Thoha Khalsa Story: Muslim League Guard Committed Genocide

Before the months of  Partition in  March 1947, when Punjab was divided between West Punjab (Present Day Pakistan) and East Punjab (Current Indian State of Punjab) and the coalition government  was Akali Dal, Unionist Party and INC fell and Muslim League won the election in West Punjab which was  a Muslim majority area. The Muslim League National Guard Soldiers in the committed the genocide of millions of  Hindus and Sikhs across the West Punjab. In Rawalpindi which was even worse than the Noakhli massacre. It was 80% Muslim majority and the rest were 20% of Hindus and Sikhs.

Before this massacre villages  in the Rawalpindi districts used to have significant populations of Sikhs such as Thamali, Thoa Khalsa,Doberan, Choa Khalsa, Kallar, Mator and others.from 6th to 13th March 1947 over 4,000 to 5,000 Sikhs was massacred by the Muslim mob in Rawalpindi. Houses were burnt down and many gurudwara were demolished.

On 12th March 1947, At Thoa Khalsa which was just 30 miles away from the Rawalpindi district. The village was attacked continuously for 8 days. There was a huge fear among the Sikh Community as their houses were burnt and plundered in front of their eyes.

So when the muslim mob surrounded the haveli of Sardar Gulab Singh. The Sikh men got overwhelmed, they resisted but unfortunately couldn't resist against them for a longer time. While the Men were fighting. Sikh women on the other fear about their abduction, rape and their forced conversion into Islam. Then all the sikh women along with their children gather together led by the Sardarni Gulab Kaur also known as the mata Lajwati. She prayed in front of the well and said “Sacche Badshah… it is to save Sikhi that we are offering up our lives… forgive us and accept our martyrdom.”.  

And after that she jumped into the well. She was the first one to jump into the well and later other women followed her one by one. Around 90 women followed her. Then the well was completely filled up with the dead bodies. Out of 90 only 3 women got survived her name was Basant Kaur a tall strapping woman in her mid-sixties had been present in her village, Thoa Khalsa in March 1947 when the decision was taken that women would jump into a well. She watched more than ninety women throw themselves into a well for fear of the Muslims. She too jumped in, but survived because there was not enough water in the well to drown them all. She said: “It’s like when you put rotis into a tandoor and if it is too full, the ones near the top, they don’t cook, they have to be taken out. So the well filled up, and we could not drown ...Those who died, died, and those who were alive, they pulled out …”

A Sikh woman survivor at a relief camp in Rawalpindi | Image Source: Instagram

The women committed this act due huge of fear abduction, rape , forceful conversion to Islam, public humiliation and dishonor faced by the them, their family and community. And prior to this incident many families especially the male family members killed their own family members daughters, sisters and other women by themselves. In one family around 25 women were killed. This was done because they didn't want to see themselves by their eyes to be violated in front of them by the Muslim Extremists.