things are all right in East
Pakistan.

Many of us have pointed out repeatedly during the last
two-and-a-half years that the real way of looking at
the question is not through the eye of statistics
alone---I do not ignore the value of statistics---but
also with a human approach to the problem, and
specially to find out how these people are living in
East Pakistan, what are the conditions which they are
being forced to accept and whether the minority can
really live there or not. Unfortunately, for whatever
reason it may be---whether due to want of machinery or
due to want of cooperation on the part of
Pakistan---such information has not been always
available.

I would like the House to bear one point in mind.
These unfortunate people who are now coming out had
decided in spite of everything to stay on in East
Pakistan. They did so in spite of the tragic
happenings of 1950 when about fifty thousand Hindus,
on a modest scale, were killed in the course of a few
months and when unparalleled barbarities took place,
obviously with the connivance of the authorities of
that state. In spite of all that, these people had
decided to stay on for after all, who wishes to leave
his hearth and home, and with what expectation?
Undoubtedly, we have opened our door to them but we
know how difficult the task of rehabilitation is. When
humanity is uprooted it is not easy that it would be
able to resettle itself under different conditions
altogether.

So, when during the last few months according to
government, about three lakhs but according to us at
least double that number has been forced to come out,
we can easily realize what force of circumstances has
been compelling them to do so.

What are the basic factors of this movement from one
country to another? First of all, as we all realize,
there is the very conception of the Pakistan state.
Pakistan was born out of hatred of the Hindus and of
India. Although it was thought that the makers of
Pakistan would be able to settle down and think in
terms of the development of their country keeping an
atmosphere of goodwill with India, those expectations
have been belied. The creation of a homogeneous
Islamic state was the principal aim of the founder of
Pakistan and those who have come into his shoes have
carried that ideal into execution in every possible
way Hindus have been deprived of their rights in every
sphere---social, cultural, economic, religious and
political. They are treated as 'zimmis'.

Secondly, the policy of squeezing out the
minorities---squeezing out, not flooding out. I shall
have to refer to this because a point was raised by
the minister of rehabilitation the other day that if
the policy of the Pakistan authorities is squeezing
out its minorities, then why are not more people
coming out after the passport system was introduced.
Why should Pakistan prevent the passing out of a
larger number of people? But, it is squeezing out, not
flooding out; because if very large numbers of people
come out at one time, then, immediately it produces
reaction in India and naturally it may create a
situation which may not be very desirable from the
point of view of Pakistan.

Thirdly, sir, it is not at the Hindu minority alone
that the attack is aimed, and this is a symptom which
we cannot forget in consideration of this major
problem today. The authorities who are in power today
have carried on their administration in such a way
that any attempt to give statement to democratic ideas
or to owe allegiance to true freedom has been checked.
How else can we explain the continued detention of
that great leader, Abdul Ghaffar Khan or his
compatriots who, though Muslims, are rotting in
Pakistan jails and against whom only a week ago, the
chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province
declared his charge that they were after all the spies
and friends of India and could not be trusted? How,
else can we explain the recent trouble that arose in
East Bengal over the language issue when as many as
eighteen Muslim students received bullets! on their
chests and not on their back because they had the
courage to face the bullets for the recognition and
protection of what was after all their own mother
tongue? Those symptoms are also there. All these
factors have to be borne in mind if we are really
anxious for a lasting solution of this problem.

About four months ago, when I pointed out the wrong
approach of the prime minister in dealing with
statistics, he grew angry. He challenged me to produce
statistics. It is not a question of a challenge or a
counter-challenge, but I would appeal to him to drop
the faulty method of looking at the entire problem.
What are the statistics? There are said to be
statistics of movement of people from one country to
another. How are they obtained? There is no dhobi mark
on each individual who goes to Pakistan or who comes
from Pakistan indicating whether he is a Hindu or a
Muslim, but some sort of rough and ready method is
followed and a communal division of the migrants is
made. Then again, the calculations are made only at
two railway stations, omitting the seven hundred mile
border between East Bengal and West Bengal, omitting
the border between Tripura and Pakista! n, omitting
the border between Assam and Pakistan. So, when the
government proceeds fundamentally on the basis of
these statistics and tries to justify its wrong
policy. I say sir, the government does something which
is not only not fair to itself but unfair to the
people at large. The only possible way of appreciating
the problem will be to know what the conditions are in
East Pakistan. I would ask the House, the
representatives of 360 millions of free Indians to
make up their minds once and for all whether under the
existing circumstances it is possible for the minority
to live in East Pakistan---that is the fundamental
issue---and if they say that it is not, then to make
up their minds whether it is possible for the free
Government of India to take any effective steps for
their protection.

