Wings of Duty

Wings of Duty — Page 30

Syed Muhammad Ahmad 30 the trees. I usually met up with the ground survey team when they saw a group of armed Sikhs moving towards a Muslim village. When the Sikhs began attacking Muslim villages near Qadian with greater frequency, many refugees came to the town for shelter and as a result the Muslim population there increased considerably. This meant that not only was there a soaring demand over the food stocks of the community, this also angered the local Sikhs who felt threatened by the build-up of a large Muslim centre in an area which they felt belonged to them. However, they could not do anything about it because it was assumed by everyone that Qadian was to become part of Pakistan. But on 17 August 1947, in what was a grave injustice, the Boundary Commission placed Qadian and its environs in India. This emboldened the Sikhs within the area and opened the way for more disturbances. One day, we received news that Sikh horsemen had attacked five Muslim villages in Aliwal near Batala and were committing a massacre. I immediately flew there and saw many Muslim homes on fire. The bodies of men, women and children were strewn in the courtyards of these residences. The only thing I could do against this was to buzz the horsemen. Buzzing means to fly an aircraft low and fast over people to shock and