Views on Impact of British Imperial Policy on West Punjab-A.H Amin-Punjab Politics-Recruitment-June 2000

Views on Impact of British Imperial Policy on West Punjab

A.H Amin

June 2000

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sir,

I was deeply impressed by the excellent article by Mr "X" published in
your journal, the readers who have a pretty vague idea about the
subcontinent and may form outwardly correct but essentially erroneous
conclusions, which may be unfair to Punjab's role in Indo Pak history.
I may add that my intention in making these points is in no way to
prove that the worthy author does not know his subject. Indeed as
earlier stated, I have been deeply impressed by his grasp of Indian
history and some very thought provoking remarks that he has made about
the civil military relations in Punjab. The author has done an
excellent job despite the fact that it is no mean job to understand
Punjab history while being based away from there.




Firstly the politics of Punjab right from the advent of the Muslim
invaders in the tenth century was highly complicated. It was this
particular situation which played the most significant role in Punjab's
remaining loyal in First World War rather than all British measures.
The British it may be noted inherited the situation once they annexed
Punjab in 1849. They exploited it to full advantage. Punjab was
initially a Hindu majority province in the tenth century. By the
seventeenth century it became a Muslim majority area as a result of
efforts of Muslim missionaries. This has been well covered by various
British authors like "The Preaching of Islam" by the famous Professor
T.W Arnold of Magdalene College, a distinguished figure of the "School
of Oriental Studies" at the University of London (Page-197 - Aligarh -
The First Generation - David Lelyveld-Princeton University-1978). The
foundation of the Sikh religion in the early sixteenth century by Guru
Nanak (1469-1538) and his successors further complicated the communal
equation. The Sikhs a purely Punjabi religion came in conflict with the
Muslim Mughal Government at Delhi from the period 1581-1606
(Refers-page-245-Cambridge History of India-The Mughal Period). They
were ruthlessly persecuted from 1606 to 1799 by first the Mughals till
1748 and then by the Afghan raider Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Sikhs
retaliated most resolutely and brilliantly and resorted to guerrilla
warfare as a result of which they became masters of Muslim majority
Punjab by 1809 under the brilliant Ranjit Singh. The US readers may
note that the Sikh number never exceeded the figure of 10.5% of the
total population of Punjab. (Census Report of Punjab-1881-Lahore.
Pages-14 & 15-David Lelyveld-Op Cit and Page-8- Prelude to
Partition-David Page-Oxford University Press-Karachi-1987). The Sikhs
whose holy places had been desecrated by the Muslims during the period
of conflict from 1606-1748 retaliated by turning many Muslim mosques
into stables and military stores magazines during their rule, which
lasted, from 1799-1849. Once the English East India Company got
involved in the Second Sikh War the Muslim feudals who were initially
Sikh vassals like the Taiwan's etc now defected to the British side and
played an active role in assisting the British in the final conquest of
Punjab. The Punjab Muslims about 54% of the province as it was in 1919
welcomed the British conquest of Punjab and hailed it. The British
followed a clever policy of rehabilitating the Sikhs and also restoring
Muslim places of worship. A subtle development followed. The Sikhs and
Muslims competed with each other in loyalty to the British, the Sikhs
in order to regain a part their lost total dominance and the Muslims to
gain their due share in terms of share in the population which had been
denied to them since 1799. It was this complex equation that ensured
that Punjab stayed loyal in 1857 and in WW One. The evidence about
Muslim Sikh hatred may be gauged from the 1947 riots in which at least
a million people were killed in Punjab once the British left India. The
Punjabi Hindus who were about 33.46% of the population gained the most
right from 1606 till 1947. Initially they stayed loyal to the Mughals
and retained their prosperous status. Later the Sikhs found the Hindus
better subjects than the Muslims and patronized them. Under the British
also the Hindus being a largely urban community gained the maximum
advantages accruing from Western education and commerce and stood out
as the richest and most educated community of Punjab in 1947.