I need not go into the details of the history of
partition of this country. They are well-known to all
the members of this House. But there is one
fundamental point which is to be remembered now, What
was the basis of the partition of India? The basis was
that minorities would continue to live in their
respective territories. I was one of those who were
against the division of India under any circumstances.
I supported the partition of Bengal and the partition
of Punjab only after it was decided that the partition
of India was inevitable, because then Mr. Jinnah's
claim was that the whole of Bengal and the whole of
Punjab should go into Pakistan. What we did was not to
agree to the partition of India but we supported a
movement which led to the partition of Pakistan
itself. At that time I remember I saw a number of
Congress leaders and especially Gandhiji, an! d some
of us begged of him to appreciate the real point of
view, whether it will be possible for the minorities
to live in Pakistan, in view of the circumstances
under which that new country was taking its birth. And
we suggested a planned exchange of population and
property at governmental level as part of the
partition scheme. He was not willing to accept it. The
Congress leaders were not willing to accept it because
their viewpoint was that what they were agreeing to
was not a communal division of India but a territorial
division of India. They emphasised with all the depth
of their feelings that there was no question of the
minorities being compelled to leave their hearth and
homes, either in the new India or in the new country
to be called Pakistan. When it fell to my lot to move
about among these people in East Bengal, I carried
with me the message from these Congress leaders, one
of whom adorns the position of prime minister of India
today. Assurance was given to them t! hat their case
will not be forgotten, that if any real emergency
came, free India would not sit idle and they would be
protected, hoping at that time that perhaps the need
for such protection by India of the minorities in
Pakistan would not be necessary. Here one fundamental
point India cannot afford to forget. There was no
Hindu, no Sikh, no non-Muslim for the matter of that,
who wanted the division of India. The demand for the
division of India came from a large section of Muslims
who followed the directions of the Muslim League and,
therefore, the minorities who laboured hard for the
freedom of undivided India, who shed their lifeblood,
who sacrificed everything that they held dear to
themselves, when they were asked to live in a country
which was foreign to India, obviously, they were asked
to surrender something which was extremely dear to
their hearts. Appreciation of that sacrifice came from
the leaders, came from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. I will
read out only one senten! ce from the statement which
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru issued on 15 August referring
to the Hindus in Pakistan, the minorities in Pakistan.

'We think also of our brothers and sisters,' he said,
'who have been cut off from us by the political
boundaries and who, unhappily, cannot share at present
in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will
remain of us, whatever may happen in future and we
shall be sharers in good and ill fortune alike.'

 

And, now, I call upon Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who is
the prime minister of India, to fulfil this pledge
which he had given in such noble words to those who
had suffered with him and others like him for the
liberation of their motherland. A message like that
came from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Of course, he went
a step further and said that he still awaited for the
day when this artificial partition of the country will
cease and the two countries will be united again.

A message came from Gandhiji. Then the drama began.
Blow after blow came and when people started coming
out and when reports of oppression and atrocities
started coming, I was a part of the government. We
considered the matter. We recognised the gravity of
the situation. I went as a representative of the
Government of India to Calcutta and attended the first
Indo-Pakistan conference to consider the East Bengal
situation. The leader of the delegation from Pakistan
was Mr. Ghulam Mohammed, now the governor-general of
Pakistan and Khwaja Nazimuddin also was there. We
spent days and days together. When I ask for strong
action today, I do so not in a spirit of huff, I do so
not in a childish spirit. I do so not in a fantastic
mood, but I refer to our experiences, our bitter and
tragic experiences of failures that have taken place
during the last five years and we ! are asking
government to adopt 'other methods'---the statement
deliberately used by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in
February 1950---'When peaceful methods fail, other
methods will be adopted by the government'. And I
would now ask the prime minister to tell us whether
the time has not come to adopt other methods.

I have got the reports here. We signed agreements,
pledges, promises---everything. It went on for a few
months, and as usual, they were violated by Pakistan.
Later, we met again here in Delhi and Mr. Ghulam
Mohammed came again as the leader of the Pakistan
delegation. Interpretation of the first Indo-Pakistan
conference was solemnly recorded followed by another
agreement. I was party to it. I was party to it
because even at that stage I felt that we should not
leave any stone unturned for securing a peaceful and
honourable solution of this problem. Undoubtedly,
normally the government will have to take charge of
its people and it is for the Pakistan government to
protect its minorities. We went on that basis. That
agreement was signed. Things went on again for a few
months. And then came the tragic blow of
January-February 1950. I need not go into those detai!
ls. But even then Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan came. He came,
why? He came because he found that India's opinion was
shaken to its very root. He came because he found that
there were preparations of a different kind going on
in India. There was pressure upon him from England and
America. Millions of Muslims went out from India to
Pakistan. He found that it had ceased to be a one-way
traffic and that the same game he was playing, others
also were capable of playing. He came; he came in a
mood of outward friendliness, and there was the pact
of 8 April 1950. That has gone on for the last
two-and-a-half years.

So my fundamental question to the government is this:
do you believe that you have any responsibility for
the protection of the minorities? Panditji has said on
that occasion that 'they are our concern; the
protection of the minorities will be a matter which we
will have to take in hand. They will be rehabilitated
in their homes, if possible, or elsewhere, if
necessary.' Now, if the Pakistan government fails time
after time, what is the answer that the Government of
India is going to give? The passport system has been
introduced. It is said that on account of the passport
system, people are coming away. Our minorities
minister, Mr. Biswas, the other day held a press
conference in Calcutta and he pointed out that
passport was only a symptom, using the same language
as we are using, that was not the main cause for
people coming away. Something deeper was happen! ing
behind the scenes, and it might have added to the
panic, to the fear. But if everything else was all
right, why should the mere adoption of passports
create such terrible panic in the minds of people that
they should be forced out of their country?

Now, here I come to the present dangerously complacent
attitude of the government, and specially of the prime
minister. I was amazed to hear his statement, which
has been repeated many times, telling the public that
the problem is practically solved, that people are not
coming in large numbers, that there are no passport
difficulties---they are virtually nil---and that
except the matter of rehabilitation which, of course,
is undoubtedly important, for the time being there is
no other trouble. I join issue with him, sir. That is
not the correct position. Undoubtedly the nu! mber of
people has been reduced. An hon'ble member said the
other day that it was an inconsistent attitude. 'You
say on the one hand that these people are being
squeezed out and on the other hand, they are being
prevented from coming. So if Pakistan wants to drive
them out, why are not people coming in larger
numbers?'

