PARTITION AND DISPLACED PERSONS : A REVIEW OF THERE CONDITIONS

Abstract

The prolonged struggle against British rule with all its colonial and imperial manifestation came to an end with independence. The exhilaration and excitement that came along was however, short lived. The brutality and violence that gripped Punjab in particular gave a new dimension to the freedom of India. There are many estimates of the loss of life and property but it can be said with some element of correctness that approximately 400,000 to 600,000 people were killed[1] and over 100,000 women were abducted.[2] At a broader level, almost 12 millions people were displaced having been compelled to leave their ancestral homes.[3] Partition meant that about 4 million Muslims found themselves in the east Punjab, just as about 4 million Hindus and Sikhs in the west Punjab. Property worth about Rs. 500 crores[4], was estimated to have been destroyed in Punjab.