Migration Without Agreement: How Refugees Came to Sindh After Partition
At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, the refugees (Muhajirs) who came from India to Pakistan, especially to Sindh, mostly did not arrive under any formal ‘bilateral refugee exchange agreement’. Rather, their migration happened due to prevailing circumstances and policies.
- Radcliffe Award and Partition
In the June 3, 1947 Plan (Mountbatten Plan), it was decided that the subcontinent would be divided into two states. However, there was no clear agreement on the exchange of refugees. It was only stated that people could choose to move to either side voluntarily. - Free movement in the early days
For a few months after August 1947, there was no strict immigration control at the borders between the two countries. People could travel by trains, buses, or even on foot.
Most of the refugees who came to the cities of Sindh—especially Karachi, Hyderabad, and Mirpurkhas—were from UP, CP, Madras, Bombay, Bihar, Rajasthan, etc. - Violence and riots
Severe riots occurred in Punjab and Bengal, resulting in a mass migration. Both governments later took some administrative measures, but these were not formal agreements—rather, they were ad hoc (temporary) arrangements. - Lack of formal agreement
In 1950, India and Pakistan signed the Liaquat–Nehru Pact, but it was mainly concerned with the protection of minorities and the rights of those refugees who had already settled. It was not an agreement on the arrival of new refugees.
The refugees who came to Sindh in 1947–48 mostly migrated on their own or under Pakistan’s resettlement policy. However, there was no international agreement in place for this.
In simple terms:
The refugees who came to Sindh did not come under any formal India–Pakistan agreement, but as a result of circumstances, riots, and the settlement policy of the newly-formed state.