The point is that Pakistan's policy is that the
minorities either should go or those who remain will
remain as converts or serfs. It is clear. It does not
intend that all should go out. If people accept the
kind of living which is open to them in East Pakistan,
then perhaps they may continue to live there. And
Pakistan does not desire that people should come out
in very large numbers, because it knows that it will
then immediately produce tremendous reactions in
India.

So far as a passport is concerned what is the
position? The prime minister has given some figures. I
have got the official figures. Up till 15 October
every day thousands were coming---seven, eight, ten
thousand per day. Suddenly from 18 October the number
dropped to zero at one stage. None came. From 18
October to 2 November at the station of Bongaon which
was receiving five, six, eight thousand people every
day from East Bengal, the number was actually
nil---zero. Is it to be seriously suggested that just
overnight conditions changed there so miraculously
that people stopped coming for so many days together?
Similarly, with regard to Banpur the number dropped to
eight, six, some days ten, some days eleven and some
days zero.

Now in the papers reports are appearing as to the
reasons why the people are not being able to come and
they are appearing daily. What is this passport
system, sir, people have to go, submit their
applications, present a form, fill it in, make a
payment and have all sorts of enquiries to face. The
matter goes to the police. Photographs have to be
given and the latest reports published in yesterday's
papers show that now the price of each photograph has
gone up tremendously. You cannot get a photograph
unless you pay ten rupees, fifteen rupees. And it
affects whom? Not people in the urban areas alone, it
affects thousands and thousands---and they live in
villages. It affects people who are ignorant, who are
illiterate. Those who have come have written to us,
have seen us and they describe the state of affairs
which is extremely delicate and dangerous. Thousand! s
of people there who had come out of their homes for
the purpose of coming over to India were detained
suddenly on and after 15 October. When I met Panditji
in Calcutta at that time, I specially requested him to
take steps so that these people who might have
numbered two lakhs or three lakhs might not be
trapped. They had come out of their homes and they
were somewhere on the way, and the bulk of them were
illiterate, ignorant, poor agriculturists, land
labourers etc. It is not rich people today who are
coming in large numbers. They have come out already.
And pathetic reports came to us about their condition.
Some of them have gone back; many of them are
untraced---I do not know where they are today. And
then when they have to start this process again,
passing through the passport regulations and coming
over to India, it is not an easy matter. So it is not
that everything is all right and people need just come
if they wished, or need not come if they did not wish.
A report re! ached us day before yesterday that
thousands have been waiting near the Dacca passport
office. Many of them have come from distant parts and
they do not know where to sleep at night. The steamer
service has been cancelled. Does the Government of
India know that the steamer service between
Narayanganj and Goalando has been stopped? It is one
of the most important routes in Eastern Bengal. Some
other steamer routes have also been cancelled, so that
even if people wished to come out it will not be easy
for them to do so.

People are anxious to sell their properties at any
price. There is a ban, which has been reported in the
papers, given under the orders of the district
magistrates: 'Don't purchase properties of Hindus.' So
that, practically for a long time they are selling off
their properties without registered documents and they
are coming away as virtual paupers.

This is the report which was published five days ago
in one of the papers in Calcutta, giving the
statements of Muslims who have come from East Bengal
to India. I think their statements should be accepted
more readily by the prime minister, because there is
no communal colour there. What is it that they have
said? Janab Rahim, a sixth year student crossed over
after securing the necessary passport. He said he
could secure his documents after efforts extending
over twenty-two days. Then Janab Akbar Khan, who
entered India with a passport described that a large
number of people were waiting at Dacca and with great
difficulty he could secure his travel permits to come
over to West Bengal. A Pakistani Christian gentleman
described that after strenuous efforts and by speaking
to some of the high officials at Dacca he could get
his passport. Then, of course, there ! is a Hindu also
who has supported this testimony and has stated how he
and others were deprived of whatever money they had
and they had come as virtual paupers. This is what is
happening after the introduction of the passport
system.

I do not want to go into details, but I should mention
that a passport size photo now costs ten rupees in
East Bengal. And a class of lawyers have suddenly come
up, who pose as experts who could secure passports
easily and they are charging forty rupees.

Then another report has come from Tejpur (Assam) side.
There, the deputy commissioner of Durrang has been
apprised of the situation. It is of a different type.
About 250 Hindus who were coming out were prevented
and only Muslims were allowed to come. The deputy
commissioner has sent a 'strong' protest to the East
Bengal government.

Similarly, there is a letter which I received this
morning. It is very interesting and I do not know
whether the prime minister knows about the position.
This happened three days ago in Calcutta. A Hindu
gentleman wants to go back to East Bengal for certain
private purposes. He went to the deputy high
commissioner's office in Calcutta and he writes to me
that after repeated efforts, going from day to day, he
failed to secure the passport and on the last date he
was told that he is now required to prove his Pakistan
citizenship by documents or other material which he
must bring or secure from Pakistan so as to get back
to East Pakistan. This certificate must come from a
union board president or a gazetted officer in
Pakistan and if he cannot manage to get it there is no
chance of his getting his passport. He says that this
rule was changed three days ago.! 

Another letter which I got today is a copy of a letter
which has been sent to the prime minister by one
Dinesh Chandra Sur. I do not know him. But he gives a
pathetic tale as to how his mother has been detained
in East Bengal, his father has come out. They sold
their property---a sort of exchange between a Muslim
who was in West Bengal and these Hindus who were in
East Bengal. After having got the house, the demand
came for cash money, which they did not have. His wife
has been detained and these people have sent a
pathetic appeal to the prime minister that some quick
steps may be taken for the recovery of their money.
This letter came only today: the original is with the
prime minister.

