Friday 3 October 2014

Partition Of Punjab in 1947


There are some events in history that always have fascinated me. One of them is the independence and partition of India in 1947. Besides two world wars, it can be counted among the most important events of the twentieth century. This event gave independence to India and eventually three independent countries emerged.

Independence of India was not a simple affair, because it also involved partition of the country. When it came to partition it was actually the partition of two provinces Bengal and Punjab. I first developed my interest in this subject in late 1980s when I was in school and studied in the books of social studies and Pakistan studies about this issue. It was claimed that during the partition in 1947, the last viceroy Mountbatten conspired against Pakistan and influenced Radcliffe to award an unfair decision against Pakistan. But there were no details that exactly how much area according to this claim, was awarded to India unfairly. In the coming years I tried to find the answers but that proved to be a difficult task. First of all there were no maps to be found, and there was no census data as well. However, I kept on searching for more than two decades and finally found most of the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle.

My aim is not to stir a controversy or to forward a claim on any "lost" territory. It is just an academic exercise of a student of history. That is why I have tried to stick to just facts, whether census figures or geographical. I do not claim that these are perfect maps, by a trained cartographer. I made them with the help of dozens of maps I found on internet and books, with the simple tools of MS Paint. But they give a reasonably fair idea and picture of the demographics of Punjab in 1947. All the readers are most welcome to point out inaccuracies or suggest improvements.

Before moving to my subject I would like to give a historical background of the modern political boundaries of Punjab. After the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Sikh power rapidly rose in central and eastern Punjab in late 1750s. By 1763 they even captured Lahore the capital and the most important city of Punjab. For the next four decades chaos reigned supreme as the whole province became divided among dozens of petty Sikh and Muslim warlords and chieftains. Out of this situation Ranjit Singh of Gujranwala rose rapidly and captured Lahore in 1799. And by the time he died in 1839, he had conquered the whole of Punjab west of Sutlej River, which included the Bist Doab, all of present day Pakistani Punjab (except Bahawalpur division), most of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Kashmir valley. 



The above map show the boundaries of the State of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in dark and light green colours. The areas marked with dark green lie in Pakistan, while areas in light green lie in present day India. 

At the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh the Sikh state of Punjab became politically unstable. The British were as usual waiting for such an opportunity and after many hard fought battles in two wars, finally conquered Punjab in 1849, the last independent state in India.From 1849 onward Punjab became a province of British India. In 1857 a mutiny break out in native regiments of the army of East India Company and soon spread over a large area. It was suppressed with great difficulty and much bloodshed. After the end of the mutiny, the British government assumed the direct control of India and annexed Delhi city and other districts between Jamuna and Sutlej to Punjab. This situation remained until 1901, when districts west of Indus river were carved out of Punjab to make a new province, which was named as North Western Frontier Province or NWFP.  
The above map shows the boundaries of Punjab, after the annexation of Delhi and surrounding districts until the establishment of NWFP as a separate province in 1901.

After the establishment of NWFP in 1901, the next change in the boundaries of Punjab came in 1911, when the government of the British India, decided to move the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. After the shift of capital, former district of Delhi was separated from Punjab. Since then Delhi has remained a federally administered area.

As mentioned above after the mutiny a large area west of Jamuna river was annexed to Punjab. But most of this area was not inhabited by Punjabis. In fact most of this area was inhabited by people who speak a dialect of Hindi, called Haryanvi. Almost 80% of the people living in the province of Punjab spoke different dialects of Punjabi, while rest of them a dialect of Hindi, called Haryanvi.

The above match shows the linguistic division of Punjab. The red area is New Delhi, separated from Punjab in 1911 and declared as the new capital of British India.

India during the British Raj, administratively was a very complicated place. Besides 11 clumsily formed provinces, it had about 565 princely states. Some of them were quite large, but many were so small that it was difficult to represent them even on a very large scale map. Biggest of these was Hyderabad with an area of 214,187 sq. km. But almost 200 states had an area of less than 25 sq. Km. Together these states covered approximately one third of the total area of India and housed one fourth of the total population. If that was not enough many of these were divided into several non contiguous tracts of lands. British Raj controlled these states as the Paramount Power, through its officers called residents.
The above map shows the provinces of British India and also the areas covered by the Princely States. In addition to that it also shows the religious demographics of India. 

Punjab province was no exception in this regard. It also contained 34 princely states, besides the areas directly administered by the British. 
The above map shows the location of British Administered districts and the Princely States, also depicting the religion of the rulers of the states.

This map shows the five administrative divisions of Punjab and respective religious composition, according to the census of 1941. 







The population of Punjab rose rapidly during the fifty years between 1891 - 1941. But this growth in western Punjab was much faster as compare to the eastern Punjab. Reason for this can be explained by the fact that great projects of irrigation were completed in western Punjab and hence a great progress was made in agricultural field in this region, and  "canal colonies" were established.

The above map shows the population growth in Punjab from 1891 - 1941.

British administration had been undertaking census since 1881 regularly in India. The last census in the British Raj was conducted in 1941.
The above map shows the population density of tehsils of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The census of 1941 was very important, because this was the last census of united India and on the basis of this census Punjab and Bengal were partitioned between India and Pakistan. In the following set of maps you can see the distribution of population according to their religions. I do not claim these maps to be 100% correct, as boundaries of some princely states are not clear, but these give you a fairly accurate picture.

The above map shows the percentage of Muslim population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the simple distribution of Muslim population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the percentage of Hindu population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941. 


The above map shows the simple distribution of Hindu population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941. 

 The above map shows the percentage of Sikh population of Punjab in tehsils, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the simple distribution of Sikh population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The above map shows the distribution of Christian population of Punjab, according to the census of 1941.

The last map shows that most of the Christian population of Punjab was concentrated in western Punjab. So when the question of the partition arose, they decided to opt for Pakistan. They were just 1.44 % of the total population and were insignificant in the total equation of Muslim and Hindu/Sikh population. But there was one tehsil, that was Dasuya, where if they joined Muslims, the balance turned in the favour of Muslims. In Dasuya Muslims were 48.35% and Christians were 1.73%, so together they formed a majority of 50.08%. 

In the above map you can see the claims of two parties. Red line shows the extent of Hindu/Sikh claim and green line shows the extent of Muslim/Christian claim.

 In the map given above, I have further compared the territorial claims of both the parties

Both parties presented some maps to support their respective claims. The above map was presented by the Muslim League to show some parts of tehsils where the Muslims were in majority.  

When it came clear that the partition was inevitable, the viceroy presented a Partition Plan on June 3, 1947. According to this plan, Punjab was was divided in two provinces of East Punjab and West Punjab. This partition was based on simple district majorities of Muslims and non Muslims. The final partition was to be dependent on the Radcliffe Award, so this division was called Notional Division. 

The above map shows the Notional Division of Punjab based to district majorities of Muslims and non Muslims.

Sir Cyril Radcliffe was an English lawyer and was selected to head the boundary commission to decide the border of Pakistan. The commission was set up on 30 July and was given a deadline of 15 August, 1947, to announce its decision. Muslims league nominated two Punjab High Court judges, Justice Din Muhammad and Justice Muhammad Munir as the two members of this commission to fight its case. While Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan and Justice Teja Singh represented Congress and Sikhs, in this commission. Its terms of reference were defined as thus:

"The Boundary Commission is instructed to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of the Muslims and the non Muslims. In doing so it will take into account other factors."

The commission had a very difficult and complicated task to accomplish in a very limited time and that’s too in a very charged atmosphere. It failed to satisfy anyone. The whole process was kept secret and the award was not published until 17th August, 1947. The map given below will help you in making an opinion of your own.

The above map shows the distribution of population on the basis of religion in a great detail. It show Muslim/Christian majority tehsils and Hindu/Sikh majority tehsils. It also shows the 34 princely states of Punjab. Note that Muslims were in majority in just two states, ie. Bahawalpur and Kapurthala which was ruled by a Sikh Maharaja. The yellow line represents the final decision of the boundary commission. Click the map for a larger view.  

The above map show that eventually how much area and population both the parties got. 

The above map shows the tehisl of Kausr, in Lahore district. It was the only tehsil which was divided and the larger part was given to India, despite having a clear Muslim/Christian majority. Now that part forms tehsil of Patti of district Taran Taran (ترن تارن)in Indian Punjab. 


The table below gives the religious demographic details of the cities and towns with the population of more than 9 thousands, according to the census of 1941. 


