Nehru was unsure about Gandhi travelling to the Punjab yet. But Mountbatten had realised the significance of the 'One-Man Boundary Force' and the tactical value of the weapon of non-violence. Nehru concluded his letter by saying: 'This morning, at a meeting of the Joint Defence Council, Mountbatten urged me to request you to go to the Punjab and he hoped that you would repeat your Calcutta miracle there. I told him that I was myself not clear about this. I feel you should go but not just yet'.
In the last week of August Patel had received a distress call from Sushila Nayyar, who had been left behind as moral support at the Wah refugee camp by Gandhi. She wrote: 'I stayed there, fully convinced that it was wrong for the Hindus and Sikhs to flee from Pakistan. They had inhabited the land for generations and were entitled to live there. If Indians could fight for their rights in South Africa, were they to relinquish their homes in Pakistan?
'I placed my ideas before the refugees. Some appreciated them, some were resentful. They were not prepared to live the life of hostages, they said. They would rather be beggars in the Indian Union than big landlords in Pakistan, where even the honour of their womenfolk was not safe. I tried to impress upon them that the right thing to do for us would be to die in defence of our honour rather than be bullied out.... I visited a few villages from where the people had fled. The deputy commissioner came and assured me that the refugees should be quite safe and soon rehabilitation would become possible.
'Then the unexpected happened. Trouble again started. The East Punjab was reported to be avenging Rawalpindi and the whole of the West Punjab flared up to avenge the happenings in the East Punjab. About the 10th of August news began coming in of inhuman deeds in the East and West Punjab. Several victims of communal fury from places round about us began to pour into the camp hospital.... One of them was a young girl of about seventeen—the sole survivor of a group of seventy-four women, who had jumped into a well to save their honour. Her father Sardar Pratap Singh had come to join the camp earlier. He and his companions had offered armed resistance to the Muslim mobs who had attacked their village. For three days they held the attackers at bay. When at last their ammunition was exhausted, they had to surrender. Several of them, including their leader, were wounded, some others had died. The survivors were told that they would be immediately converted to Islam. They asked for reprieve till the next day.
'The next day the hooligans came armed with scissors and razors to cut off their victims' hair and shave their beards as a symbol of their conversion to Islam ... Some women ... were ordered to come out to be converted. An elderly sister speaking for the rest answered that they wanted leave to say their prayers for the last time before they surrendered and drink the water from the well.... The request was granted. Thereupon seventy-four women and girls entered the compound in which the well was located. They had their ceremonial bath and then began saying their prayers. Their Muslim captors impatiently shouted at them to hurry up. The leader of the women shouted back, "Come if you dare. You will never touch us alive". And with that she jumped into the well followed by the rest of the seventy-four. This act of heroic sacrifice so touched the gangsters that they stood rooted to the spot, and with bowed heads departed one after another, leaving untouched the men and the children whom they had assembled for conversion. The Sikhs then entered the compound and brought out the bodies of the women who had jumped into the well. All except Sardar Pratap Singh's daughter were dead. At night they were attacked by another Muslim mob but a military patrol came to their rescue and escorted them to the Wah camp.... The number of wounded coming to the hospital increased. A truckload of the nearly dead and dying arrived one day.... One day a report arrived of an impending attack on the camp. At night the military came and took up position at strategic points commanding the camp. I had gone to bed dead tired. Some people came running to me. "Please get up. The attackers are coming." Wearily I replied, "Come and tell me when they are here." They stood dumbfounded for a moment and then went away. After a while some social workers working with me in the camp compound shook me up. "There is panic in the barracks." Military jeeps were on the move. There was a blaze of light from the sector where they were taking up positions. I felt worried. "Supposing an attack comes, how shall I protect these people? They had faith in Gandhiji and Gandhiji had placed them in my charge. He had said I should die before any harm befell them. It was simple enough to die but would I get that opportunity? Would I be able to stand up to the test?" A companion asked me, "How do you expect them to defend themselves non-violently? What exactly should they do?" My reply did not carry conviction to him. Non-violent self-defence cannot be learnt at a moment's notice. If I could set an example by laying down my own life non-violently, that might help.... When we reached the barracks the men who had first brought the news of the impending attack were already there. They must have told them how they had found me sleeping in spite of the alarming rumour. That had served to reassure them. We talked with them for a while and then came back. There was no attack on the camp that night. When similar rumours led to military movement on the two subsequent nights, there was much less panic'.