A report has come of eight thousand Hindus who are
stranded. I mentioned this to the prime minister in
Calcutta. We have, as you know, certain Indian
enclaves, a sort of pockets within East Pakistan near
Jalpaiguri. There are about eight thousand Hindus
living there and it is impossible for them to come
out, because they have to pass through Pakistan
territory and they will not be allowed to do so
without passports and nobody is being allowed to enter
into those areas. Government has protested; the people
have sent frantic wires with regard to their desperate
position. I can give hundreds of such instances but it
is not necessary. All that I want is to demolish the
hollowness of the argument of the prime minister that
everything is all right: that the passport system is
there---people may come if they wish, and if they do
not wish they need not. That is not s! o. What is
happening there is the Pakistan government has adopted
measures to make it difficult for these people to
come. Forget not the moral depression of these people.
What is their mental state now? Many of them are poor,
illiterate. They are running from here to there and
today they are face to face with this intricate
problem of getting passports under difficult
conditions.

We talk of 'harijans'. We have a special provision in
our constitution, for looking after them. Does the
House know that out of the ninety-five lakhs of Hindus
who are in East Bengal, more than fifty lakhs are
harijans. I met some of their representatives. Some of
them described to me their pathetic conditions. There
were Namasudras who could stand and fight. But the
oppression that has been pursued makes it impossible
for them to live. They do not care for rules or
regulations. They know how to get their birthright.
But they stand today completely humiliated and
weakened.

What will happen to them? They say: We came to India
for rehabilitation; we have got it. Our children have
died. We are going back. What is the crime we have
committed? We did not want Pakistan. You asked us to
live there and it is only because we are Hindus we are
facing this crisis. We will embrace Islam---we will
surrender ourselves. Will it bring credit to India?
Will it be something of which India can be proud?

Gandhiji gave his life for the cause of harijans.
Everyone talks in the name of Gandhiji---Gandhian
ideology, Gandhian philosophy. I know the
circumstances under which Gandhiji went to Noakhali,
because the majority of the people there belonged to
the depressed classes. You have now handed over these
fifty lakh people to a Raj which does not know how to
perform its elementary duty and they are facing slow
death.

I look at this problem from two points of view: one,
rehabilitation and the other, the future of these
people who are still in East Bengal. Rehabilitation
must naturally be continued. I do not deny the
importance of it. I am prepared to say at the very
outset that so far as rehabilitation is concerned, it
should not be made a matter of party politics. It is a
national issue and it is the bounden duty of all
irrespective of political differences, to offer their
wholehearted cooperation for making rehabilitation
plans a success, provided such cooperation is sought
and provided also that rehabilitation and the
administration of rehabilitation are really consistent
with the requirements of these unfortunate people and
also with national demands.

People have come from West Pakistan---sixty-five lakhs
of them. You have spent Rs.130 crores. Have you been
able to rehabilitate them completely yet? What about
their compensation? Their verified claims I am told,
come to about five hundred crore rupees. Then there is
the question of their agricultural land. There is so
much yet to be done. I do not blame anybody It is a
stupendous task---sixty-five lakh people to be cared
for, although the bulk of them have been rehabilitated
on land and in occupation by a bloody process of
exchange of population and property. The Hindus came
and the Muslims went. I was in the government. It was
not desired that this should be done. But events
overtook the government and then the very government
which would never look at exchanges of population
under any circumstances yielded to this gigantic
pressure. You know what terrible! days they were for
Hindus and Muslims---for both. But in spite of all
this, we have not been able to do our duty towards
these large number of migrants from West Pakistan.
>From East Pakistan thirty lakh have come. During the
last few months another three lakhs have been added.
Yesterday the papers said that the West Bengal
government has asked for another thirty crore rupees.
Where will be your planning schemes? What are you
going to do if another fifty or sixty lakh people are
pushed out of Pakistan and they come over here? You
will have to spend another three hundred crore rupees
on their rehabilitation only. If you have to
compensate them, there will be at least one thousand
crore rupees worth of property belonging to Hindus
which is lying in East Pakistan. Will you be able to
rehabilitate or look after them? And why should India
be placed in this position and allow her own economy
to collapse?
We accepted partition under certain basic conditions.
When that basic condition is not observed by Pakistan,
then the very basis disappears. From that point of
view the partition stands annulled and India is not
bound by her commitments. It is not my wording alone.
The prime minister himself has declared from that very
place the basic condition is that the minorities must
be protected by Pakistan. We have done our duty. India
has protected its minorities. In spite of so many odds
and difficulties, as anyone would have seen from our
discussion of this problem, we have never allowed it
to be looked at from a communal plane. It is a
political problem. It is not a provincial problem, it
is a national problem, and we must find a national
solution for it. Killing of some innocent Muslims
because Hindus are butchered in Pakistan will be a
vicious circle and is most ! inhuman. The true
interpretation of Hinduism is that if a man goes wrong
you should punish him, but if a man is innocent and
you go and cut his throat that simply poisons the
atmosphere. It does not save people.

That is why we have been pressing over and over again:
Wake up, prime minister, realize your responsibility,
do not allow the situation to go from bad to worse, do
not allow the elemental passions of man to take charge
of the situation, function as a responsible government
and fulfill the pledges you have given.

Rehabilitation must be done. But rehabilitation is not
the only problem. The problem is with regard to
finding out means for the safety of these people so
that they may live in their hearth and home.

