Phd Thesis Nayyer Abbas
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Socio -Economic Rehabilitation of Refugees in Toba Tek Singh During 1947 -1961 NAYYER ABBAS Registration No. 17-GCU-PHD-HIS-11 DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY GC UNIVERSITY LAHORE ii Socio - Economic Rehabilitation of Refugees in Toba Tek Singh During 1947-1961 Submitted to GC University Lahore in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of Doctor of Philosophy IN HISTORY By NAYYER ABBAS Registration No. 17-GCU-PHD-HIS-11 DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY GC UNIVERSITY LAHORE iii iv v vi vii CONTENTS Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................... ix Abstract ...................................................................................................................... xii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................ xiv List of Maps .............................................................................................................. xvi List of Tables ........................................................................................................... xvii List of Illustrations .................................................................................................. xviii INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 0.1 Significance of the Research .................................................................................. 3 0.2 Research Questions ................................................................................................ 4 0.3 Chapterization ........................................................................................................ 5 0.4 Literature Review................................................................................................... 7 0.5 Sources and Methodology.................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1 TOBA TEK SINGH DURING COLONIAL PERIOD: CONSTRUCTING ‘HYDRAULIC’ SOCIETY IN CHENAB COLONY (1900-1947)................................................................................................................ 16 1.1 Conceptualizing the Development of Canal System and Establishment of Canal Colonies in Punjab: Their Underlying Motives .................................................. 18 1.2 Establishment of Lower Chenab (Lyallpur) Colony ............................................ 25 1.2.1 Major objectives.................................................................................... 27 1.2.2 Selection of Grantees ............................................................................ 29 1.3 Lower Chenab Colony as Pattern Setter .............................................................. 36 1.4 Toba Tek Singh: Pre-Colonial Development ....................................................... 40 1.5 Agricultural Colonization in Toba Tek Singh ..................................................... 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER 2 PARTITION AND MIGRATION: PATTERNS AND TRAJECTORIES 1947-1948..................................................................................... 49 2.1 Decolonization of India and Great Migration 1947 ............................................. 50 2.1.1 Muslim separatism in India and demand of Pakistan ........................ 53 2.1.2 Partition of Punjab and Bengal .......................................................... 63 2.1.3 Partition and Ensuing Communal Tensions ....................................... 69 2.2 Conceptualizing Factors Leading to Migration in 1947 ...................................... 74 viii 2.3 The Phenomenon of Forced Migration ................................................................ 76 2.4 Patterns of Migration of Non-Muslims Communities from Toba Tek Singh ...... 78 2.4.1 Migration Process from Rural and Urban areas of Toba Tek Singh to India ................................................................................................... 80 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 86 CHAPTER 3 THE STATE POLICY OF REFUGEES REHABILITATION 1947- 1961............................................................................................................................ 88 3.1 The Government Response to the violence and Refugee Crisis .......................... 89 3.2 Migration to East and West Pakistan and Demographic Shift ............................. 93 3.3 The Growing Tensions between the Muslim Migrants and Local Sikh and Hindu Communities ........................................................................................................ 99 3.4 Rehabilitation of Refugees in Pakistan After 1947............................................ 102 3.4.1 The Government Policy of Rehabilitation ....................................... 104 3.4.2 Policy of Nationalization of Land in West Punjab .......................... 107 3.4.3 The Rehabilitation Policy: Its Execution ......................................... 109 3.5 Rehabilitation of Refugees in Toba Tek Singh: Process, Policies and Execution ........................................................................................................... 114 3.5.1 Muslim Refugees of Chak 331/JB and Town Toba Tek Singh and the Government Response to Their Rehabilitation ................................ 117 3.5.2 The Ordeal of Refugees in the Refugee Camps ............................... 118 3.5.3 The Refugees Perspective of Migration ........................................... 119 3.5.4 The Refugees Nostalgic Feelings with ancestral localities .............. 120 3.5.5 Choice of Toba Tek Singh as Permanent Abode ............................. 121 3.5.6 The Phenomenon of Corruption in Process of Rehabilitation and Responses of the Refugees.............................................................. 122 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 129 CHAPTER 4: SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF REHABILITATION OF REFUGEES IN TOBA TEK SINGH 1947-1961 .................................................... 131 4.1 Refugees Rehabilitation and Its Impacts on Local Politics ............................... 132 4.2 Refugees Rehabilitation in Toba Tek Singh: A Historical Appraisal ............... 136 4.3 Assessing the Impacts of Refugees Rehabilitation in Rural and Urban Areas in Toba Tek Singh ................................................................................................. 140 4.3.1 Refugees Rehabilitation and peasantry ........................................... 143 4.3.2 The Reaction of Local Landowners towards Muslim Refugees ...... 152 4.4 Role of the Government in Refugee’s Rehabilitation and the Expectations of the Refugees ............................................................................................................. 168 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 172 Illustrations .............................................................................................................. 177 Appendix .................................................................................................................. 190 ix Glossary of Vernacular Terms ................................................................................. 205 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 210 Acknowledgement It is a matter of pleasure to acknowledge the generous support of my professors, colleagues, friends, family and staff of different libraries and archives for completion of this dissertation, though it is quite difficult to mention them all here. I am grateful to my supervisor Dr. Tahir Mahmood whose continuous help throughout the project made it possible. From discussions around the different ideas to the meticulous reading of several draft of the thesis, he supported me with lot of patience. He enhanced my understanding to town and village level research techniques. Whenever I was stuck to a complex situation during dissertation writing he came and rescued me with his knowledge. His open arm and friendly behaviour helped and enhanced my learning capabilities. It is indeed important to mention six months fellowship awarded me through the International Research Support Initiative Programme (IRSIP) by Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. Under this programme I spent six months at Royal Holloway University of London under co-supervision of Prof. Dr. Sara Ansari. She red first draft of my thesis and gave valuable feedback. Whenever I sent her manuscript of any chapter she replied without any delay even though she was very busy with her academic endeavors. Her important suggestions proved very helpful to improve my thesis. I am really thankful to her gracious support. I owe intellectual debts to Dr. Hussain Ahmad Khan who shared his valuable thoughts at the crucial synopsis writing stage and guided me with his scholarly insights regarding my work. I am equally indebted to Professor Dr. Ian Talbot and Dr. Pippa Virdee for their much appreciated comments and suggestion on my synopsis. Their encouraging remarks were the real motivational force behind the successful start and completion of this project.