City
Total
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikh
%
Christians
%
001
Hissar
28,618
11116
38.84
15,921
55.63
390
1.36
166
0.58
002
Hansi
22,590
10166
45.00
10,752
47.60
80
0.35
36
0.16
003
Bhiwani
43,921
9316
21.21
33,774
76.90
360
0.82
160
0.36
004
Sirsa
20,718
6368
30.74
13,083
63.15
831
4.01
72
0.35
005
Rohtak
48,148
25129
52.19
20,458
42.49
315
0.65
63
0.13
006
Jhajhar
13,919
7188
51.64
6,576
47.24
80
0.57
2
0.01
007
Meham
11,145
6170
55.36
4,920
44.15
8
0.07
0
0.00
008
Sonipat
17,781
8933
50.24
7,706
43.34
226
1.27
13
0.07
009
Hidayatpur 
9,945
3758
37.79
5,434
54.64
144
1.45
296
2.98
010
Palwal
13,606
4404
32.37
8,831
64.91
30
0.22
244
1.79
011
Rewari
30,673
15605
50.88
14,058
45.83
46
0.15
101
0.33
012
Karnal
37,444
15844
42.31
20,462
54.65
647
1.73
125
0.33
013
Panipat
37,837
28371
74.98
8,584
22.69
90
0.24
12
0.03
014
Kaithal
22,325
10263
45.97
11,593
51.93
261
1.17
49
0.22
015
Shahabad
14,745
10096
68.47
4,000
27.13
643
4.36
2
0.01
016
Ambala
44,964
25913
57.63
16,040
35.67
1581
3.52
348
0.77
017
Ambala C
29,191
10431
35.73
14,768
50.59
2456
8.41
617
2.11
018
Kalka
9,766
3129
32.04
5,766
59.04
660
6.76
71
0.73
019
Jagadhri
16,422
4958
30.19
10,906
66.41
208
1.27
180
1.10
020
Rupar
10,385
5300
51.04
3,354
32.30
1262
12.15
158
1.52
021
Simla
18,348
5651
30.80
11,173
60.89
751
4.09
349
1.90
022
Dharmsala
9,653
1294
13.41
8,024
83.12
229
2.37
62
0.64
023
Hoshiarpur
35,345
16834
47.63
15,478
43.79
2242
6.34
252
0.71
024
Dasuya
9,206
6595
71.64
2,400
26.07
163
1.77
44
0.48
025
Urmar Tanda
12,734
8,037
63.11
3,687
28.95
797
6.26
51
0.40
026
Jullundur
135,283
80,242
59.31
48375
35.76
4,676
3.46
977
0.72
027
Kartarpur
12,150
4,522
37.22
6362
52.36
1,250
10.29
16
0.13
028
Nawanshahr
10,275
2,950
28.71
6552
63.77
689
6.71
1
0.01
029
Banga
9,112
1,976
21.69
4832
53.03
1,949
21.39
4
0.04
030
Phillaur
9,011
4,918
54.58
3574
39.66
479
5.32
34
0.38
031
Nakodar
10,981
5,322
48.47
4385
39.93
358
3.26
 -  
0.00
032
Ludhiana
11,639
70,182
62.87
34704
31.09
5,273
4.72
596
0.53
033
Jagraon
26,704
14,004
52.44
9341
34.98
3,096
11.59
72
0.27
034
Raikot
13,777
9,344
67.82
3063
22.23
892
6.47
 -  
0.00
035
Ferozepore
82,502
38,390
46.53
34543
41.87
6,457
7.83
900
1.09
036
Moga
27,785
7,016
25.25
11,790
42.43
8,477
30.51
490
1.76
037
Muktsar
20,651
5,340
25.86
10,015
48.50
5,121
24.80
31
0.15
038
Fazilka
28,262
8,246
29.18
18,771
66.42
1,107
3.92
25
0.09
039
Abohar
21,222
5216
24.58
14,980
70.59
846
3.99
   59
0.28
040
Lahore
671,659
433,170
64.49
179,422
26.71
34,021
5.07
21,495
3.20
041
Chunian
10,093
5,292
52.43
4,329
42.89
472
4.68
-  
0.00
042
Mandi Pattoki
1,114
2,641
23.76
6,227
56.03
2,083
18.74
163
1.47
043
Kasur
53,101
39,295
74.00
10,752
20.25
2,034
3.83
562
1.06
044
Patti
17,595
12,879
73.20
2,823
16.04
1,495
8.50
37
0.21
045
Amritsar
391,010
184,055
47.07
44,522
36.96
58,769
15.03
2,611
0.67
046
Jandiala
11,520
6,893
59.84
2,691
23.36
1,004
8.72
75
0.65
047
Majitha
9,004
5,200
57.75
2,061
22.89
1,655
18.38
38
0.42
048
Tarn Taran
16,607
7,006
42.19
3,796
22.86
5,520
33.24
279
1.68
049
Gurdaspur
6,641
8,263
49.65
5,920
35.57
1,711
10.28
721
4.33
050
Batala
44,458
29,859
67.16
12,043
27.09
2,109
4.74
446
1.00
051
Pathankot
12,354
6,716
54.36
4,833
39.12
406
3.29
379
3.07
052
Sialkot
 138,708
90,706
65.39
29,662
21.38
8,431
6.08
5,157
3.72
053
Pasrur
10,523
7,586
72.09
1,937
18.41
205
1.95
689
6.55
054
Narowal
12,021
6,759
56.23
2,863
23.82
1,301
10.82
854
7.10
055
Daska
13,719
7,394
53.90
3,279
23.90
2,249
16.39
719
5.24
056
Gujranwala
84,545
45,904
54.30
24,378
28.83
11016
13.03
1,893
2.24
057
Kamonki
11,602
3,575
  30.81
5,177
44.62
2445
21.07
405
3.49
058
Wazirabad
27,079
19,132
  70.65
5,739
21.19
1359
5.02
845
3.12
059
Hafizabad
17,093
9,727
  56.91
5,660
33.11
1080
6.32
610
3.57
060
Sheikhupura
22,272
10,755
  48.29
7,070
31.74
3609
16.20
829
3.72
061
Nankana Sahib
12,981
2,900
22.34
4,440
34.20
5427
41.81
206
1.59
062
Gujrat
30,899
24,681
79.88
5,011
16.22
630
2.04
553
1.79
063
Jalalpur Jattan
16,663
12,779
76.69
3,524
21.15
149
0.89
211
1.27
064
Lala Musa
12,163
6,484
53.31
3,615
29.72
1833
15.07
231
1.90
065
M. Bahauddin
12,752
2,269
17.79
6,146
48.20
4277
33.54
61
0.48
066
Khushab
17,141
13,609
79.39
3,044
17.76
479
2.79
7
0.04
067
Bhera
20,219
15,489
76.61
4,388
21.70
335
1.66
6
0.03
068
Sargodha
36,420
12,060
33.11
7,405
47.79
5920
16.25
998
2.74
069
Jhelum
33,191
19,416
58.50
8,936
26.92
3950
11.90
619
1.86
070
P. Dadan Khan
11,445
7,803
68.18
3,318
28.99
305
2.66
6
0.05
071
Chakwal
11,835
6,684
56.48
2,799
23.65
2388
20.18
40
0.34
072
Rawalpindi
185,042
81,038
43.79
62,393
33.72
32054
17.32
3,668
1.98
073
Cambellpur
13,999
7,408
52.92
4,312
30.80
2031
14.51
223
1.59
074
Hazro
11,186
7,411
66.25
2,752
24.60
1013
9.06
10
0.09
075
Pindigheb
12,641
8,708
68.89
3,007
23.79
924
7.31
2
0.02
076
Mianwali
22,825
13,041
57.13
8,940
39.17
633
2.77
210
0.92
077
Bhakkar
9,006
4,060
45.08
2,712
30.11
173
1.92
18
0.20
078
Montgomery
38,345
14,860
38.75
17,435
45.47
5,254
13.70
746
1.95
079
Okara
19,315
5,216
27.00
10,378
53.73
3,113
16.12
601
3.11
080
Pakpattan
17,852
9,516
53.30
7,432
41.63
839
4.70
55
0.31
081
Lyallpur
69,930
23,003
32.89
32,896
47.04
10,897
15.58
3,027
4.33
082
Gojra
12,964
3,253
25.09
6,891
53.15
1,302
10.04
1,167
9.00
083
Kamalia
14,295
6,011
42.05
6,906
48.31
1,459
10.21
75
0.52
084
Jaranwala
9,833
2,534
25.77
 5,693
57.90
2,215
22.53
67
0.68
085
Jhang
50,051
24,506
48.96
23,246
46.44
217
0.43
39
0.08
086
Chiniot
34,437
23,050
66.93
11,158
32.40
58
0.17
12
0.03
087
Multan
142,768
81,393
57.01
56,477
39.56
2,665
1.87
680
0.48
088
Kahror
11,348
4,620
40.71
6,701
59.05
26
0.23
 -  
0.00
089
Khanewal
17,036
5,710
33.52
 9,283
54.49
1,664
9.77
278
1.63
090
Leiah
13,087
7,372
56.33
5,683
43.42
28
0.21
4
0.03
091
D. Ghazi Khan
32,139
18,810
58.53
12,989
40.42
157
0.49
37
0.12
092
Jampur
11,862
7,975
67.23
2,260
19.05
24
0.20
 3
0.03
093
Mandi
9,033
333
3.69
8,218
90.98
141
1.56
   -  
0.00
094
Kapurthala
26,067
15,093
57.90
8,968
34.40
1,594
6.12
20
0.08
095
Sultanpur
10,168
6,203
61.01
3,394
33.38
470
4.62
 -  
0.00
096
Phagwara
16,194
4,724
29.17
8,256
50.98
2,355
14.54
11
0.07
097
Maler Kotla
29,321
22,296
76.04
6,270
21.38
456
1.56
39
0.13
098
Faridkot
20,375
10,228
50.20
4,742
23.27
4,608
22.62
50
0.25
099
Kot Kapura
20,584
8,107
39.38
7,280
35.37
5,154
25.04
35
0.17
100
Patiala
69,850
26,116
37.39
27,361
39.17
5,894
22.75
   -  
0.00
101
Bassi
14,400
9,742
67.65
3,978
27.63
680
4.72
  -  
0.00
102
Samana
14,912
11,037
74.01
3,701
24.82
130
0.87
3
0.02
103
Sunam
14,187
5,329
37.56
5,166
36.41
3,439
24.24
17
0.12
104
Barnala
12,341
2,848
23.08
4,734
38.36
4,688
37.99
6
0.05
105
Bhatinda
24,833
8,431
33.95
9,828
39.58
5,645
22.73
    -  
0.00
106
Narnaul
23,063
9,750
42.28
8,080
35.03
81
0.35
2
0.01
107
Mohindargarh
9,771
4,492
45.97
5,180
53.01
98
1.00
1
0.01
108
Sangur
17,132
3,182
18.57
8,211
47.93
3,198
18.67
59
0.34
109
Jind
14,909
4,934
33.09
9,326
62.55
256
1.72
22
0.15
110
Nabha
22,625
8,942
39.52
9,735
43.03
2,307
10.20
12
0.05
111
Phul
9,515
1,480
15.55
5,854
61.52
1,324
13.91
7
0.07
112
Jaitu
11,435
2,450
21.43
5,776
50.51
3,174
27.76
      
