What happened at Baramulla in October 1947?

Inayatullah, a native of Baramulla and eyewitness to the Pashtun invasion of Kashmir in 1947, was interviewed by Andrew Whitehead in 1997.

1-He dismissed the claim of 3,000 people being killed by raiders in Baramulla as false and revealed that few people (non-Muslims) were killed by them. 

2- Baramulla was largely empty of people when Pashtuns reached Baramulla. They had fled before the invasion and had gone to villages. They welcomed the Indian Army in the sense that they were able to come back to their homes. 

 

3- Tribesmen burnt 20 buildings in Baramulla according to Inayatullah. They also burnt the cinema owned by him. When he told them that he owns it, they were surprised that Muslims could be so rich to build a cinema (Note: Pashtuns of hills associated wealth with Hindus and some among them used to kidnap Hindus from settled areas for ransom). 

 

4- According to Inayatullah 10% of the raiders were local Kashmiris. He claimed that Pashtuns also looted him even though he had collaborated with them. (Note: According to late Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, not all Pashtuns were involved in looting. He said that Swatis, Diris and Mohmands were better disciplined and were not involved in anything wrong). 

 

5- Khurasid Anwar (a Punjabi Muslim; head of Muslim League national Guard) had no control over tribesmen at Baramulla. 

 

6- Tribesmen harassed nuns at Baramulla.

 

 Transcript of the full interview of Inayatullah can be read here: Interview with 'Inayatullah' [sound recording] (soas.ac.uk)

Armed Pashtun tribesmen waiting on road between Peshawar and Rawalpindi for their leader Bacha Gul, of the Mohmand tribe, to arrive with trucks and extra ammo, to lead into battle in Kashmir during their struggle for independence. Date: December 1947. Photographer: Margaret Bourke-White.