Refugee Grievances and Petitions Addressed to Miss Fatima Jinnah

Sub title : Complaints of Camp Commander Brutality, Eviction Threats, Abducted Women, and Appeals for Intervention

Subject: Fatima Jinnah | Refugees | Jammu & Kashmir | Gujranwala camp | Camp commander abuse

Date of publication: 1950

Language: English

Page: 85 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 29024

Keyword: Fatima Jinnah -- Refugees -- Camp commander | Abuse -- Abduction -- Eviction -- Gujranwala -- Karachi mill | Jinnah, Fatima, 1893-1967 -- Correspondence | Jinnah, Fatima, 1893-1967 -- Petitions | Refugees -- Pakistan -- History

Abstract: A set of five petitions from 1950 addressed to Miss Fatima Jinnah. Refugees from Jammu & Kashmir in Gujranwala Camp accuse Camp Commander Mangta Khan of physical abuse, theft of a woman’s gold nose ornament, selling donated clothes, and being a possible Indian spy. Another petition from 150 families of trained textile technicians in Karachi faces eviction from mill quarters. A widow requests help to recover her two daughters abducted by a Sikh in Gurdaspur. Additional letters include a complaint about a corrupt architect and a request to return to Delhi.

Description: The longest petition (14 February 1950) from 8,000 refugees in Gujranwala Camp details Captain Mangta Khan’s tyrannical behavior: beating refugees, stopping rations, stealing a “long” (nose ornament) from an unconscious woman, and selling brand‑new clothes meant for refugees. They demand his removal and request safe custody for their representative. Another letter (18 May 1950) from 150 families of trained technicians in a Karachi mill states that after the mill’s Hindu owner and Muslim buyer disputed, they face eviction despite having revived production and providing jobs for 500 workers. A widow, Aziz Bibi (12 August 1950), writes that her two daughters Haliman and Zuhra were abducted by a Sikh in Pathankot on 15 August 1947; she has appealed to multiple authorities without success and begs Miss Jinnah’s help. Other letters include a Khoja Muslim’s complaint against a provincial town planner for financial exploitation and a man seeking permission to return to Delhi to join his widowed mother after his father’s death. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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