Urjita Gupta
According to a legend about 650 years ago the city of Mirpur was laid by two saints Mir Shah Gazi and Gasain Bodhpuri. The word ‘Mir’ was taken from the former while ‘Pur’ was taken from the later to give the name ‘Mirpur’ which became the symbol of unity, brotherhood and integrity between its habitants. The City of Mirpur was a prosperous town and being a business hub, it was a source of supplies for villages surrounding it.After the Accession of J&K State with India on 26th October 1947 Pakistan made a debauch secretive agreement known as “Zen and Zar Agreement” according to which if the cityof Mirpur was captured the women would be taken by the pathans and the land would fall into the hands of Pakistani Government. It was not just a tribal invasion it was well-designed by the Pakistani establishment under its operation ‘Gulmarg’.
Out of the total 25000 population of Hindus and Sikhs 18000 were brutally killed on 25th, 26th and 27th November 1947. Approximate 5000 people mostly women and children were taken hostages to Alibeg Gurudwara Sahib which was converted into a concentration camp. Out of these 5000 people International committee of Red Cross could rescue only 1600 survivors from Alibeg camp by March 1948. Hundreds of women were kidnapped, dishonoured repeatedly and then sold in towns of Western Punjab and North West Frontier Province.To avoid rape and sexual crimes, women took their own lives with poison pills. School girls in the hostel run by Arya Samaj were asked to jump into well to save themselves from the cruel pathans. The survivors of the brutal massacre were resettled in Delhi, Pathankot, Jammu, Udhampur, Poonch, Sunderbani and other parts of India and abroad. The survivors of this barbaric massacre were merely left with the memories of their homeland and had to build back everything from scratch. It is heart breaking that how within a span of tragic 5 months their life was turned upside down.In 1962 Pakistani Government started the construction of Mangla Dam in the area which was earlier inhabited by Hindus and Sikhs. The area is now called old Mirpur city.
The planners and perpetrators of the tribal invasion were, and remain, without doubt the foremost enemies of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.And the day the invasion began on 22 October 1947, remains to be the darkest day in our history. In Muzaffarabad, even patients in hospitals were killed in cold blood. Women were raped on the streets at different places in full public view. Many girls jumped from Kishenganga Bridge into the river flowing below to escape humiliation. On the day of Diwali in Rajouri, more than 7000 Hindus and Sikhs were killed by Pakistani invaders.The propaganda about “Jammu Massacres” armed with false figures has been an attempt to silence the only pluralistic region in the state and the tragedies like Mirpur massacres it has borne. The world knows about Auschwitz, the ethnic cleansing in Serbia, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the slaughter of Tutsis in Rwanda. But multiple massacres of Hindus in J&K that took place between 1947-48, are still unreported and forgotten.The world has not yet comprehended the scale of suffering endured by millions of people who lived in the POJK area. It’s unfortunate that the tale of horrific massacre is still inglorious and much of the country is not even aware of the killing, abduction and mass rapes that the Hindus and Sikhs witnessed in their own native land. Mirpur massacre is a black spot on our history. No Human Rights Organization has ever recognized the ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs from their own land. Its heart wrenching that POJK which includes area of Mirpur, Poonch, Baramulla and Muzaffrabad once had 114000 Hindus and Sikhs.
On 25th November every year Mirpur Martyrs Day (Mirpur Balidan Divas) is observed by POJK refugees remembrance of the martyrs, the government of Jammu and Kashmir constructed a memorial titled ‘Mirpur Shaheedi Samark’ on the Mirpur Road (Jammu), which was named so on the same day — November 25, 1998 to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of the country who laid down their lives, but did not give in to the satanic plans of Pakistan for J&K.
Such crimes against targeted communities still occur. Innocent people still suffer atrocities and are subjected to violence and hatred. In such incidents it is only the innocent who suffer leading to a state of immense helplessness and grieve. There are also orphans, children who witness such events for them they have lost their childhood too soon , and life will never be same for them. Death in such killings is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Other major consequences besides the human and material loss which includes long-term psychological harm that follows after such brutal massacre ultimately leads to the chain of generational trauma.It has a catastrophic effect on the mental heath and well being of the survivors. In such times it is important to convert the hatred into harmony so that no other community witness the horror that Mirpuris and other refugees faced. The thing that seperates humans from animals is the ablity to reason and hence it is essential that we humans think collectively for the entire human race. Peace and harmony should always prevail in order to make the world a better place to live.
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