0.00
113
Dhanaula
9,560
3,244
33.93
2,356
24.64
3,960
41.42
 -  
0.00
114
Bahwalpur
40,015
28,946
72.34
10,836
27.08
208
0.52
25
0.06
115
Ahmadpur East
12,255
6,920
56.47
5,303
43.27
32
0.26
 -  
0.00


While doing my research I noted many points that startled me, and I felt that the allegations of unfair award of the boundary commission and favouring India on this account, have solid grounds.

1.      Eight Muslim/Christian majority tehsils that were contiguous to Pakistan were given to India, on the pretext of "other factors".

2.      Not a single non Muslim majority tehsil was given to Pakistan.

3.   A large part of Kausr tehsil was awarded to India on the flimsy ground of protecting Amritsar city.

4. Due to the above mentioned reasons, state of Kapurthala, with clear Muslim majority and surrounded by Muslim majority tehsils, fell into India.

Tehsil
ArKm2
Population
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Dasuya
1,298
273,246
132,105
48.35
95,572
34.98
40,509
14.83
4,729
1.7
 Jullundur
1,008
443,010
226,623
51.16
123,718
27.93
86,996
19.64
4,656
1.05
 Nakodar
945
228,783
135,918
59.41
39,766
17.38
52,037
22.75
929
0.41
 Ferozepore
1,761
290,286
160,371
55.25
53,520
18.44
70,782
24.38
3,847
1.33
 Zira
1,279
210,819
137,586
65.26
18,863
8.95
50,209
23.82
3,801
1.80
 Ajnala
1,083
237,049
140,939
59.46
15,415
6.50
67,986
28.68
12,708
5.36
 Gurdaspur
1,287
328,819
171,498
52.16
57,281
17.42
76,695
23.32
22,506
6.84
 Batala
1,235
380,053
209,277
55.07
33,610
8.84
116,413
30.63
20,670
5.44
 Kapurthala
1,712
378,380
213,754
56.49
61,546
16.27
88,350
23.35
1,643
0.43











 Total
11,608
2,770,445
1,528,071
55.16
499,291
18.02
649,977
23.46
75,489
2.72

The above table clearly shows that the in these 9 units, Muslims/Christians had a clear majority of 57.88%, against Hindus/Sikhs population of 41.5%. But the question arises that in case all these tehsils were awarded to Pakistan, two non Muslim majority tehsils of Amritsar and Taran Taran would have formed an enclave inside Pakistan. First, these two tehsils were not contiguous to other non Muslim areas. Second even if they have fallen in Pakistan, the Muslim population was so large, that the whole block (consider the above area as Block A) would have still retained Muslim majority. As the table below shows:

Tehsil
ArKm2
Population
Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Block A
11,608
2,770,380
1,528,071
55.16
499,291
18.02
649,977
23.46
75,489
2.72
Amritsar
1,414
789,159
359,025
45.49
175,771
22.27
243,297
30.83
8,948
1.14
Taran Taran
1,546
387,668
157,731
40.69
26,245
6.77
199,562
51.48
3,654
0.94
Total
14,658
3,947,207
2,044,827
51.80
701,307
17.77
1,092,836
27.69
88,091
2.23

There is one more point worth noting that tehsil Ferozepore consisted of two non contiguous part. It had an enclave of Nathana, which was a considerable area, in 1959 it was transferred to district Bathinda. Nathana and surrounding areas were predominantly non Muslims. I don't have figures for these two parts (Ferozepore & Nathana) separately, but I am sure that if we take the figures of Ferozepore proper only, the Muslim majority in this area must had been greater than 55.25%, which is for the whole tehsil, like neighbouring Zira (65.26%), or even more. 



There as another point which caught my attention is that Sikhs tried to  to portray themselves as the worst victims of this partition which cut their community into two halves. They still stress upon this point. But that is not the truth. Here too Muslims were the worst effected, as the figures given below show:


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
Falling in Pakistan
12,600,912
69.71
2,307,435
22.39
1,365,288
26.90
  340,860
72.54
Falling in India
5,474,625
30.29
7,995,952
77.61
3,709,518
73.10
  129,053
27.46

So of all the communities Muslims had the highest percentage to fall on the wrong side of the new border. Actually this misunderstanding on part of Sikhs is probably due to the fact that while calculating their population they take figures of population falling only in British administered areas and ignore the population living in the princely states, where a large proportion of Sikhs lived.


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
The whole Punjab
18,259,744
53.22
10,336,549
30.13
5,115,185
14.91
 493,081
1.44 
British Punjab
16,217,242
57.07
7,894,087
27.78
3,757,401,
13.22
486,038
1.71
Princely States
2,042,744
34.67
2,442,942
41.46
1,358,784
23.07
7,043
0.12

As I mentioned above a large part in the eastern Punjab and Himalayan mountains was populated by Hindi/Urdu speaking people. Which were about 20 per cent of the total population of Punjab. The following table shows the religious composition based on language spoken by the people.


Muslims
%
Hindus
%
Sikhs
%
Christians
%
The whole Punjab
18,259,744
53.22
10,336,549
30.13
5,115,185
14.91
493,083
1.44
Punjabi Speaking 
16,827,041
61.97
4,841,874
17.83
4,916,950
18.11
485,292
1.79
Hindi/Urdu Speak.
1,432,708
20.00
5,490,353
76.63
199,234
2.78
8,789
0.12

The above given table shows a very interesting fact that the of the Punjabi nation 62% were Muslim according to the census of 1941, while Sikhs and Hindus were almost equal, with Sikhs slightly bigger percentage. 

After doing all this research, collecting data and making maps, I kept on thinking that what should have been a more just and fair award? Or what would have been my decision? So I came up with the following map:

If I were to decide the partition, I would have allocated some additional areas, shaded in light blue.

The basic rationale behind this proposal is to give Amritsar, being the holiest place for Sikhs, to India. While giving most of the Muslim majority areas to Pakistan, including some other areas in lieu of Muslim majority areas in Bist Doab. This additional territory I have marked with light blue colour. 

You are most welcome to send me you own suggestions, of course with reasons and arguments. I shall put them on this blog with your name and place. Sure this invitation is to my friends on the "other side" of the Radcliffe Line as well. Similarly I shall appreciate your suggestions to improve this article further or pointing out any inaccuracies. 