A word about the observation on page-409-that the status of the rural
notables in Punjab did not deteriorate like that of their counterparts
in United Provinces (UP). This was a different story. The UP Taluqdars
gained as much out of British rule as the Punjabi feudals. After all
the province stood second after Punjab in recruitment drive in the
army. The decline of the United Provinces feudals started only after
1947 once the urban dominated Indian National Congress instituted land
reforms that deprived these feudals of a large part of their land. The
difference between Punjab and UP was the fact that UP by virtue of
having been colonized some 73 to 46 years (depending on the region)
earlier than the Punjab had a much larger literacy (Western Education)
rate and a much larger Hindu middle and independent professional and
business class which was educated and the feudals despite continuous
patronage by the British failed to do as well in Punjab in the
elections. In addition the province as compared to Punjab had a much
larger industrial base and thus a very large industrial worker class.
The Punjabi feudals had little future in Pakistan too since the
majority province East Pakistan was not feudal dominated. However, the
Punjabi feudals by combining with the civil military elite of West
Pakistani origin coerced the East Pakistanis to renounce their actual
majority in 1956 and thus ensured that the feudal hold was retained in
Pakistan. They also collaborated with all Pakistani military
governments and maintained their pre-1947 hold.

It is stated in the article that "Yet, despite all of this, the
colonial state in the Punjab seemed to have emerged in 1919 very much
intact and unweakened in any way". It did not happen this way. British
repressive policies in Punjab brought them in conflict with the more
aware urban populations of cities between Rivers Jhelum and Sutlej as a
result of which the British were confronted with the first serious
anti-British political agitation in Punjab as a result of which martial
law was imposed in Punjab. Property worth many millions was destroyed
or looted (including an American missionary's house and his mission's
excellent hospital which was giving free treatment to the poor in
Chuhar Kanna). (Refers-Page-271- "Disorders Inquiry
Committee-1919-1920-Report" - British Perspective-Volume Two
-Superintendent Government of India Press-Calcutta-1920). Amritsar city
was handed over to the army where at least 379 peaceful demonstrators
were killed (Refers-Page-187-1919 Disorders Inquiry Committee Report)
by the British-Indian troops, communications all over the province were
attacked (Refers-Page-railway stations were attacked and Gujranwala
town was bombed by the Royal Air Force. Summary Military courts were
set up which sentenced 108 people to be executed out which at least 23
were maintained while remaining were converted to transportation for
life to the Andaman Islands! (Refers-Page-235-1919 Disorders Inquiry
Committee Report-Op Cit). At least 258 people as per official report
were sentenced to be flogged from 5 to 30 times (Page-231-1919
Disorders Inquiry Committee report) and a large number were publicly
flogged with posteriors naked ( I can send you some photographs if you
like). Other punishments like crawling in the streets rather than
walking were imposed on common people! In short a province that had
been most loyal to the Empire was handled so injudiciously by two hot
headed Irishmen i.e. Governor Michael O Dwyer and Brigadier Dyer that
the British lost a great part of the goodwill that had been created
through tangible well meaning and just measures of so many Britishers
from 1849 till 1919! Such was the Punjabi indignation that Michael O
Dwyer the hero of the article was shot to death by a Punjabi student (IT HAD TO BE A PUJABI SIKH, ALTHOUGH THE SAME RACE BUT DIFFEENT RELIGION AS PUNJABI MUSLIMS WERE QUITE HOPELESS POLITICALLY)
studying engineering in London in 1940! The Punjabi Sikh student who was hanged
within a month stated at his trial that he was avenging Jallianwalla
Firing and the outrages committed on Dyers orders in 1919. The urban
population was alienated and the anti-British congress emerged as the
second largest party in the 1936 elections. The British

policy was efficient but short sighted and in the long run failed as
later events proved. The Punjab disturbances of 1919 shook their
confidence and certainly weakened their hold on India. In Second World
War their recruiting drive in Punjab was based on the slogan of
self-rule and was a negation of all imperialist ideals! The Duke of
Connaught on eve of inauguration of the Indian Legislature stated that
"the shadow of Amritsar lengthened over the fair face of India"
(Refers-Page-347-India-A Modern History-T.G.P Spear-University of
Michigan-Reprinted India-1989).

