Much before the calamitous events of Aug-Sept 1947, the north-eastern region of what is now Pakistan saw targeted attacks on Sikh villages.

Born and brought up in Nowshera Cantonment in Peshawar, I was 14 at the time of Partition. An important cantonment of British India, it had the Royal Air Force Centre and the Sikh Regimental Centre. The city was home to a small civilian population and was surrounded by Pakhtun villages. We were taught Urdu and Persian in school and my father conversed with his patients in fluent Pashto. Nowshera was famous for the great battle in 1823 that resulted in a decisive victory for Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army against the Afghans, with the annexation of Peshawar valley beyond Khyber.

Both my parents belonged to Choha Khalsa in Kahuta tehsil of Rawalpindi district in Pothohar, a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan comprising the districts of Rawalpindi, Attock and Jhelum. Sikh villages and towns were scattered in this region. Muslims formed 80 per cent of the population. The Sikhs were well-off, respected and trusted.

Article reference: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/the-march-massacre-in-pothohar-443900#google_vignette

Some of the villages highlighted for reference (map).