 Tariq Amir

23 October, 2014.
Doha - Qatar  


116 comments:

  1. India was a motherland of those hindu and sikh.whom you invader onslaught like a butcher and asking muslim country then howe can you claim on that area which is less then 80% muslim populated and in india muslim always had right except some hatred by hindu sentimente vote picker some political people due to bakloli of you jehadi theorists. And what happen if India remain United, Rajasthan which have great history of morals would be prosperous by irrigation from Indus. Due to you orthodox religious hate speaker, whole pro-independace India got sunder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Focus on your words dear, and let your own self decide who is HATE SPEAKER

      Delete
    2. Majority of Muslims were Hindus and Sikhs before accepting Islam. So your theory that they are invaders is incorrect.Most were Rajputs, Jats and Gujjars. Their surnames and gots are common. Lahore was largely Hindu and some portions of Gurdaspur and Amritsar Muslim. The guy Radcliffe was a novice. There was no big city in Pakistani Punjab. Therefore, Lahore was awarded to Pakistan.

      Delete
    3. Inner Lahore was 63% Muslim, Lahore Metro total was 60% Muslim.
      It was majority Muslim city and district.

      Delete
    4. Plenty of Muslims have FOREIGN ancestry. Turkic, Iranian, Pathan, Central Asian, Arab....just look and you will see they came here as invaders.

      Delete
    5. It's a common misconception that Punjabis used to be Hindu/Sikh before Muslims in Western Punjab. Brahminism never really took over Punjab. Before Islam, most Western Punjabis were Buddhists, or followed Punjabi tribal religions. Those surnames aren't caste names but tribal names. That's why you won't see a Tamil with the surnames of "Cheema", "Bajwa", "Virk", etc.

      Delete
    6. We assume that the landowning classes had acquired that land in line with the same principles of justice/fairness. The reality is ALL the landowners in punjab be they hindu, muslim, or sikh had been alotted/"granted" the land by the british. The victims were the poor and the peasantry of all communities, they got slaughtered on both sides.
      We also assume the horrific violence had to do with religion, it was probably driven in equal measure by miscreants wanting to take over the land of the "other". Partitioning the province of Punjab was a profoundly unjust act, for which the blame lies with Patel and Nehru. Quad-e-Azam had agreed to the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1946. It would've been a total win-win for everyone. No partition, secularism in both places, but a safety net for respective minorities. Pakistan would have had undivided Punjab, and would have been a sub-nation of "India".

      Delete
  2. And what about 99% hindu population Thar parkar and hindu dominent Sanghar, Badin and Sukkur.
    Due to partition Rajasthan Lost its area Bahawalpur and Umerkot princely state, Sanghar, tharparkar, badin and mirpur Khas area. Rajasthan Lost its commercial parts which was on Delhi-Karachi Rail line. A rail line built by jodhpur Railway between jodhpur to Haidarabad has no use for jodhpur.Gadra city separated from Gadra road station due to religious leader, Who fought for religion instead of motherland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thar and parkar dist had 50.5% muslim pop hence a slight but still a muslim majority area and secondly if you wanted to get that small dist partitioned then malabar dist of madras presidency and the purnea dist of bihar should have been partitoned as well as malippapuram and laccadive islands had muslim majority and could have connected with rest of pakistan through sea while eastern portions of purnea dist of bihar were geographically contiguous to east pakistan and also had muslim majority. Finally many small areas in UP like Rampur should have been given to paksitan as there too the muslims were almost equal to the hindus and many tehsils of UP like moradabad had muslims in majorty. there was a reason why congress didnt asked for thar parkar because they new they would end up loosing more areas as muslim league would have asked for similar partition of UP Bihar Madras etc.

      As for rajasthan, the entire rajputana went to india , bahawalpur had over 80% muslim population and was a part of punjab with no rail or proper road link with rajasthan and where majority spoke seraki and not rajasthani).

      And what motherland are u talking about?! india always existed as a sub continent or a region like europe. it is too multi ethnic to be called a country. there is hardly anything common between a tamilian and a kashmiri or a punjabi or an odisi. only 3 times in entire recorded history has this landmass become one country. first under ashoka, second under the mughals and third under the british so 2 out of 3 times the so called foreign invaders united it otherwise it was always divided into multiple kingdoms. henc ebe thankful to these foreign invaders rather then cursing them

      Delete
    2. As-salamu Alaikum bhai.

      I am Atif from India. I came across your blog and saw your work on Partition of Punjab. I greatly benefited from this as it is a well referenced accurate article based on 1941 census of British India. Particularly, your work on maps is very apprecianble. I use your map for information purpose.
      Thank you bro and JazakAllah khair.

      A request....

      It is well established myth and lie propagated by extremist Hindus that Hindus in Pakistan are being eliminated even after partition. Hindus in Pak were 27% and now 0.5%...Hindu girls are being abducted, raped and foeced to convert etc etc.

      I request you to do a detailed research on this topic based on credible data and news articles.
      Also, provide us religionwise provincial statistics of India based on migration as per 1951 census.

      I request you do this all if you get time. If you ask, I will help you as per my capabilities.

      Wassalaam

      Delete
    3. Non Muslims were 12% of Total Population of Pakistan , both East and West[Total Population of East 42 Million and West 34 Million ] ,22% in East Pakistan and in West 1.85% ,the Figures are same there is no noticeable change so After the fall of Dacca and creation of Bangladesh ,Non Muslim Population of Pakistan is still 1.85 with 1.6 % Hindus .so thats just propaganda

      Delete
  3. Jinnah’s Pakistan for Gandhi's India in the second week of August,1947.

    Taj was Shahrukh Khan’s father and a young Pathan when India was carved out on communal lines in 1947. He was greatly influenced by Gandhi ji, ‘Frontier Gandhi’ Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Pandit Nehru. And when communal riots broke out post partition, Taj Mohammad decided to leave his homeland for a secular India. He came to Delhi and remained a Congress activist.

    It goes without saying that it wasn’t an easy task for the likes of Ghulam Sarvar and Taj Mohammad to settle for India.

    Shahrukh Khan has said several times that his father, Taj Khan, was a Congress activist and totally opposed to the idea of partition of the country on the basis of religion. He came to Delhi along with his family members.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a detailed work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very informative, thank you very much. I needed the exact map of divided kasur tehsil....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tariq Amir sahib
    Good Informative post , Have you read Dr Ishtiaq's Punjab:Bloodied Partitioned and Cleansed ..?
    Requesting your permission to add this to Punjabi Research Forum at Facebook [ https://www.facebook.com/groups/punjab1/]

    On a side note , please remove these Spam posts , about movie downloads and SEO marketing etc etc from the comment sections

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is this book in Urdu? If yes, provide me its pdf link.

      Delete
    2. Sure you can use it on your Facebook page. Your suggestion regarding spam also has been noted. Thanks.

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. excellent and very informative. do you have any idea about rajasthan areas that would have been given to Pakistan

    ReplyDelete
  9. As-salamu Alaikum bhai.

    I am Atif from India. I came across your blog and saw your work on Partition of Punjab. I greatly benefited from this as it is a well referenced accurate article based on 1941 census of British India. Particularly, your work on maps is very apprecianble. I use your map for information purpose.
    Thank you bro and JazakAllah khair.

    A request....

    It is well established myth and lie propagated by extremist Hindus that Hindus in Pakistan are being eliminated even after partition. Hindus in Pak were 27% and now 0.5%...Hindu girls are being abducted, raped and foeced to convert etc etc. This propaganda is so strong that even some educated Pakistanis and Hindu leader Ramesh Kumar buy it and continuously repeat this lie on every platform and media forum.

    I request you to do a detailed research on this topic based on credible data and news articles.
    Also, provide us religionwise provincial statistics of India based on migration as per 1951 census.

    I request you do this all if you get time. If you ask, I will help you as per my capabilities.

    Wassalaam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the reasons hindus never trust muslims

      Delete
    2. We assume that the landowning classes had acquired that land in line with the same principles of justice/fairness. The reality is ALL the landowners in punjab be they hindu, muslim, or sikh had been alotted/"granted" the land by the british. The victims were the poor and the peasantry of all communities, they got slaughtered on both sides.
      We also assume the horrific violence had to do with religion, it was probably driven in equal measure by miscreants wanting to take over the land of the "other". Partitioning the province of Punjab was a profoundly unjust act, for which the blame lies with Patel and Nehru. Quad-e-Azam had agreed to the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1946. It would've been a total win-win for everyone. No partition, secularism in both places, but a safety net for respective minorities. Pakistan would have had undivided Punjab, and would have been a sub-nation of "India".

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. you all will waste your whole lives on creating & justifying border lines, not even a single one of you has a slightest idea how much developmental potential we all are losing just because of this nonsense. It would be nice for pakistan & india to get united again. whole world can develop only as one or none part of it can sustain at all. please just stop this madness & let us be united, we are humans, citizen of an undivided earth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only if Bangladesh unites as well as they are a by product of partition too.