What is the position in Pakistan? Hindus have no place
or status there. I shall read out only a few words
from a speech which was delivered in the Pakistan
constituent assembly by a member of the Pakistan
constituent assembly in March last. The name of that
member is Mr. Bhupendra Kumar Dutt. He was a member of
the All India Congress Committee. Twenty-three years
of his life he spent in jail for the cause of Indian
freedom. He has not come away from Pakistan. He
decided to live there. He found what had happened in
Pakistan during the last five years and he had the
courage to stand up on the floor of the Pakistan
Constituent Assembly and throw his charge against the
Pakistan government. He did not do it by means of a
statement after running away to India. I admire his
courage. I wish there were more men with that courage
who could have faced the facts as this ! gentleman
did. What did he say? I shall just read a few words
because this will give a correct impression to the
House and to the country as to how things are
happening in East Pakistan which make it impossible
for anyone to live there unless he completely
surrenders to the authorities. He says thus:

“So far as this side of Pakistan is concerned, the
minorities are practically liquidated. Those of us who
are here to represent near about a crore of people
still left in East Bengal live under a total sense of
frustration. I stand here as the representative of a
frustrated people."

Then he refers to what happened after February 1950. I
am not going to ancient history. I am referring to the
manner in which the Delhi pact was deliberately torn
to pieces by the Pakistan authorities. My charge is
not against the people of Pakistan. In all my speeches
and utterances I have distinguished between the
Pakistan government and the people of Pakistan. I
cannot have the temerity to say that all people in
Pakistan are bad just as I cannot say that all the
people in India are good. There is a mixture of good
and evil. But it is the government there which is
functioning ruthlessly, tyrannically and in a manner
which makes it impossible for other people, specially
Hindus to exercise their fundamental rights. This is
what he says with regard to what happened after 1950.
After the 1950 Pact, secret circulars were issued by
the government.

A circular went out to all thana officers to report on
the extent, nature and source of influence wielded by
particular individuals of the minorities (Hindu)
community and the forces and parties that might work
against them (a complete circular for getting
information). Another circular went out asking heads
of many commercial firms to obtain the previous
approval of the district magistrate before giving
employment to any non-Muslim (in East Bengal). Few
firms would undertake the trouble of obtaining the
district magistrate's approval for favouring a
non-Muslim with a job.

When this circular was mentioned on the floor of the
House earlier, it was challenged and later on a copy
of this circular had been sent to the Speaker by the
European secretary of a commercial organization and
the copy was with him.

That was the second portion of his observations.

Now comes the last and most amazing one which has a
direct bearing on the Delhi pact:

The latest came a few months back. It was addressed to
all district magistrates---a fourteen page circular.
IC instructed them by no means to return the lands and
properties to the returning migrants but to distribute
them among the (Muslim) refugees. The returning
migrants were to be puy off on some excuse. A long
list of statutes and orders and the relevant legal
bars were to be put forward in each case one after
another. The more significant line follows. In dealing
with all other matters the district magistrate was to
bear in mind the instruction in this behalf: 'Talk
sweetly to minorities and their representatives, even
with a smile on your lips. You have earned the
compliments of persons like the hon'ble Mr. C.C.
Biswas who has stated that it was only some
subordinate officials who were responsible for the
troubles (hoodwinking even the eagle eyes of my!
hon'ble friend Mr. C.C. Biswas); try by all means to
maintain your reputation. Keep this instruction
secret. Do not trust other officers. They sometimes
mismanage and mishandle things'.

Do you want any other commentary on the sincerity of
the Pakistan government to put into operation the
provisions of the Delhi Pact? It is not a statement
manufactured by communalists and reactionaries in
India. It is a statement which was read out on the
floor of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in the
presence of Khwaja Nizamuddin and the rest of them.
And he did it at the risk of his life. He had the
courage to face the Pakistan Constituent Assembly: He
could even be killed, but there he was to expose the
Pakistan government and specially the manner in which
they were running the administration of the country.

I do not wish to read the details of it, but he gives
his comment: The Delhi agreement has never worked in
its proper spirit, not because of any inimical
relations subsisting between the (two) communities (in
Pakistan) but because of the official dodgings,
manoeuvrings and manipulations that are the outcome of
the circular and resolutions. Since I have read a
portion of the statement, according to the directions
which you have very often given, it is my duty to
place the entire statement before the House. If you
permit me, sir, I place it on the table of the House
so that any member interested in reading the entire
speech may do so.

I can give you other illustrations. But I do not wish
to do so. I shall only say this: what has been the
nature of the oppression? The other day my hon'ble
friend Mr. Jain said 'We are not hearing many
instances of oppression now'. How can he verify?
Neither can he admit, nor can he deny. That sort of
statement was made by my friend Mr. Jain---who is
smiling at the ludicrous nature of his answer! So far
as instances are concerned I have got nearly about
five hundred of them. I cannot obviously go through
them.

