Refugee Crisis

the partition curse

Partition of India

20 Feb 1947: British announced independence

2 May 1947: Cabinet approval to partition

Sir Cyril Radcliffe: Task to partition Punjab and Bengal

16 Aug 1947: Boundary award announced

The greatest mass migration of refugees started

Riots followed

Refugees from West Punjab

Hindus and Sikhs fled from West Punjab

Directed to refugee camps in Kurukshetra

Migrants at the rate of 20000/day

Brand new township in Faridabad

5 lakh refugees in Delhi

Refugees from Sindh in Bombay

Kolwada camp had 10,400 people living in barracks

Biggest Land Resettlement

Land lost in West Punjab: 27 lakh hectares

Land received in East Punjab: 19 lakh hectares

Temporary allotment of 4 hectares to each family

Sardar Tarlok Singh: Leaded permanent allotment operation

Introduced idea of ‘Standard Acre’ and ‘Graded Cut’

2.5 lakh land allotments by Nov 1949

Refugees from East Bengal

Hindus from East Bengal fled to Culcutta

Exodus spread out over years

21 lakh migrants till 1950

Sought refugee in empty hoses, vacant land, railway stations

No massive migration in other direction, no fields for refugees

Refugee committees emerged to solve the crisis

Crisis & Achievements

Crisis:

Shortage of food

Communist control over Telangana

Achievements:

Rehabilitation of nearly 80 lakh refugees

Completely accomplished by Indian officials

Gracefully handled disproportionate land exchange

Next in this series

Reorganization in linguistic states

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