      Delete
  12. Good job with the maps. I never knew the Christians sided for the most part with the Muslims during partition. I don't really have a dog in this fight, but as an outsider, I think there's a case to be made that since Pakistan was meant from the beginning to be Muslim state whereas India would remain a state for many religions, most religiously mixed areas should have remained in India unless there was an overwhelming Muslim majority, not just 50-55%. It seems Muslims caught on the wrong side of the eventual line would likely fare better in India than non-Muslims would in Pakistan, so it would be best for the line drawers to go out of their way to limit how many non-Muslims ended up in Pakistan. Better to lean the other way and only give Pakistan contiguous areas with Muslim super majorities. Obviously, though, most of Kashmir should have ended up in Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your interest. Yes it is true that Christians sided with Pakistan during the case for demarcating boundary, because 70% of Punjabi Christians were expecting to fall in Pakistan territory.

      Your second point suggest that you are not satisfied with the final boundary and wish more Muslim majority areas should had fallen on Indian side. Because you think minorities were likely to be better treated in India. You are ignoring the fact that Muslims were not thinking so and wanted to join Pakistan and Non Muslims India. Anyways Radcliffe seemed to agree with your point and awarded even Zira to India with 66% Muslim Population. But that does not seem to satisfy you and think more Muslim majority areas should have been given to India. I wonder what exactly do you have in mind. You probably think that wishes, desires and interest of non Muslim population carried more weight than that of Muslims.

      As far your your assumption that minorities are better treated in India, is far from truth. You can see how the followers of Hindutva have made 200 Muslims totally irrelevant and voiceless. And Kashmir is virtually a jail for millions of Kashmiris.

      Delete
    2. Agreed with you tariq sahab. An area if it has even a decimal point more population more then 50% should have been given to Pakistan as that is the law of maths (50% or above is majority). Second I feel that there should have been 3 countries create. Pakistan , Bangladesh and Osmanistan (hyderabad deccan state) as this state was large enough in terms of area and population to not just be an independent nation on it sown but also to accommodate the muslims left out in india. this way there would have been no hindu muslim issue as w ehave today and 200 million muslims are sufferring and the constant scuffle between the urdu spekaing muhajirs and locals would too have been avoided. 70 years later it is pretty clear that Complete pop transfers was the only solution

      Delete
    3. Tariq sahab ji, Lets be rational. After all you're a human just like the rest. What makes you think that minorities are ill-treated in India? The Muslim population was 9.8% (in 1947) and is 15% (as per 2011 census). The population wouldnt have increased if the Muslims would have been subjected to pogrom or genocide.

      Can Pakistan or Bangladesh say the same about the minority Hindus? Pakistan & BD were founded on a Secular principal in 1947 and 1971. They are no-more. Both have modified their constitution and are Islamic countries.

      Hindus are "dusre-darje ke shehri"

      PAK/BD are just mirror image of Israel.
      Just like what Israel has subjected the native Palestinians to.

      Delete
    4. First of all Muslims were over 13% of India's population in 1947 which dropped to 9% in 1951 (not 1947) and now they are 14.2% as of 2011. this means that even the percentage of Muslims dipped in india after partition due to population transfers (many indian like u falsefully believe that muslim population never decline din india) however the main epicenter of migration was punjab region and as indian punjab accounted for 10% of muslim population, their departure didnt impacted the overall muslim population the way departure of hindus and sikhs from Pakistani punjab did as pak punjab acocunted for 2/3 of pakistan's hindu and nearly entire sikh population. once again the rioting was focused more in punjab region. sindh balochistan etc remained peaceful overall with only sporadic events of violence just like UP, Bihar, Rajasthan etc. witnessed sporadic violence against Muslims due to which migration of minorities remained fracitonal from rest of south asia.
      Hindu population of sindh in india is around 3.5 million of which native kutchis of kutch dist are 1 million meaning that actual migrants form sindh were 2.5 million while Pakistan's sindh currently has around 4.4 million hindus residing in it meaning that migration of sindhi hindus was fractional. Baluchistan states were 97% muslim and its still 97% muslims
      Second the only time hindu population left Pakistan enmasse was between 1947-51 ie partition, in 1951, hindus were 1.6% and they are now 2.14% making Pakistan the only country where hindus have seen some increase if any in their percentage unlike Bangladesh and india where hindu percentage has declined since 1951.
      Third, please i beg you, stop proving us that India is some heaven for muslims, since modi's ascend to power attacks on muslims by vigilantes, mob lunching has increased many folds, for sure Pakistan has no good minority track record but this doesn't give India as clean chit by default. evne before modi's ascent hindu muslim riots were not uncommon, muslims have historically been under represented in armed forces, govt jobs, their per capita income is the lower then SC OBCs, despite pak's per capita income being lower then india, Pakistani muslims are still doing much better then their indian muslim counterparts.

      Despite its bad minority track record, pakistan has reserved seats for them in national assembly and provincial assembly ro ensure their adequate representaiton. In UP , which has over 50 million muslims i guess dont even have a single muslim MP, The CM of UP publicly told his supporters to rape muslim dead women and kill 4 muslims for every 1 hindu and they they talk about sab ka saath sabka vikas, indian secularism is becoming a joke day by day. And before u bring kashniri pundits here, let me remind u that total casulties of kashmiri pundits even as per kashmiri pundit orgs like Kashmiri Pundit samriti is around 300 souls while during the same time number of kashmiri muslims killed is in tens of thousands with even more poeple missing. so even here muslims are bearing the worst.

      i have family and friends in india and they now openly acknowledge that situaiton has become bad for them, they use to criticize us for leaving india in 1947 but now eat their own words.

      Delete
  13. Thank you so much for your detailed work. Your maps and figures are greatly beneficial.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for your permission , your blog is added in Punjab Research Forum on Facebook
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/punjab1/ , If you are on facebook , you are welcome to join it and contribute we need Objective research on Punjab ,as Punjab's history is conspiciously absent from the STATE narrative

    Dear Anonymous , the book is Published in Urdu as well , but I am sorry , there are no Pdf of it , either english or Urdu

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear
    Can you please share the shape files for these maps? I need them for my dissertation .Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good Job, I really like your blog. Keep it up Bro!
    grow your business with punjab ads. Post free Ads Now >> Punjab Ads

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your claim that a fairer partition would have been one which gave more areas to Pakistan than were eventually given is ridiculous. You know that the majority of the land in these areas of Central Punjab and Lahore districts were owned by Sikhs. The Sikhs owned over 60% of the land in Lahore district. Why should those who own the land be forced to give it up because the ones who not own the land have larger numbers? So if you are a landlord of a property and you have 10 tenants than in your ridiculous scheme it means that your tenants have the right to take over your property because there are more of them. A much fairer partition should have been either on total population percentage wise so instead of the East Punjab getting only 38% of the land area as awarded by Radcliffe and West Punjab getting 62% then West Punjab should have got 57% which was what the Muslim population percentage was. If you want to add the Christians the this would take it to 58%. So West Punjab got 4% more land than their population warranted. In a fairer partition East Punjab would have goy one major district such as Lahore or Montgomery to take its share to 42-44% as the total population percentage was in 1941.

    If the partition had been based on land ownership then the Sikhs would have been entitled to much more of the central Punjab than East Punjab eventually received. The Sikhs though only 14% of the population owned about 29% of the land. The Muslims got more land than they should have got in a fairer division. As for the Christians, they must rue the day that their leadership threw their lot in with the Muslims. Had the Christians played their hand well and the partition had been faired and based on land ownership then a majority of Christians would have ended up a expanded East Punjab and not be the 3rd class citizens that they are in Pakistan today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. great point

      Delete
    2. True... on fair ownership basis, East punjab was 20000 lakhs acres short.. Partition was encouraged to get the properties of rich Hindus and Sikhs

      Delete
    3. You can look at the things with different perspectives. This is an unending debate. While pushing your point of view, you ignore the fact that a large part of west Punjab was desert or mountains, that's why comparatively larger area of Punjab went to Pakistan. At the same time some people conveniently ignore the fact that Punjab states like Patiala, Nabha, Maler Kotla, Kapurthala, Jind etc. went to India. If you include that areas then I hope you will feel a little more satisfied. Anyway if seven and half Muslim majority tehsils and a princely state of Kapurthala given to India, cannot satisfy you then nothing can.

      Delete
    4. You really know about Indian history.great job man.keep or up

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20 January 2020 at 21:43, I hope you staying safe. It was not Mr. Amir Tahir who was responsible for the partition but the British and his puppets. You may know Muslims around the world are overall good people. Pakistanis are also nice people except the extremit's who run their mosque with taxpayers money just to curse the same taxpayers.

      After King Ranjit Singhji death are Panjabi's also did not fully follow Kings way. It is also our fault, we have ridiculous politicians who do not follow Sikh teachings instead are more interested in accumulating as much wealth as possible like Badals, Majithias and Captain Amarinder Singh. Sikh Muslim Brotherhood is still alive, it is few fractions who are left out who need attention, so they spark fire.