In the last week of August, Patel received the following report from Sushila Nayyar through a Sikh military officer, who came from the Wah camp: 'We are completely cut off. No post comes or leaves this place. People here are living in hourly fear of certain death. I am trying my best to keep up their moral. They won't allow me to leave this place.... The Camp Commander says the camp was going to be attacked three or four days ago. But the attack did not come. You should send some reliable person to report on the exact situation here.... Some Hindu refugees who have managed to reach here disguised as Muslims reported that Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Gujerat and Lalamusa are burning. Sialkot too is reported to be ablaze from yesterday. A similar report has come from Gujrakhan near Rawalpindi. It is said that the railway track on either side is strewn with the dead. The attack on village Sukhoke in Rawalpindi district was warded off by the presence of the military police the day before yesterday. Yesterday 500 Muslims again launched an attack, killing 15 Hindus.
'The situation is deteriorating. It is difficult to say when the Muslim mass may again go out of control.... It is feared that this camp will be attacked after non-Muslim troops are withdrawn. At Taxila station a passenger train, it is reported, was stopped by pulling the alarm chain in the presence of the Muslim military and police. Two Sikhs were killed and another two or three wounded. At subsequent stations the military were heard to be congratulating the murderers.... It is a question how long the refugees can continue to remain in this camp. Their condition is anything but satisfactory. The civil surgeon visited the camp the other day. He told the refugees to go to the relief organisations. "They are your own kith and kin." Another officer, a Muslim, was heard to remark, "How long are we going to have these fellows on our hands?" There is no trace of sympathy for the refugees nor any feeling of shame over what has happened'.
Patel immediately took up the issue with Liaquat Ali Khan, and asked him to ensure the safety and well being of the refugees at Wah. Khan instructed Ghaznafar Ali and the premier of West Punjab to take appropriate steps. Forwarding Sushila's report to Gandhi, Patel commented: 'I feel very concerned at your leaving Sushila behind. Today a special military man has come with a letter from her. I send it to you. The Punjab situation has become very bad.... Cities and villages are being burnt down. Men are being cut to pieces.... Reports are coming in that the military and the police are involved in it. People in their thousands are fleeing and spreading panic wherever they go. Eighty five percent of the police force are Muslims. It has become difficult to obtain accurate information as to what is happening in the Punjab. Hundreds upon thousands are fleeing. Today Jawaharlal has gone to Jullunder and Amritsar. The League Ministers will also be there. But the masses seem to have gone out of their control. Telegrams sent to the Punjab do not reach there. Railway communications have broken down. The situation is most difficult. It calls for very strenuous eff
ort to prevent the Punjab situation from affecting other places. More and more fleeing refugees from the Punjab are pouring into Delhi. They allow no rest by day or by night. They are distraught with fury and panic and it is most difficult to make them pull themselves together'.
Patel again wrote to Gandhi on 27 August: 'Rajkumari Amrit Kaur had accompanied Lady Mountbatten on a three day tour of the Punjab. She returned today at 8 o'clock. She has brought a terrible report. She met Sushila, too. I had asked Lady Mountbatten to bring her back with her. Accordingly Sushila had got ready. But the people in the camp began to weep and wail. She is, therefore, staying on there. This camp is not in danger. We have now made arrangements for some more supply of food, too. She is keeping quite fit. So there is nothing to worry. The rest of course is in God's hands'.
