THE PUNJAB BLOODIED, PARTITIONED AND CLEANSED THE PUNJAB BLOODIED, PARTITIONED AND CLEANSED Unravelling the 1947 Tragedy through Secret British Reports and First Person Accounts Ishtiaq Ahmed First published in 2011 by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd. 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 Sales centres: Allahabad Bengaluru Chennai Hyderabad Jaipur Kathmandu Kolkata Mumbai Copyright © Ishtiaq Ahmed 2011 The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him/her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same. This digital edition published in 2012 Ishtiaq Ahmed asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. e-ISBN: 978-81-291-2125-7 All rights reserved. This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, print reproduction, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Any unauthorized distribution of this e-book may be considered a direct infringement of copyright and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. To my wife Meliha. She is the bedrock of our family from whom I and our boys, Sahir and Selim, and their partners, Ice and Helena, always draw strength and support.