I do not wish to tire the patience of the House but
the most painful and the most humiliating aspect of
these atrocities has been the tragic dealings with
Hindu women. One's voice is choked completely to make
any public speech on an issue like this. If you read
the names, addresses and the manner in which this
violation has gone on during the last few months it
staggers one, sir. It was the disrobing of one woman,
Draupadi, that created the 'Mahabharat' and today,
even though large-scale outrages have occurred, we are
sitting tight, helpless, impotent. If you bring this
t! o the notice of the government, they will say
'Well, we need actual proof'. Who can prove this? Is
it always possible for people to go and prove such
incidents in a court of law? It is said reference has
been made to the Pakistan government. The Pakistan
government's reply is 'No. Nothing has happened'. I do
not wish to refer to those details but the number is
large and the list can be supplied. Of course, that
will go to the record department of the Government of
India which will not help the unfortunate people in
any way. I can give you four or five examples of
atrocities. One relates to the Chittagong hill tribes.
The prime minister remembers this. We discussed and
discussed about the fate of ninety-five per cent of
Buddhists and the hill tribes in the small territory
which unfortunately went out of India although the
Muslim population there was only two to five per cent.
Do you know sir, that they have been pushed out? Many
of them have been killed. The entire area has bee! n
cleared up. A new batch of five hundred tribesmen has
been recently forced out of the Chittagong hill tract.
How deliberately they have been turned out of that
area! And they are moving about as beggars in Assam. I
next refer the prime minister to a statement which was
issued by the president of the West Dinajpur Northern
District Congress Committee. I have taken special care
to take statements issued by Muslims and Congress
leaders so that they will carry conviction with the
prime minister more quickly than otherwise. Here is
published the result of inquiry which the president of
the Dinajpur Congress Committee carried on accompanied
by some Muslims indicating how the atrocities took
place in the last few weeks when people were coming
out from East Bengal to West Bengal. Then I refer the
prime minister to the manner in which humiliation and
insult was offered to some officers of the Government
of India---Mr. Burman, collector of central excise,
Shillong,---how he was harass! ed and insulted and he
himself saw the instances of similar harassment as he
was coming out from Pakistan. I feel greatly relieved
to read the announcement that the government of Assam
has sent a very strong protest to the East Bengal
government. It is not a strong protest, it is a very
strong protest. Perhaps everything will be all right
now. Similarly with regard to conversions. A large
number of conversions have taken place. Hundreds of
them were reported. I am taking here a typical case
from the Pakistan paper 'Azad', I have got cuttings
from this paper. It is under Maulana Akram Khan who
was once a great Congress leader. There he describes
how Hindu young girls are embracing Islam and he has
emphasized insistently they urged in favour of
conversion and Muslim leaders had to agree. Their
names are given and then it is added that the majority
community there is kind and generous, immediately
arrangements for marriages are made and a large number
of youth come forward willin! g to marry such girls if
only they embrace Islam. Names and addresses are
given. The finishing touch is equally interesting.
Relations of the converted family who had gone away to
West Bengal for rehabilitation have come back and are
also voluntarily embracing Islam. Then I will give two
other cases. Sir P.C. Ray was one of the great
scientists of India, in fact many of the great men of
Bengal, like J.C. Bose, C.R. Das, all came from East
Bengal. In his (Sir P.C. Ray's) village a few weeks
ago, after the introduction of the passport system, a
horrible incident has taken place. A leading doctor,
Behari Lal, was approached by some Muslims. They told
him that he should invite them to a dinner. He agreed.
They said they were fifty but actually eighty men came
and naturally the good doctor was unable to find the
necessary eatables for such a big party. They said
'You need not worry, we will look after ourselves'.
They went to the goshala, got hold of a calf and then
that was killed! and food was prepared. The doctor was
asked to partake of it. He had to. After the party had
gone away the doctor went to his room and committed
suicide. A few hours later his wife came and she saw
the dead body of her husband and she also did the
same. Their family has come to West Bengal and details
have been published. Another incident occurred in
Rangpur where a doctor was invited to the house of a
certain Muslim who was anxious to get hold of the
doctor's girl. After he had gone there that offer was
made. The doctor refused. He was detained there and
the members of his family were brought to his house.
When the girl saw that they were confronted with a
dangerous situation, she volunteered to save the life
of her father. The father was released. The next day a
so-called marriage took place and in the evening the
girl committed suicide. The number of such cases is
not known. I have only got the names and addresses of
some that have reached us. An iron curtain is there.
The! administration of that country has morally
collapsed and a larger number of people are coming
from day to day I myself feel how difficult it is for
these people to resist this for such a long time. In a
village in Rangpur, on 28 September a Hindu girl who
had just been confined was forcibly taken out at night
and her dead body with blood was found in a field the
next day. These are horrible instances. We have got a
number of such cases before us.

Border incidents are taking place. Why this insecurity
today? Today's issue of 'The Hindustan Times' gives
details of a border incident in Assam where firing was
continued by Pakistan for two days and the fun of it
was that at that time a conference between the chief
secretaries was being held in Shillong for discussion
as to how peace could be established in that area. Of
course, a very strong protest has been sent to the
East Bengal government. On the Tripura border, the
prime minister knows,---and a copy of the telegram has
gone to him---a large number of people came a few days
ago inside our border and hoisted the Pakistan flag on
the Indian side of the border. It might be a small
thing from that point of view but this is the way in
which things are going and what is the impression that
is produced in the minds of the people when the prime
minister says, ! 'Everything is all right except some
insecurity and so on'? He may declare his helplessness
but for heaven's sake, do not say things which are not
true. That will be like throwing salt into the gaping
wound. You may not be able to protect them, you may
not be able to help them, but do not minimize the
gravity of the situation. Unfortunately, the
statements which the prime minister made during the
last few days will form part of Pakistan propaganda.
They will retort and say 'Here, the prime minister
himself says there is nothing except some stray
incidents here and there', and humiliation and
repression will continue.