Patel had given up hope of a peaceful solution and the chance of co-existence in Punjab; he had decided that the only solution was in an exchange of populations. Naively he believed that the large number of Hindus and Muslims trapped on the wrong side of the divided Punjab would be able to just get up and leave, Hindus to East Punjab and Muslims to West Punjab. Patel questioned Gandhi: 'What will you do by going to the Punjab? You can do nothing to put down the conflagration. It is not possible for the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims to live together; Hindus might be able to stay there some time in future, not today. But one cannot imagine Sikhs and Muslims living together even in the remote future. The forces have been thoroughly infected. People in their lakhs are fleeing from either side of the border. Terror prevails, in the camps. Those who are fleeing are set upon and done to death. There is no arrangement for their evacuation with safety'.
On the 29th Gandhi again wrote to Nehru: 'Herewith is a letter from one Sardar Ajit Singh. You will see he is insistent on my going to the Punjab without a moment's delay. You will judge what I should do. Will it be any use my going after life and property are destroyed to the saturation point? Will it not be a mockery? I put before you for consideration the thoughts welling up within me. I have three wires pressing me to go.' Nehru wired back the same day: 'I still think that time has not come for you to visit the Punjab but feel your presence in Delhi very desirable so as to keep in touch with the Punjab situation and advise us'. The next day Patel sent another report on the situation in the Punjab, but it was very clear that neither he nor Nehru were in favour of Gandhi going to the Punjab: 'Yesterday there was a meeting at Lahore. The result was satisfactory. Jinnah and other Leaguers were present. All resolutions were passed unanimously. But it will take time to put out the conflagration. From today Jawaharlal and Liaquat Ali have commenced touring the Punjab together. The tour will last for a week. Others too have commenced touring similarly. Everybody is trying hard. The rest is in God's hands'.
Gandhi was disturbed by the note of complacency in Patel's letter. His colleagues did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. He did not wish to embarrass his colleagues by what they might consider unwanted interference, nonetheless, he felt that he owed it to them to sound a final note of warning. On 30 August he wrote to Nehru: 'About my going to the Punjab, I won't move without you and Vallabhbhai's wish. I want to say, however, that everyday pressure is being put upon me to rush to the Punjab before it is too late. If you wish I would send you all that comes to me in that way so as to enable you to come to a true judgement.... If I am not going to the Punjab, would I be of much use in Delhi as an adviser or consultant? I fancy I am not built that way. My advice has value only when I am actually working at a particular thing. I can only disturb when I give academic advice as on food, clothing, the use of the military. The more I think, the more I sense the truth of this opinion. Left to myself, I would probably rush to the Punjab and if necessary break myself in the attempt to stop the warring elements form committing suicide. From a letter I just have from Lord Mountbatten I get the same impression. He would welcome my immediate going to the Punjab.... On this side I have work which must help you all'.
Patel redirected Gandhi's letters to Nehru who was touring both the Punjabs with Liaquat Ali Khan. What he saw there, coupled, perhaps, with Lord Mountbatten's advice, helped him decide. 31st on August he sent a wire to Gandhi: 'Punjab problem overwhelming in extent and intensity. I feel now that your presence in Punjab is desirable and would be helpful in curing insanity and bringing solace to this ruined and heart-broken Province. I am returning to Delhi on 4th. After brief stay coming back to Punjab'. On 2 September he followed this up with another wire: 'I feel sure now that you should come to Punjab as early as possible'.
It now seemed certain that Gandhi would leave immediately for the Punjab and strive to do what he had so far succeeded in doing in Calcutta. But fate decreed differently; Calcutta was on the verge of erupting.
After the Direct Action Day riots, Hindu Right-wing organisations, with the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS in the forefront, had projected themselves as the protectors of the Hindus and many had fallen under the spell of militant Hinduism. When the post partition riots erupted, these Hindu extremists set up recruitment centres in areas which were their strongholds and amongst the refugee camps. In the post war scenario, arms and ammunition were easily available and so—just like the National Guards of the Muslim League—the storm troopers of Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS, too, had armed themselves and formed bands of avengers. These groups, who had infiltrated Calcutta in large numbers, had attempted to start trouble at Barrackpore and Kanchrapara but failed. Now they were aided by the anger within the Punjabi and Sikh communities in Calcutta, over the massacre in Punjab. Exacerbating the situation, many Hindu and Sikh organisations as well as the head of the Hindu Mahasabha in Calcutta received a couple of bangles sent by post. By 1 September their frustration had reached its peak.