      If an intruder comes into your house and the tenants are capable in taking on the intruders only if they are united than unity is answer. We were easily capable of taking on the bits because they were not stable in any part of India. Indians were always waiting for a mutiny. The Afghani, Chinese, and Nepalis were not fans of this Britt who came from the utmost Western part of Europe to murder, loot, rape and forcefullyconvert. It was our fault. The Sikhs could not do as much due to the small percentage. Networking and technology was not where it is today. This was not the true side of us all Panjabi's but the setup side or confused side should I say. If their was to be a proper partition which would be voting of the people not the rulers deciding than Panjab would not have been divided because the Panjabi Muslim elders would have never voted to leave their homes and villages.

      Congratulations we were setup by the ones who we defended in keeping their country safe during the 2 World Wars.

      Wake Up!

      Delete
    6. We are debating or arguing that this belongs to East Punjab and that belongs to West Punjab but Pakistan giftwrap kashmir to China and China cleverly took parts of Jammu and Kashmir from India while Indian politicians are eating burfi and Chai. Could you kindly remove certain work of this page to create unity which are ancestors had. Are Pakistanis originally from Saudi Arabia or Buckingham Palace or are they natives of their state? Are Indians from Versailles Palace or AR they natives of their state that is in South Asia. The bollywood Khans, Deols, and Kumar did great job by brainwashing us all yet they dine in all together and are filthy rich themselves.

      Delete
  18. How did you make these maps? This is amazing work and I am trying to research this subject myself - do the tehsil and district maps exist as a shapefile or image somewhere?

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    1. I take a map from internet and use MS Paint to make necessary modification and colour. It was very difficult to find a map of Punjab of 1947 with tehsil boundaries. I finally found it a few years ago in the official report of the proceedings of the Radcliffe Commission.

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  19. The Muslim population in ludhiana tehsil is 171482 but Muslim population in addition muslim majority area of ludhiana is 194905
    How is it possible explain it

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    Replies
    1. This area included Muslim majority parts of all the three tehsils of Ludhiana district, Jagraon,Ludhiana and Samrala.

      Delete
  20. Can you have detail map of patiala and nabha princely state religion data

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    1. No I do not have more detailed maps or data of Patiala and Nabha states.

      Delete
    2. they are really complicated because these also have little village in middle or everwhere so these map so complicated

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  21. Great piece of work. Very detailed report. As a sikh, yes, sikhs owned much more land and property than their population as a percentage of the total population. My own family hail from Sargodha pre-partition. They survived an endured. That is enough for me.

    I have Pakistani punjabi friends...they have the same view.

    We just need to learn to live together, somehow mend these bonds. We asians live in the past whilst the rest of the world has moved on the last 70 years - much to our detriment.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comments. Where exactly did your ancestors lived in Sargohda? I hope you have not missed my following post about a gurudwara in Sargodha city.

      http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.com/2017/05/an-old-gurdwara-in-sargodha-pakistan.html

      There are many plaques in the gurudwara, with dozens of names inscribed on them. I hope you will find the information interesting and may be useful. Regards.

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  22. With your logic if Muslims had 55% majority in all districts, they would have got all Punjab. As per your data Pakistan got nearly 58% area and 54.5% population. The "other factor" i.e non muslims had to uproot themselmselves and go somewhere from a 58% of area must have been considered. In commision 2 were muslims judges and 2 were hindu/sikhs. As most experts says niether party could have been satisfied. It was impossible to divide such a complex region perfectly.

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  23. Th fact is that Pakistan does not recognize Ahmadi's as Muslims. if they were to be counted as Non Muslims, India would have easily got Shakargarh Tehsil and many more districts. Ahmadi's are very happy with India and they are equal citizens of India which is not the case with Pakistan. Pakistan is a basket case in the world; going around with begging bowels.

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    1. We cannot give any importance to your words unless you provide us some date in support of your claim. I wish happiness to all, including Amnadis in Pakistan and India. But considering the condition of Muslims in India generally, I very much doubt your words. Pakistan's economy is indeed weak at this point but you will agree that same is the case with India. I wish both countries peace and prosperity.

      Delete
    2. Just one question as population of Muslims have reached nearby 16% from 9.8% in 1947 and it's growing rapidly ...so are muslims going to demand more separate areas or countries out of India .. is it a tradition or a pre planned trap ... And if it is so than should India allow them to increase there population or should have put some restrictions
      And are muslims really patriots towards the country they or living in or they just wait for opportunity to carve a new state in the name of jihaad

      Delete
    3. Tariq Sir, when you register for some government I'd in Pakistan, don't you have to sign or take oath that Ahmadi's are non Muslims or Kafirs? Ahmedi people have been called Kafirs along with Shia's, Sufis, and Christians for centuries in Bharat but suddenly when it's time to make Pakistan, these people become our people? The molvi's have been calling these above communities Kafirs for centuries and suddenly they are brothers in front of the company Raj officials?

      Pakistan officials are double standarded people? The Sikhs have strong evidence that Nankana Sahib, Kartarpur tehsil, and Lahore should have been given to them. The same company Raj officials that are considered fair by Pakistani's were the same that stirred a lot in Palestine and Israel. You must know this really well. If Pakistan map is good than Israel map is good as well. It would be a big problem if Mecca Medina was named Ramabad wouldn't it?

      The Hindus are so gentle that the parsi's flourished our our land. Did the Hindus change Allahabad back to Hindu Deity name? This is where Hindus go on pilgrimage. The complaining is some Hindus treated Muslims bad but don't these same rich Hindus treat their own fellow poor Hindus inferior? There are close to 1.2 millions illegal land takeover cases in pakistan. I do not think any community would flourish in Pakistan except Chinese, Russians, or the Americans.

      The Indians have entered Mars but Pakistani's trying to enter Kashmir but failing officially. How could there be peace when you keep crossing the border yet you gift China around 12 percent of your Kashmir happily. Afghanistan does not like you, if they were to know their history. Iran is just an ally because they need to work with Pakistan to oppress the Baloch people so they do not unite and make separate homeland called something like Islamic Republic of Balochistan. Kashmiris are fed up of both governments PakistanI and Indian. Bangladesh got their freedom.

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    4. Sorry I beg to differ. Sikhs did not have strong case to demand Nankana Sahib or Lahore. Please check the geography and the demographics.

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  24. I think these Muslim Majority Tehsils were adjusted in Sindh. Pakistan was awarded the entire province and also Khulna and areas near the Chicken's Neck.

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    1. No that is not the case at all. In Bengal it is true that Khulna was given to East Pakistan but at the same time large areas of Muslim majority were given to India. As far Sindh is considered it is a myth that Hindu majority areas were given to India. Just three tehsils were Hindu majority tehsil and none was contiguous to India.

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  25. It is refreshing to see a facts based write-up on the subject of the Radcliffe Award. The India-Pakistan boundary is now fixed regardless of how well or how impartially the Radcliffe commission did its job. Therefore, it should be possible for anyone interested in the subject therefore to review the data and determine the truth without concerns of the boundary being changed as a result. One question for Mr. Amir: could you provide a link to source of your data on the 1941 census?

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  26. Dear Tauheed, Thank you for comments. I took the data from the official census
    report of 1941. It is available on net at archive.org.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dear Tariq Amir, I hope you are healthy and active. We could claim land on the basis of religion but it is not good to divide which once took thousands of years of evolution to make this beautiful state we call Panjab. Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims were mostly Punjabi Hindus once. Our food, culture, and Language is same. It is very sad to see this state was divided under the rule of the Brits who came from the most North Western part of Europe to Bharat with evil intentions from day one. Sikhs claim to have suffered the most because we did not ask for a separate country like Muslim brothers did. Muslim brothers got Pakistan and East Pakistan so them being stuck in India was not actually stuck it is they chose India clearly. Nobody had tied them up to stay in India. They had not 1 but 2 countries to migrate to, being Pakistan or Bangladesh. Sikhs did suffer the most, because they gave their lives the most in the Punjab Freedom Fighting Movement compared to their fellow Punjabis according to alot of government historical papers. Sikh fought against Afghani invaders who used to kill there own Muslim biological brothers for the throne and imagine what they must of done to Hindus or Muslims which Pakistanis have not witnessed with their eyes. Sikhs fought the Brits in 2 wars without a Adult King, also Sikhs fought in Word War 1 and 2 in large numbers despite being super minority. If Sikhs did not fight all these Afghan wars, British wars, and 2 World Wars than our population would of surely been more than it was in 1947. Now could I ask you if Sikhs suffered the most? The ones they protected were ones who betrayed them. I along with many people will say it was silly to take a part of Panjab, Kashmir, Balochland, eastern Peshawar (Kyberpakhtunwa) and making it Pakistan. States were affected and destroyed to a great extent just because fellow Muslim wanted it. If Kashmir should be united, then will you be brave to take Chinese controlled Kashmir? If Kashmir should be united then should Panjab be united? Pakistan has around 4% so called kafirs so it might not be pak for Pakistani extremists, then why don't you help Balochi's make Balochistan since it would hardly have a single so called Kafir, it will benefit Islam, wouldn't it? It was absurd to divide Punjab. It should of been a separate country like it was for thousands of years just like Kingdom of Nepal or Burma was and is. It bordered China, India, Pakistan, & Afghanistan(Khyber Pakthunwa). Muslims would of had big population in Greater Panjab so they would not of had as many problems as pepole say. People mistakened poor Muslim conditions before partition not knowing PanjabI Muslims were financially better than Muslims in other states. Jobs were in abundance in this green state. The riots would have been avoided and greatly no PanjabI would have had to migrate. Pakistani Muslims were Indian Muslims before partition. It is sad to see them name landmarks and places after ruthless Afghani invaders who murdered enough Indian Muslims and what they did to Mughal Royal Muslims family members.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Your comments are mostly inaccurate and misleading with no basis in reality Anonymous 28 Feb 2021...

