Massacre of Jammu Muslims described as worst ethnic cleansing of 1947
Srinagar: People across Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir paid glowing tributes on Thursday to the martyrs of 1947, who were massacred at the hands of Dogra forces and Hindutva mobs in the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, speaking after a function led by Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar, said the Jammu region had witnessed the worst form of ethnic cleansing at the hands of the forces of Maharaja Hari Singh and RSS-affiliated cadres in November 1947.
Speakers at the event said the massacre was a heinous crime against humanity and must be condemned by all. They lamented that under Indian occupation successive New Delhi-installed administrations have sought to erase or minimise these atrocities from Kashmir’s history books. They said attempts to whitewash the 1947 carnage only deepen the grief of the victims’ families and undermine demands for justice.
The APHC urged the authorities and the international community to acknowledge the scale of the 1947 killings and to ensure that such crimes are not forgotten. The leaders demanded the construction of a fitting memorial to honour those martyred during that wave of communal violence and called on Kashmiris to remain vigilant and united so that incidents of communal violence — allegedly aided by BJP/RSS networks, the Indian Army and police — are not repeated in the territory.
Speakers also stressed that the sacrifices of the Jammu martyrs are an enduring asset of the Kashmir freedom movement and vowed to carry the martyrs’ mission forward until the Kashmiri people realise their right to self-determination.