There is another important point that the writer has missed. Punjab as
a province was a British creation. There were at least four different
ethnic groups in Punjab. The Punjabis in the areas between Indus and
Sutlej and Jamna rivers in the northern half of Punjab, the Hindustani
enclave of Ambala division which was not Punjabi, the Seraiki speaking
areas of the south, again distinct from Punjabis and the pastoral
Baloch tribes in the southern part of the province. The major
recruitment took place only in two of these four ethnic groups i.e the
Punjabis and the Hindustani districts, which had been transferred to
Punjab as a punishment for having taken part in the rebellion of 1857.
Chhottu Ram who belonged to this region was not a Punjabi. Then there
was another major motivation in joining the army i.e. economic. This
motivation had an important region specific characteristic, which has
not been described by the author. This was confined only to districts
with rain irrigated and barren lands north of river Jhelum including
northern part of Shahpur and one subdivision of District Gujrat which
is south of river Jhelum, or to the Hindustani districts (Hissar,
Rohtak Gurgaon and large parts of Karnal) of the south east part which
consisted of the most barren and non-productive land of the province.
The areas south of these rivers were less keen in contributing recruits
for the fighting arms. Thus Lahore district's performance was most
pathetic; keeping in view the fact that it was population wise one of
the biggest districts of Punjab did not contribute as many recruits as
expected. Thus the British report of Services Rendered by the Lahore
district observed that "As compared with other districts the recruiting
activities of Lahore district were not as good as could be desired. The
villagers in the neighbourhood of Lahore city did not readily enlist in
the combatant ranks, they made too good a living as daily labourer in
and about the city to think of entering the service" (Refers-Short
Record of the War Services Rendered by the Lahore District-1914-1919-
Compiled in the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Lahore, Punjab-Printed at
Mufeed I Aam Press-Lahore-1919-Punjab Public Library-World War One
Section-Lahore).

There was a very important qualitative motivational difference in the
motivation to join the army in the Sikhs and the Punjabis, which should
have been pointed out. The Sikh motivation to join the army had a
definite link with their minority status. This produced in them an
intense feeling to improve their political and economic standing
vis-a-vis the two larger groups i.e. the Punjabi Muslims and Hindus.
Thus the Sikhs despite being only around 10.5% contributed 88,000
combatants to the army while the Muslims despite being a 54% group
contributed only 136,000 recruits! This had two reasons first was the
Sikh preponderance in fighting arm units before the war over the
Punjabi Muslims as well as their feeling of relative insecurity as a
minority community. Despite all this loyalty the Sikh quota was
relatively reduced after the war because of the significant role that
some Sikhs had played in the Ghadar Movements. Here it would be
interesting for the American readers to note that it was the liberal
influence of USA which induced the Sikhs who had settled in California
to embark on the Ghadar Movement. The Ghadar party had its base in the
US West region, where it was founded on 21 April 1913 at Astoria
(Oregon State) by Punjabi immigrants (mostly Sikh who had reached
California as farm labourers or exiles before WW One) Refers-Page 262-A
Dictionary of Modern Indian History-Parshotam Mehra-Oxford University
Press-Madras-1985).

The author did not discuss the role of the British system of class
composition of Indian units in preventing rebellion. The same is true
for the activities of the Ghadar Party activists in the army and
certain military mutinies in units recruited from races inhabiting
Punjab and their effect on the class composition of the post-1918
Indian Army have also not been discussed. The British were greatly
helped in the mixed class composition of Indian Army to which they had
resorted from the period 1864-1885. This system played a major part in
preventing mutiny in the Indian Army. Under this system the vast bulk
of cavalry and infantry units consisted of different companies of
various classes in any single unit. Like a unit with two Sikh and two
Punjabi Muslim Companies. A unit with a Pathan Muslim and a Dogra Hindu
Squadron etc. This ensured that the Muslims would not combine with the
Sikhs and the Sikhs would be too eager to report in case the Muslims
were up to something nasty! This system proved a success in WW One. On
the other hand the experiment of having one-class units failed. Thus
129 Baluchis which was one of the very few "All Muslim Units" was made
a mixed class unit after the war. This happened since many of its
Pathans defected to the German lines in France. The 15 Lancers which
was an "All Muslim Unit" was disbanded after the war since its Pathan
Muslim Squadrons resisted orders to fight the Turks in Mesopotamia. The
5th Light Infantry which was an "All Muslim Unit" with two companies of
Ranghar Muslims from Punjab province mutinied en masse at Singapore in
1915 and was disbanded after the war. Thus after the war with the
exception of one infantry unit all fighting arm units were made mixed
class units. The Ghadar Party infiltrators penetrated Indian Army and
did partially succeed in subverting 23rd Punjab Cavalry (this scribes
unit) where at least 12 soldiers were court martialled and executed
(Refers-Page-141-An Account of the Ghadar Conspiracy-1913-15-F.C
Isemonger and J. Slattery-Lahore-1919 and Page-8-A Short History of 11
Cavalry (Frontier Force-Lieut Colonel Mohammad Khalid-Privately
Published-Quetta-1999-Copy held by this scribe).

