The testimonies presented by Ahmed are striking in a number of respects. For one, they underscore how little ordinary people knew about Partition and what it potentially meant for them. This is where the state of “bewilderment†is most acute. The Muslim community in Amritsar, for instance, was convinced that their city would go to Pakistan until almost the very eve of Partition. Those in Gurdaspur found out only a few days after independence that their district had, in fact, gone to India. Criminal in this respect was the role of the British themselves, who botched the whole process from start to finish. Also striking is how the victims of violence were also often its perpetrators. Survivors and refugees for instance, were often at the forefront of “revenge attacks†. At times, it seems that all are victims and all are perpetrators.