      If you read non terrorist RSS history on the subject you will learn that Quaid E Azam met with the Sikh Leadership and offered them a blank piece of paper to list their terms to join Pakistan, which he offered to sign. Jinnah offered the Sikh the position of Deputy Premier and even offered them a self autonomous Sikhistan. The Sikhs rejected the offer and were hoodwinked by Patel. Sikhs did ask the Brits to create Sikhistan in Punjab in 1947, but got rejected.

      If the Sikhs had joined Pakistan there would have been NO division of Punjab, and the Sikhs would have their Sikhistan. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of Moslems wouldn't have been killed by the Sikh Jathas in East Punjab either, and thousands of Hindus and Sikhs wouldn't have died in West Punjab.

      The Sikhs decided to go with Bharat and we can all see the result. Tara Singh died a bitter man in the 1960s realizing the folly he had made joining India. India thanked the Sikhs by slaughtering over 10,000 Sikhs in 1984. Most of these Sikhs were innocent civilians. India desecrated the Golden Temple in Operation Blue Star. But Sikhs are happy to be with Bharat, but yet they come to Pakistan each year to visit Nankana Sahib and now due to Imran Khan, visit Pakistan every day at Kartarpur. Balle Balle...

      The Sikhs didn't want partition as they owned a bunch of land but they voted for partition of Punjab in the East Punjab constituent Assembly, whereas the Moslems voted against the partion.

      The Hindus and Sikhs made up 35% of Lahore's population but owned about 70% of the property. In Pre-Partition Lahore, The Hindus and Sikhs decided to impose apartheid on the Moslem majority city of Lahore by building areas that didn't allow Moslems to buy land or live; Model Town in Lahore was created as a Non Muslim community which didn't allow Moslems to live there as was Krishnan Nagar in Lahore... Then you ask why do we want to be free in Pakistan as opposed to living in Apartheid in Lahore, where Moslems are the majority but would be treated as third class citizens, much like the Indian Moslems today.


      With respect to Kashmir, the Statesman of Calcutta newspaper documented how Indian troops helped Hari Singh's henchmen slaughter over 240,000 innocent Moslems in September and October 1947 to reduce Jammu's Moslem majority. That's right the hindus and sikhs committed genocide against the Moslems in Jammu and today it is a hindu majority region...

      The "K" in Pakistan is for Kashmir and they are Pakistanis. Notwithstanding the slaughter of 240,000 innocent moslems in Jammu in Sept/Oct 1947, the entire Jammu & Kashmir State remains moslem majority. In Indian Occupied Kashmir, the Kashmir Vale and Ladakh are Moslem majoriy and Jammu used to be Moslem majority but today moslems are the minority. But combining Azad (Free) Kashmir and Indian Occupied Kashmir, makes the whole state more than 80% moslem much like 1947. The Pakistani teenagers that were thrashing Abhinandan in Feb 2019 are from Azad Kashmiri. This is what Kashmiris think of Bharat and its occupational forces.

      Hope this clarifies things for ya. Balle Balle. Cheers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3 April 2021 at 09:21

      You are saying Sikhistan should of joined hands with Pakistan? If it joins hands, there would either be Sikhistan or Pakistan. Are you able to articulate this? Punjab would have had its own PM but at same time it would have been under Pakistan, it is ironic. What power does Azad Kashmir PM and people have despite being moslems? Sikhs made decent decisions. You are a one sided and brainwashed person. Pakistan will be made into several independent states in upcoming future, this is not an insult but very likely.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3 April 2021 at 09:21

      God forgive me but you are living as third class citizens in the Gulf countries. How could the Hindus and Sikhs ban Muslims from buying property when the British east India company had all the power to make decisions. Who governed Lahore before 1947?

      Delete
  28. Pakistan has Khyber because of Maharaja Ranjit SinghJi, before the Brits gave that region to Pakistan. It was clearly taken from Sikh Empire. If I was to ask you who controlled it before the Sikhs you would say Afghani Pathans and not Indian Muslims, or pathans clearly majority living in it and still do and what language they spoke?. Maharaja Ranjit Singh brought stability in Khyberpakhtunkwa which Pakistan has not been able to see well since the creation of Pakistan. Khalsa Raj was a fair Raj where capital punishment was abolished. If King Ranjit Singh did not rule then Afghanis would of invaded for another 40 years and Pakistan would not have been created or if created would of been smaller. Too many Pakistani Punjabis and Kashmiris are pathan, you know this well. I do not have a problem with Pakistan since maybe over 50% of the country was part of Khalsa Raj. After WW2 the Brits were worried there could be WW3 or war in future so they needed loyal allies like United India in other continents. They could of not had won World Wars without United India financially and military man powerwise, they have acknowleged it themselves. They didnt unite India because they dearly wanted to. Panjabis fought argually most in both World Wars whether it be Sikhs, Hindus or Muslim brothers. These people gave their precious lives for the freedom movement and in the 2 Wars just to have their State divided? Kartarpur Corridor is a great step, the last thing you want is America entering Pakistan like it has in the neighboring countries of Pakistan during different years. Every Pakistani Muslim could show respect to the two pure shrines along with many other which brings unity. Pakistani Muslims need to educate themselves about Hinduism because the highest Hindu scriptures Shastras, Vedas, and Simritis teach their is One Supreme and it is formless. Hindus idolize because they made idols themselves if i am correct. What if a Hindu was to ask a Pakistani Muslim why do you bow to an idol like Kabbah? What is Kabbah, isn't it an idol? It doesn't matter if idol is in front of you or thousands of miles away idol is idol. These two religious communities need to work together like they do greatly in the West. I apologize if I have typed anything that seems insulting, my intention is to united Panjabis not divide. SatShriAkal, Namaskar, and RabRakha to all readers.

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  29. Sikhs population was going to go down especially when their sacrificing their lives against Afghanistan in more than 7 wars so Afghanis didn't kill innocent Indian Muslims at that time along with many Muslims. They fought against the British in 2 wars and sacrificed their lives while having no legit king for Panjab not only their Kingdom because Brits were after Panjab regardless of which religious community controlled Panjab. Sikhs fought in 2 World Wars in large numbers while being super minority. Last thing Sikhs arguably sacrificed the most in the Freedom Fight Movement from day 1 against the brits according to many historical government papers. All these above sacrifices along with other just to find out our numbers would decrease with time and we will see Panjab carved? We lost our lives for whom? Pakistan has Khyber Pakhtunkwa because of King Ranjit Singh. We lost properties like no other. Muslim brothers had not one but 2 options either to migrate west or east Pakistan. What about Sikhs? I hope education will help Pakistani brothers to the max.

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  30. i think partition was actually british plan to avoid opposition of hundreds of millions of people of india.british were become weak after two great wars and they were unable to mix up in india like previous invaders as they have nothing common with us.religion culture language colour.they had to face the hatred of indians so they divide them on basis of religion which is still strong factor here.they didnt make any plan for immigrants for months even after decision of seperation.they didnot deploy army police or honourary megestrates for peacefull immigration.in those days two or three officials were enough to control the mob of thousands of people.so they allow people to loot and kill one another to raise the hatred.three to four million people were killed on basis of religion.

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  31. Dear tariq amir sir please tell me was battala city with 67% muslim majority in 1941 fell in Indian punjab or Pakistani punjab in 1947 please tell me sir I am waiting for your response

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    1. City and Tehsil of Batala went to India.

      Delete
  32. Dear tariq amir sir please tell what is the majority religion of batala tehsil and batala city in 1941 please tell me sir

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    1. All the details are given in the article.

