Rawalpindi Massacres

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The Rawalpindi Massacres (also Rawalpindi riots) refer to widespread violence, including large-scale massacres and rapes, against Hindus and Sikhs by Muslim mobs in the Rawalpindi Division of the Punjab Province of British India in March 1947. The violence preceded the partition of India and was instigated and perpetrated by the Muslim League National Guards, a quasi-paramilitary organisation affiliated with the Muslim League, as well as Muslim League's local cadres and politicians, demobilised Muslim soldiers, local officials and policemen. It followed the fall of a coalition government of the Unionist Party, Indian National Congress and Akali Dal, achieved through a six-week campaign by the Muslim League. The riots left between 7,000 and 8,000 Sikhs and Hindus dead, and set off their mass exodus from Rawalpindi Division. 80,000 Sikhs and Hindus were estimated to have fled the Division by the end of April. The incidents were the first instance of partition-related violence in Punjab to...

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