Impact of Partition on Amritsar

The location of Amritsar is probably one of the major reasons if not the most important one for the decline of the city. From being situated a mere 26 miles from Lahore - the Punjabi capital prior to Partition - and occupying a prime location on the Grand Trunk Road, Lahore and Amritsar were considered twin cities by many prior to partition. A thriving community with a stable and growing economy, Amritsar seemed to have an ideal location for the city to grow exponentially.

However, the creation of an international border 17 miles towards its west suddenly made Amritsar a border city. The two cities of Amritsar and Lahore suddenly were representative of the two dominions of India and Pakistan themselves. Partition Riots were at their most severe in Amritsar and Lahore precisely because of their locations so close to the border. Perceived safety, therefore, was a prime concern for the citizens of Amritsar as well as those arriving Hindu and Sikh refugees seeking sanctuary across the border in India.

1. Trade: Amritsar had been a primary centre for textiles, leather work and tanning, chemicals and iron and steel works prior to Partition. After 1947, the area to the West of Amritsar (now Pakistan) was closed for trade purposes. The closure of this belt, which had been the major supplier of raw material and a major market for export, forced the city to look for new markets in the Indian interior. Industry in the city was practically non-viable for another important reason. The exodus of the Muslim community from and the arrival of the Hindus and Sikhs into Amritsar had a crippling effect on the craft-based industry of the city. The departing Muslims were mostly weavers and workers in the tanning, leather and steel industry. The arriving Hindus and Sikhs from West Punjab were in contrast, primarily traders and businessmen. Amritsar suddenly found itself with an abundance of traders in the city, an abundance of factories as well but with no artisans to work in them.

2. Uncertainty of the Border: The transfer of population that occurred in the

latter half of 1947 and the years immediately following was one of the largest mass migrations of the twentieth century. The actual transfer of populations that occurred was, however, an unplanned outcome of the violence in Punjab. Another factor that compounded the ambiguity of the predicted after eddects of the Partition was the fact that the Boundary Commission declared the International Boundary line two days after Independence had been declared. Even though it was assumed that Amritsar would fall on the Indian side, it was still not a certainty. What could have been a systematic evacuation extended over a longer period of time.

3. Property: As a result of this massive unplanned exodus and arrival on both sides of the border, evacuee land became a serious issue to contend with. Due to the hope of the Indian government that those people who had migrated to India at the time of Partition would eventually return to Pakistan, they were wary of distributing the evacuee property left behind by the fleeing Muslim masses. The Pakistan government had already taken control of evacuee property left behind by the departing Hindus and Sikhs right after Partition and had started distributing the land as evacuee property among the incoming Muslims from East Punjab. It was only decided in 1954, seven years after the actual migrations, to acquire rights, title and interests of evacuee owners in their properties in India and to utilize these properties for giving part compensation to displaced persons. Consequently, the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act was passed in October 1954 giving the Government of India the power to redistribute evacuee property left behind in India for purposes of relief, compensation and rehabilitation.

4. Transit City Status: Prior to 1947, Lahore, Amritsar and Delhi were considered the major cities of Punjab based on population counts. However, upon Partition, the Government of India conferred Amritsar with 'Transit City' status at the time of all the refugee movements that were taking place in the state of Punjab. Twenty-one transit camps were set up all over East Punjab with all of these being located close to the new International border. Amritsar was one of these along with other cities such as Fazilka, Ferozepur, Khem Karan, Atari and Dera Baba Nanak. These transit camps that were set up were meant for two-fold purposes-

i. a collection point for arriving Hindus and Sikhs.

ii. a consolidated point for Muslims from India to collect before being escorted across the border.