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  33. Dear tariq amir sir please tell me what is the majority religion of batala city and batala tehsil in 1941 please tell me sir

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  34. Sir please tell me what is the population and religion of kasur tehsil which was given to India

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    1. Sorry I have no separate data for the portion of Kasur given to India.

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  36. Sir please tell me how many Sikhs were living in the kasur tehsil which was given to Pakistan please tell sir

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  37. Dear tariq amir sir you have written that only 4000 Sikhs living in lahore city in 1941 please tell me sir how many Sikhs were living in lahore city in 1941

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing out this typing mistake. Actually 34,021 Sikhs lived in Lahore city.

      Delete
  38. dear tariq amir sirnplease tell me out of 5115185 sikhs living in total punjab how many sikhs were living on pakistani punjab in 1941

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    Replies
    1. Approximately 1.48 million Sikhs were living in Pakistani Punjab i.e. about 28.6%. The rest were in Indian Punjab and the princely states.

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  39. Sir please tell me the majority religion of patti tehsil in 1941

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    1. Patti was not a tehsil in 1947. It was a part of Kasur tehsil.

      Delete
  40. Sir please for God sake tell me which religion was in majority in part of kasur tehsil which was given to India

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    1. I already have replied to this question that I do not have separate data for the Kasur tehsil's two parts given to India and Pakistan.

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  41. Sir you have written that 12600912 Muslims were falling in Pakistani side and 5474625 Muslims were falling in Indian side whereas there were total 18259744 Muslims living in total punjab for Hindus you have written that 2307435 Hindus were falling in Pakistani side and 7995952 Hindus were falling in Indian side whereas there were total 10336549 Hindus living in total punjab for Sikhs you have written that 1365288 Sikhs were falling in Pakistani side and 3709518 Sikhs were falling in Pakistani side whereas there were total 5115185 Sikhs living in total punjab for Christians you have written that 348860 Christians were falling in Pakistani side and 129053 Christians were falling in Indian side whereas there were total 493081 Christians living in total punjab so sir for God sake please tell me the exact number of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians falling in Indian side and Pakistani side

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You sound very impatient and desperate. Anyway, the difference in figures is due to one reason. The tehsil of Kasur was divided between East and West Punjab. As I do not have figures of two parts separately, so did not include it in the total figures.

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  42. Mr.AmirJi, your work is great. The real Panjabi's which are our forefathers lived peacefully and coexistEd well whereas on both sides of the border neighbors have a hard time.

    If you have you remove this blog site, remove it because this is naturally sparking percentages unless you would like revived friction. Pleas remove this and let us move forward. The English still have United Kingdom and India and Pakistan are fighting over Kashmir.

    We are not westerners, We are South Asians plus our ancestors have been on this land for hundreds of years.

    Rabb Rakha

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    1. Thank you for you comments and noble sentiments.

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  43. Why are we Panjabi Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs stressing over land percentages. The British came and left, they changed the demographics. 100 more years they have stayed and Christian population would of increased dramatically. Greater Panjab belongs to Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims plus others religious communities. Let's speak Panjabi's at home and we gravitate to one another as united Panjabi's beyond dirty politics.

    SatShriAkal to all Panjabi Brothers and Stay Safe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agree, we should love our language and culture and try to promote peaceful coexistence.

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  44. sir in amritsar and ludhiana tehsils sikhs were second largest group after muslims but in amritsar and ludhiana city sikhs were third largeast in amritsar tehsil there were 30.83 sikhs but in amritsar city there were only 15.03 sikhs whereas in ludhiana tehsil there were 38.48 sikhs but in ludhiana city there were only 4.72 sikhs also in batala tehsil there were 30.63 sikhs but in batala city there were 4.74 sikhs sir please tell me where were majority of sikhs of amritsar, ludhiana, batala and other tehsils of undivided punjab

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The explanation is that the Sikhs were mostly living in rural areas. That's why their percentage in cities and town was generally low.

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  45. Desi Muslims are never satisfied. Tarek Fateh needs to look at these maps. He haD best resolution, give punjab to Sikhs they will fix it.

    How come Hindu majority districts of Sindh went to Pakistan? How come Lahore went to Pakistan?

    The Sikhs and need to take back there districts. In America, we have Caucasians as majority or largest group does it mean it belongs to them? No, it belongs to the Natives, the Aboriginals. Your language is dasa mass humko tumko. The stadiums are named after gaddafi and Abdali, cono used peopLe as Hasan NiSar talkyd about. Well done, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I am surprised that how strong is the myth in India that Hindu majority districts were given to Pakistan. It is totally wrong. There was no Hindu majority district in Sindh even in 1947. Only three talukas out of 67 had Hindu majorities and none of them was contiguous to India. Check the following article.

      https://pakgeotagging.blogspot.com/search?q=sindh

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  46. "If I were to decide the partition, I would have allocated some additional areas, shaded in light blue."

    Are you trying to revive tensions?
    People are going to get free land on basis of population. This is what India gets for welcoming the muslims?

    You should be ashamed of yourself when these invaders were murdering and abducting for the last millenium and this new millanium you talk about Muslim majority percentages? Shame on you. I wonder if several dynasties were to take turns murdering and abducting woman for this millenium, where would the Muslim percentage be. You are clearly lost. So many Muslims are leaving Islam as we see with newer generation.

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    1. Punjab was divided on the basis of Muslim and non Muslim population, so there is no harm in discussing the fairness of partition. Anyway, I am not trying to revive tensions or claim territories of India. It is just an academic discussion.

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  47. Tariq amir sir you have written that 1162 km2 area of kasur tehsil was given to India and 931 km2 area of kasur tehsil was given to Pakistan sir for Allah sake please tell me in which part of kasur tehsil Sikhs were more part of kasur tehsil which was given to India or part of kasur tehsil which was given to Pakistan please tell me sir I am a waiting for your response

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Definitely the Muslims majority portion went to Pakistan and vice versa.

      Delete
  48. Dear tariq amir sir I want to know that how many Sikhs were living in center west punjab which includes lahore tehsil, chunian tehsil, sialkot district, gujranwala district, sheikhpura district, lyallpur district, Montgomery district, shakargarh district and part of kasur tehsil which was given to Pakistan sir as I calculated there were 1044828 Sikhs living in center west punjab if we give whole kasur tehsil to India but if we add part of kasur tehsil given to Pakistan according to my calculations there were about 1097000 Sikhs living in center west punjab so sir for God sake please tell me are my calculations true and sir please tell me why you are not replying to my recent comments sir I am a hindu and I respect you sir you are very intelligent person and I wanted to know answers from you that I have questioned in my recent comments sir for God sake please reply me back I am waiting for your response

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    1. I have given the figures of all the tehsils. You can calculate the demographics of different regions according to your interest.

      Delete
  49. Very very nice work. Its all true . If they divided punjab into tehsils. Then the map was difrent.

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  51. What a useless, division creating blog under the guise of “academic discussion”. Why not create a blog that promotes brotherhood and brings people together as humanity demands ?

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  52. We cannot bury or forget the past, but sure we can learn from it. The purpose is to create understanding not division.

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  53. Well it’s not achieving it’s stated purpose. Quite the opposite. Understanding never comes from analyzing the past but letting it go. It’s the ego which causes division that always wants to rehash the past. It is never objectively interested in an academic pursuit. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

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    1. Understanding only comes from analyzing the past. We can and we should let the past go but we cannot and should not ignore it and its lessons. It can be your point of view but not necessarily the truth.

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  54. Great work Tariq. Past is past but who forget the past can't mend their wrong ways. It is a must to every indian to know the past of this great country and take the right lesson from it.

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  55. Yes sir, I agree with you. We all should learn from history, so that we do not repeat the past mistakes.

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  56. We will unite in future,when everyone become educated.when we stop fighting on basis of religion,and start thinking about our culture,our tribe,our language,
    Love from charda Panjab.

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  57. Mr respected admin Your Sikh Population have many Mistake i Noticed 4
    Gurdaspur, Batala, Malerkotla have 2nd sikh population you showed 3rd
    Kharar tehsil of Ambala Have 1st population but again you showed 3rd
    and kapurthala is princly state so boundray commission can nothing did with that

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  58. And maharaja ranjeet singh empire map maybe also not fully correct
    i think quatta side dera gazi khan tribal area not included maybe its added in 1901
    in east north its shyunk river according to John Arrowsmith map collection

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  59. And admin sir if we use some other term & factor use for partion compirision then muslim pakistan also get something more

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  60. And respected admin we seen some other facts then Muslim also got more

    The book written by Dr ishtique PHD and professor from Sweden partition of Punjab which he explained Red clif was in favor to pakistan
    Dr ishtique is a political scientist and been very famous lately and no Pakistani historian has challenged him on his books about Jinnah partition Pakistan Garrison State specifically his this Red clif issue

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