Pyarelal Nayyar describes what happened at Hydari Mansion on that fateful night: 'Charu and I had gone out to the city on business. When we returned to Hydari Mansion, it was past ten. We had expected to find everybody asleep. Instead we found the building in a blaze of light. Some youngsters at the gate tried to stop our car with "Who are you—Hindu or Muslim?"
'We came out of our car. Chucking the leader, Charu said that children were expected to be in bed at that hour. "In Noakhali our boys show more maturity. We enforce strict discipline in Gandhi Camps."
'The demonstrators had already broken their cordon in their eagerness to hear the dialogue and were clustering round us in a disorderly fashion. We brushed them aside and went in. Crowds were all over the place. Some rowdies were already inside the main hall. More were pouring in. It was only the next day that we were able to piece together the story.
'A little before 10 o'clock, a man, heavily bandaged, had been brought to Gandhiji's residence by some excited young men at the head of a procession. How they got hold of him and who had engineered the demonstration, will probably never be known. There were several conflicting versions. One was that he had fallen out of a tramcar. Another was that he was accosted by a drunken man on the street and asked to shout "Pakistan Zindabad", on his refusing to do so a scuffle ensued resulting in some minor injuries. Some communal fanatics, hearing of the incident, traced him to his residence and pulled him out of his bed. Another version claimed that he had been stabbed by Muslims in a Muslim locality. His assailants could not be traced. Later the Chief Minister Dr. Prafulla Ghosh, had the victim of the alleged stabbing examined. The doctor's report was that he bore no mark of stabbing. The details of injury however did not matter. What really mattered was that these young men had taken the law into their own hands and had assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner rolled into one.
'Gandhiji had gone to bed. "This was about 10 p.m. (Calcutta time). They began to shout at the top of their voices. My sleep was disturbed but I tried to lie quiet, not knowing what was happening. I heard the window panes being smashed. I had on either side of me two brave girls, Abha and Manu. They would not wake me up from my sleep, but without my knowledge—for my eyes were closed—they went among the crowd and tried
to pacify them. Thank God, the crowd did not do any harm to them".... The entreaties of the two girls apparently had no effect on the rowdies. They began to smash furniture, picture frames and chandeliers with hockey sticks and by hurling stones. There were two groups—one trying to incite, the other to pacify the rowdies. The sensible section tried their best to protect the two girls and entreated with them to go inside. One of Gandhiji's party was wearing Pyjamas. He was mistaken for a Muslim and set upon.
'To resume Gandhiji's narrative: "The old Muslim lady in the house endearingly called Bi Amma, mother, and a young Muslim stood near my matting, I suppose to protect me from harm. The noise continued to swell. Some had entered the central hall, and begun to knock open the many doors. I felt that I must get up and face the ugly crowd. I stood at the threshold of one of the doors. Friendly faces surrounded me and would not let me move forward".
'The hefty Dr. Dinshaw Mehta was in the house, but what could poor Dinshaw do? He did not know the language. Besides, "even the strength of a Hercules could not have availed much in such circumstances". Gandhiji addressed the rowdies: "What madness is this? Why do not you attack me? I offer myself for attack." He repeated it thrice and asked his Bengali grand-daughter-in-law, Abha, to translate his words. "All to no purpose. Their ears were closed against reason. I clasped my hands in the Hindu fashion. Nothing doing more window panes began to crack.
' "Where is the rascal Suhrawardy? shouted someone from the crowd. It seems they intended to lynch Suhrawardy. Luckily he was not in the house. He had gone home to get ready to start with me for Noakhali. Not finding him they turned their wrath on me. There was pandemonium".
'Just then two Muslim members of the household, with whom Gandhiji was staying, came rushing in, pursued by the infuriated mob. One of them was bleeding profusely. He took shelter behind Gandhiji. Seeing him someone aimed a massive brickbat at him. It struck a Muslim standing by. A heavy stick narrowly missed Gandhiji's head and crashed against the opposite wall without hurting anybody. If it had hit Gandhiji, that would have been the end.
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