What is the remedy? We have suggested some remedies
and these are the phrases that have been hurled
against us: childish, fantastic, quack: I have
forgotten the other phrases. They come one after
another. That is not the way the prime minister should
respond. He has not sent for us. I could have
understood his calling the leaders of all parties and
sitting together to consider this question. I do not
want this to be made a party issue. We do not wish to
play with fire. We know the dangers inherent in the
situation. This is not a matter which government alone
can solve. We are here to offer a hand of cooperation.
But, we want a solution. We do not want that people
should be killed by inches. If they have to die, let
them die once for all. But, this is a chain of
terrible humiliation and misery which affects not
individuals alone, but humiliates the status and !
stature of the nation. We have given some remedies:
other remedies may be suggested. Economic sanction is
one. Naturally, demand for land is one. It was Sardar
Patel's remedy. If one-third of the population who
happen to be Hindus is pushed out, Pakistan must give
one-third of the land. We cannot ruin the whole
country for the misdeeds of Pakistan. There must be a
repartition of the territory of Pakistan and these
people must be settled there. Some say we must have an
exchange of population. That is not an easy matter.
There also the question of rehabilitation will come.
The prime minister will retort, how am I going to get
land? If Pakistan takes four crores of Muslims, they
may demand more land. They may say, more Muslims are
coming. But, some Muslims do not wish to live in
Pakistan unless they belong to a particular type of
mind. To this one may reply, one-third of Kashmir is
with them. That may be quid pro quo. That area is as
big as half of Bengal. That is a question of a!
rgument. Exchange of population and property on a
governmental level, not through the hands of men: that
was suggested some time ago. To that also he will
naturally reply, how can I push out people if they do
not wish to go out of the country; they live under a
constitution: how can I do it? But, the main problem
is not solved. I agree that in both these cases, the
problem is not ultimately solved. This tremendous
problem of rehabilitation comes. We have seen the
horrors again. We have, therefore, said that
government must take the responsibility for the safety
and protection of the minorities in that area and give
us a political solution.

It was once said, that I was a warmonger, how am I
going to take charge of East Bengal? That was not
indeed my remedy I always quote bigger names in
support of the remedies. That was a remedy which
Gandhiji suggested. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur will remember
that. She and I saw him a few weeks before his death.
We were discussing this question. He came out with
fire in his eyes. He said: 'we did not agree to the
partition of India for this terrible problem of
rehabilitation causing misery to millions of people:
it was on a certain fundamental basis: the minorities
must be protected; they must live in their own
homeland; no question of their being turned out as
beggars.' What was his remedy? He said: 'let India
play her part; you protect the minorities; let not one
man be turned out from here: then turn towards
Pakistan and say, we have fulfilled our part, but you
h! ave not; it becomes a world problem: it becomes a
moral problem.' The words which he uttered are still
ringing in my ears. He said 'if Pakistan fails to do
so, if there is no other remedy, you must take charge
of East Bengal; let the government take charge and
protect the people.' He added: 'I cannot join the war;
I do not believe it; but I will bless you that you
have the moral courage for it.' Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
will remember that. He dealt with this in one his
speeches also. I am not advocating war; but if there
is no other means of protecting the minorities of East
Pakistan except to take charge of that territory, the
Government of India will some day have to consider it.
I am not using this word lightly; I am not saying that
immediately war should be declared. It would not be
necessary also. There was no war in Hyderabad. They
are not ready for war. Goondaism does not wish to face
war. They want to gain something without sacrifice.
Only if the prime minister says the go! vernment will
act firmly and adopts a policy not of weakness and
appeasement, you will see what happens. He is proud of
appeasement. I am amazed at it. He may say, I cannot
find a solution. I can sympathize with that. But, he
glorifies appeasement and goes on appeasing. At whose
cost? If he does it at his own cost, I do not mind,
though I shall be sorry. But what right has he to
appease at the cost of the nation? It is a question of
the honour and self-respect of India. Something to be
done to prevent a major catastrophe.

It is not for us to suggest remedies nor can many
remedies be openly discussed. There sits the
government. They are doing whatever they like in
respect of all matters. Does the opposition go on
giving advice to the government and is there any moral
obligation on the government to accept that? We may
have the privilege of making some suggestions and let
him have the pleasure of rejecting them. But, it would
not do for him to say it is fantastic and all that.
Let him find a solution which will, in the real sense
of the term, solve the problem. We will all be with
him. Let there be a solution. We want to settle the
question by peaceful methods. Here our communist
friends will speak. They have not agreed with us. We,
all the parties barring the communists, have stood on
one platform in this respect. The Congress cannot
come. But, I know there are lakhs of congres! smen who
feel in the same manner as we do. If any peaceful
method can be found, do it. Who wants war? Who wants
trouble? I know what the horrors of war are. No one is
saying, declare war tomorrow. Find out an effective
solution by which these people can be enabled to live
exercising their elementary rights without being
ruined as refugees or beggars or slaves.

The prime minister very often says he believes in a
healing process. Undoubtedly. Healing by what means?
Healing by curing the disease? If there is a cancerous
growth, will you put sandal oil on the cancer and heal
it? You will have to go to the root of it. You will
have to appreciate what the disease is. Now,
governments are running away from the real problem.
That is what shocks me and pains me. They just say,
there is no problem, people are not coming. But,
coming or not coming, the disease is there. Can the
people, who are sitting here, go and live there? I
made a suggestion in 1950. Until you can go and settle
there with your wives and daughters, you cannot
realize the agony of millions. Sitting far away, it is
easy to deal with abstract theories, but once you
place yourselves in their shoes, you will realize
where exactly the pain lies. They never wante! d this
partition and they demand fulfilment of past pledges.
We also want the healing process. Let us not talk of
Gandhian ideology. Whatever Gandhiji was, cowardice
was not within his ideology. Inaction was not within
his ideology. He would never have sat quiet and
helpless. When I came to Delhi and reported about the
happenings in Noakhali, everything else became
secondary to him. He came to Calcutta and we gave all
the details. He had his own way of doing things. We
might or might not have agreed with him. At the time
of the Dacca riots, I came and reported to him. He
said publicly in 'Harijan' next week, that his first
remedy was that people should go to the assailants and
die and sacrifice themselves. I said, that was not
possible: if a goonda comes to attack me, the penal
code gives me the authority to kill him; I may not
kill an innocent man, but the right to attack a man
who wants to injure me is a right that I get under the
law. He said, you may do so. Then he added: ! resist
nonviolently if possible, violently if necessary; but
never submit to a wrong. I ask the government to
accept that as the policy. Resist this national wrong.

