This Day in History: 1947-11-07

At Santa Cruz, in a camp near Bombay where the 1st Battalion was based after leaving Dehra Dun, a Hindu sepoy (soldier) of an Indian Regiment ran amok and shot the Battalion’s Muslim butcher, a shocking local example of the ferocious Hindu-Moslem savagery then sweeping India as the country was partitioned and became India and Pakistan. Although nominally Hindu, the Gurkha Regiments – and many of the Hindu and Moslem Regiments in the Indian Army – remained aloof from the civilian violence and did their best to contain and suppress it, saving many lives and giving some stability to the situation so independence could be achieved.