Later research proved that the most crucial role was played by the
pre-war existing Indian Army in October-December 1914 in Ypres area
where the British Second Corps was at its last gasp at Ypres at a time
when in words of the official British historian, "The position was
critical, for the allies were outnumbered and outgunned. There was no
prospect for several days while it was known that the enemy was
bringing up large bodies of troops from the east" (Page-23-The Indian
Corps in France-Lieutenant Colonel J.W.B Merwether and Right Honourable
Sir Frederick Smith-John Murray-Ablemarle Street-London-1919.). The
reinforcements later sent played a significant but not as decisive a
role as that by the Indian Corps at Ypres in October-December 1914.

The real reason why Punjab responded to the British war effort lay in
four factors. Firstly, an excellent British policy to bring prosperity
in Punjab by excavating canals which was initiated in 1852. Recruitment
to the army in increased numbers from 1857, and grant of lands as
reward of war services was initiated in 1858 and brought great
prosperity to the provinces populace residing in the barren poor and
non-productive regions of the northern and south eastern districts of
Punjab. Secondly, the extreme political backwardness of Punjab in terms
of education by virtue of being the last region to be captured by the
British and being under hold of feudal lords who discouraged spread of
Western education. This system enabled the feudal lords to act as
recruiting agents for their own personal ends. The disturbances of 1919
it may be noted took place in the canal-irrigated areas and in cities
with the more aware and educated urban population.

Thirdly, the economic factor of getting land as a reward for war
services also played a major role in the motivation to get recruited.
This again was true for the people from the barren districts. Finally
it was the complex communal divide of the province with various ethnic
and religious groups and the sharp urban rural divide with the vast
bulk of the illiterate and poor rural population under total domination
of feudal lords and the extremely small intensely nationalistic and
anti-British educated urban population further reinforced by the highly
aware and over enthusiastic idealistic but highly unrealistic US and
Canadian Punjabi Sikh and Hindu Indian community.

The negative result of the whole affair for the British was the fact
that too many expectations were aroused. The Indians believed in vain
that India for its war services will "take a place among the nations
besides Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but India was bitterly
disappointed" as one Britisher admitted. (Refers-Page-411-A Matter of
Honour-Philip Mason-Jonathan Cape and Bedford-London-1974) Once these
expectations were not fulfilled disturbances started in India and these
started from Punjab which had suffered the most in terms of casualties
in the War in 1919. The foundation of modern anti-British political
mass agitation was thus laid in 1919. The British were forced to
introduce legislative government, forced to grant Indians commissions
in the Armed Forces which the military establishment had successfully
resisted from 1757 to 1917. In short the price that they paid was too
heavy and counter-productive. Michael O Dwyer the hot blooded Irishman
mishandled everything.

India in 1919 was an explosive place. While about 60,000 Indian
soldiers had died in WW One, some sixteen million Indians during the
same period had died of Influenza ! This was a greater number than
total dead in all countries in WW One due to the war !
(Refers-Page-155-English History-1914-45-A.J.P Taylor-Penguin
Books-England-1977). The seeds of the anti British Indian politics were
planted by Michael O Dwyer and Dyer through out of proportion
enthusiasm in the recruiting drive and in unduly repressive measures in
1919. The British held on to India for 28 more years but they had lost
the goodwill and great admiration for their policies in Punjab so
painstakingly planted by a long list of British administrators from
1849 to 1914 through justice and fair play it takes many decades to
grow a forest but just one matchstick to burn the work of centuries.

How do I sum it up as a Pakistani? The only gainers in the whole
process were not the common men in Punjab but the Punjabi Muslim
feudals who have survived till todate and even today constitute an
important political force in Pakistani politics. They fooled the
British and the Pakistani masses whose leaders they became after 1947.
These Punjabi feudals served the Sikhs even when Sikhs used the Muslim
mosques as stables! They switched over to the British side once the
Sikh State was destroyed in 1849. They served the British once the
Bengal Army under a Muslim leadership rebelled in 1857. They served the
British in WW One and Two and got huge economic rewards in return.
About three years before Pakistan's creation they switched on to the
Muslim League a largely urban dominated party in 1944-47 and pushed the
relatively more enlightened Punjabi Muslim urban elite aside ! In the
period 1951-58 they betrayed the Muslim League and joined the civil
military bureaucratic clique of Pakistan. Todate their achievements
include collaboration with all martial law governments and dominance of
all democratically elected governments of Pakistan including the
present military government! I am a great admirer of late Abraham
Lincoln but I must admit as the Punjabi Muslim feudals have proved that
sometimes some people manage to fool all the people all the time!