The prime minister said four days ago in this
statement: "I am quite clear in my mind that the
ultimate remedy for the ills of Indo-Pakistan
relations is to apply the touch of healing to them and
not the touch of loud shouting."

Let us do it with small shouting. That does not mean
that one should submit to wrong things.

I have underlined it. That is what I am asking today.
That is my charge against him that he is submitting to
wrong things.

Not only are you submitting, but you are making the
people submit to wrong things, and you are humiliating
the entire nation. He adds one should resist evils all
the time, and should be prepared for any emergency,
whatever it is. When will that emergency come? I ask.
Thousands have been killed. Hundreds of women have
been kidnapped, raped. So many lakhs of rupees worth
property have been looted and destroyed. The entire
morale of the people has gone. Still the emergency is
to arise. What more do you want? Say, 'I want so many
more. When that report comes, I shall declare an
emergency.' Let us know what is the limit. We will
then patiently wait and see. But this emergency will
never come under the prime minister's leadership.

Lastly, I would conclude by saying---peace,
undoubtedly, is wanted but peace with honour. Let us
follow the path of peace. If we can lay out a scheme
whereby we can finally solve this problem peacefully,
then let us do it. But if not, do not submit, and the
greater the delay the government makes in solving the
problem, the greater the possibility of repercussion
coming within the country. That must be avoided at any
cost. Now nothing has happened but Pakistan has
carried on false propaganda that four hundred Muslims
have been killed in Malda. I am glad today the
Government of India's protest has been issued in the
press. That is exactly what Pakistan has been doing
always, to put India on the defensive. Among these
false propaganda stories is that of four hundred
Muslims being killed in Malda. The government has come
out with a very strong protest that has be! en
published in today's papers. But propaganda will go on
unless India's policy is substantially changed. It is
important to realize this and decide upon our course
of action so that government will be able to secure
the willing support and cooperation of millions of
countrymen in India for averting a national disaster.

If the prime minister feels that a case has been made
out for reexamination of certain important provisions,
for instance land, if you feel that land should be
taken without payment of compensation, provide for it
in the constitution. You consider all these items and
make your provisions so elastic that you can apply
them either to the whole of India or you can apply
them to only such parts where this Parliament of India
will feel that such special treatment is necessary.
Proceed in accordance with a constitutional manner,
not just play with the constitution. It is a sacred
document, and it is a document on which much labour
and much thought were bestowed. If you feel some
changes are necessary in order to take into
consideration the new setup that is slowly developing
in India, whether in Kashmir or other parts of India,
by all means let the people of the co! untry have a
chance to express their opinion.

Lastly, a charge was levelled that some of us have
advocated separate consideration of Jammu and Ladakh.
I would assure you and the House that I do not want
that Jammu and Kashmir should be partitioned. I know
the horrors of partition. I know the results which may
ensue if partition comes. But the responsibility for
preventing partition will rest on those who are today
the masters of Jammu and Kashmir and are not prepared
to adopt the Constitution of India. What is the crime
if today the people of Jammu claim that they should be
treated separately in the sense that they should be
allowed to join fully with India---mark it, it is not
a question of running away from India---if they say
that they would like to accept in total the
Constitution of free India, is there any crime that
they then commit? I am not suggesting that you send
Kashmir or Kashmir Valley out ! of India. And it is
not for me or for us sitting in this House to decide
this matter. As the prime minister pointed out very
rightly, it is the people of that territory who will
have to decide. Now suppose the people of Jammu and
Ladakh feel that either it should be full accession in
relation to the whole of Jammu and Kashmir, or if that
is not acceptable to Sheikh Abdullah, then at least
these two provinces, the two separate entities could
be justified historically or otherwise, that they
should be allowed to join with India. Let Kashmir
continue in any way that it likes, even with more
autonomy, with less possibility of interference by
India; that is a possibility which we cannot rule out.
I hope that this question will be considered in its
full possible implications.

My friend from Kashmir, Maulana Masudi, for whom I
have very great regard---I tried to follow his speech
this morning---referred to Jammu, the last question
which I would answer. Well, if this demand is made by
Jammu, he said Jammu is a province which in 1941 had a
Muslim majority. He said that, but did not complete
the story. Undoubtedly it was a Muslim majority
Province in 1941, but it became a Muslim majority
including those districts which have now fallen into
the Pakistani-occupied area. So, if you exclude those
areas . . .

  Maulana Masudi: Are you going to surrender them?

I am not going to surrender them. I am very glad he
has put the question. The prime minister says that
area will not be reoccupied, but it is a different
question. You are not going to reoccupy it, and it is
not possible. In any case those people have worked
against Jammu and Kashmir, they have become, as has
been repeatedly said, more friendly to Pakistan than
to India.

If you take the 1951 census---the figures have not
been published, but it is on the basis of the
territory that is under our occupation---seventy-five
per cent of the population of Jammu will be Hindu. But
I am not proceeding on the basis of Hindus and
Muslims. Let me make it clear. I am proceeding on the
basis of the will of the people to come to India
either in whole or in part. If these two provinces
Ladakh and Jammu say that they will come to India with
all these subjects, make it possible for them to do
so.
 
The same right which you are claiming for Kashmir may
also be demanded by the people of Jammu and Ladakh.
Let us proceed in a friendly spirit. Sheikh Abdullah
himself said about a month ago that he will have no
objection if the people of Jammu and Ladakh really
felt that they would go to India---I am not saying
that you proceed in that way, but let it be possible
for the people residing in those areas to make up
their minds which way it will be good to proceed and
it will also be consistent with the same principles of
self-determination which constitute the basic claims
of Sheikh Abdullah, supported by the prime minister.


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