November 6th marks Youm-e-Shuhada (Jammu Martyrs’ Day), a somber anniversary observed by Kashmiris worldwide to commemorate the brutal massacre of Muslims in the Jammu region during October and November of 1947. Historians and reports suggest this was a state-sponsored genocide aimed at fundamentally altering the demographic composition of Jammu, which was then predominantly Muslim.
The Scale of the Atrocity
The killings were carried out by paramilitaries led by the army of the Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, and the terrorist Hindu organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Death Toll: Estimates for the number of Muslims massacred vary, but many sources place the figure at more than 260,000 killings in just a two-month period. A report published in The Times, London, on August 10, 1948, stated that 237,000 Muslims were “systematically exterminated (unless they escaped to Pakistan along the border)” by Hindu Dogra Maharaja forces, while most estimates put the figure much higher.
Forced Displacement: Nearly half a million Muslims were forced into displacement across the border into Pakistan’s Punjab and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.
Demographic Change: As a result of the killings and displacement, Muslims, who previously constituted 61% of the total population in Jammu, were reduced to a minority.
The scale of this event has been tragically compared to other major atrocities, with some arguing the death toll was approximately 100 times higher than the lives lost in the American 9/11 attacks.
Architects of the Violence
Evidence suggests the genocide was planned and supported by the highest levels of the Dogra administration.
Maharaja Hari Singh’s Role: The Maharaja’s involvement, with the support of the RSS, is clear from a 1949 letter by Jawaharlal Nehru to Vallabhbhai Patel. Prominent Kashmiri Pandit journalist Ved Bhasin stated it was a “planned genocide by the RSS activists” who were joined by Sikhs and “enjoyed full protection and patronage of the Hindu Dogra Maharaja administration”.
The Maharaja’s administration expelled a large number of Muslim soldiers and police officers and organized and trained armed Hindu and Sikh jathas.
A 1949 UNCIP report mentions a revenue collector who stated he heard the Maharaja, while visiting Bhimber on October 20, 1947, “give orders that Muslims were to be exterminated” and saw him shooting down 2-3 people.
The RSS Mobilization: The RSS, a right-wing Hindu organization aimed at eliminating Muslims, was mobilized, and its leaders were stationed in Jammu during the 1940s. RSS Hindu extremists and Sikh Hordes were deployed in civil clothes between July to October to carry out the holocaust.
Contemporary Accounts: Even Mahatma Gandhi commented on the situation on December 25, 1947, noting that “The Hindus and Sikhs of Jammu and those who had gone there from outside killed Muslims” and stating that “The Maharaja of Kashmir is responsible for what is happening there, Muslim women have been dishonoured“.
The perpetrators also used deception, filling large numbers of Muslims into lorries under the pretext of sending them to Pakistan, only to massacre them on the way.
A Conflict Rooted in 1947
The perpetual conflict in Kashmir has its roots in this 1947 massacre. Even after seven decades, the sufferings of Kashmiris have not ended, and many believe their conditions have worsened under the subsequent Indian occupation, which began in 1948.
Demographic Concerns Today: Kashmiris in IIOJK (Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir) fear that new laws, including the alteration of property rights since 2019, are part of a policy to change the demography of India’s only Muslim-majority region, following the same policy adopted by Hari Singh in 1947. India’s bid to bring demographic change in IIOJK violates Geneva Conventions, which deem the “transfer by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” a grave breach.
Ongoing Suppression: Under the current regime, the suppression and killing of Kashmiris continue, alongside forced relocations and demolitions of homes to incorporate an influx of new residents.
Calls for Recognition and Justice
Advocates continue to call for wider international recognition of the massacre as a significant human tragedy of the post-Partition era. They stress the need for a comprehensive and impartial historical documentation of the events to achieve a measure of historical justice for the victims and their families.
As the community marks another anniversary of this catastrophe, the commemoration of
Youm-e-Shuhada Jammu stands as a powerful call for peace, religious tolerance, and a commitment to preventing such atrocities from ever happening again.
Kashmiris mark November 6th to ensure the ultimate sacrifices of the innocent, unarmed civilians who were brutally butchered by the Hindu Dogra Maharaja forces and RSS gangs in 1947 are never forgotten.
