Sunday, 11 October 2015

10th OCTOBER 1946 NOAKHALI MASSACRE/GENOCIDE/CARNAGE -KOLKATA RIOTS 1946

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Noakhali genocide History Black day for Hindus

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It was Circa 70 when Jews became subject to religious persecution for the first time. Then ancient Roman Army destroyed Jerusalem, killed more than 1 million Jews, forced almost 100,000 Jews to become slaves and captives. Tens of thousands of Jews from Palestine were also dispersed to other sites in the Roman Empire. This saga of persecution ended with holocaust or mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime from 1941 until 1945.Jews roamed across the globe for 2,000 years but none of such atrocities was disregarded ever. Each and every Jewish book expresses these as blackest days in their own history and the same concepts are transferred from one to the next generation.But we use to forget.
When it comes to main stream media Hindu projected as terrorist and Hindu organization projected as Hindu Taliban by India intelligentsia.But if we go through history what we say dark chapter which are even closed from memory of common mind and today most ancient civilization becomes terrorist in own land. It started well before India independence when riots broke out Chittagong Division of Bengal in October-November 1946 an year before Indian’s independence from British rule.It affected the areas under the Ramganj, Begumganj, Raipur, Lakshmipur, Chhagalnaiya and Sandwip police stations in Noakhali district and the areas under Hajiganj, Faridganj, Chandpur, Laksham and Chauddagram police stations in Tipperah district, a total area of more than 2,000 square miles.
Mascre which statred on 10 october , on the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja and continued unabated for about a week.
It is estimated that over 5000 hindus were killed, hundreds of hindu women were raped and thousands of hindu men and women were forcibly converted to Islam. Around 50,000 to 75,000 survivors were sheltered in temporary relief camps in Comilla, Chandpur, Agartala and other places.
Apart from that around 50,000 Hindus remained marooned in the affected areas were under the strict surveillance of the Muslim hooligans.Noakhali genocide also know as Noakhali carnage was a series of massacres,rapes,abductions and foced conversions of Hondus and loot and arson of Hindu properties by muslim comunity in the districts of Noakhali and Tipperah.
Chronology
  1. 29 August 1946 Anti-Hindu riots break out in Noakhali on the day of Id-ul-Fitr. Murder, loot and abduction of the Hindu population continue for a week.
  2. 6 September 1946 Ghulam Sarwar Husseini formally joins the Muslim League.
  3. 7 September 1946 Ghulam Sarwar Husseini addresses a huge Muslim crowd at Sahapur market, exhorting them avenge the Muslim deaths in the Great Calcutta Killings. He urges the Muslims to fabricate weapons and wield them on Hindus. A huge procession is taken out to mourn the Muslim lives lost in Calcutta.
  4. 2 October 1946 Frequent instances of stray killings, snatching and looting start throughout the district of Noakhali.
  5. 10 October 1946 N. G. Ray, the District Magistrate of Noakhali leaves Noakhali, two days before his scheduled departure on 12th. The large scale massacre of Hindu population commences. Surendranath Basu along the inmates and employees of the Narayanpur estate are massacred.
  6. 12 October 1946 Eminent Hindu families, their relatives, dependants, servants and employees are massacred at Karpara, Gopairbag, Shayestanagar, Nandigram and Noakhola.
  7. 19 October 1946 The British Indian Army is flown into Noakhali. The Army would take another week to reach the trouble spots and about a month to effectively rescue potential survivors.
  8. 16 October 1946 McInerney, the new District Magistrate of Noakhali, assumes charge. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy acknowledges loot, plunder and forcible conversion of Hindus at a press conference in Kolkata, but downplays the mass killings, gang rapes and forcible marriages.
  9. 22 October 1946 Ghulam Sarwar Husseini is arrested.
  10. 7 November 1946 Mohandas Gandhi arrives in Noakhali for relief work.
  11. 2 March 1947 Mohandas Gandhi leaves Noakhali.
  12. 23 March 1947 Pakistan Day is celebrated in Khilpara in Noakhali district.
Here are some excerpts.
“Worst of all was the plight of women. Several of them had to watch their husbands being murdered and then be forcibly converted and married to some of those responsible for their death. Those women had a dead look. It was not despair, nothing so active as that. It was blackness…….the eating of beef and declaration of allegiance to Islam has been forced upon many thousands of as the price of their lives” – written by Miss Muriel Leister, member of a relief committee sent to Noakhali, on 6th November, 1946,(V.V. Nagarkar – Genesis – p 446).
October 23, 1946 edition of Amrita Bazar Patrika stated clearly:
“For the 13th day today, about 120 villages in Ramganj, Lakshmipur, Raipur, Begumganj and Senbag thanas (police stations) in Noakhali district with a Hindu population of 90,000 and nearby 70,000 villagers in Chandpur and Faridganj thanas in Tippera (Comilla) district remained besieged by hooligans. Death stares the people of these areas in their face and immediate rushing of supply to these areas with the help of military, who alone could do it, would save the lives of these people, most of whom have been without food for the last few days.”
On 16/10/1946, The Statesman reported:
“In an area of about 200 sq miles the inhabitants surrounded by riotous mobs, are being massacred, their houses being burnt, their womenfolk being forcibly carried away and thousands being subjected to forcible conversion. Thousands of hooligans attacked the villages, compelled them (Hindus) to slaughter their cattle and eat. All places of worship in affected villages have been desecrated. The District Magistrate and the Police Superintendent of Noakhali took no step to prevent it.”
Noakhali carnage took place due to several factors, one of them was the need of Muslim vengeance to defeat in Great Calcutta Killing by Hindus. On October 10, 1946 the pogrom started with the rabble-rousing speech of Gulam Sarowar, an ex-M.L.A of Muslim League at Begumganj Bazar. A dreadful anti-Hindu speech by quoting verses of Quran exhorting Muslims to kill the Kafirs and idolators and perform religious duty was given. This was followed by violent assaults of Muslim mobs on Hindu properties, killings of hundreds of Hindus, rapes of Hindu women – a complete savagery.
When the correspondent of ‘Amrit Bazaar Patrika’ S.L.Ghosh reached noakhali, he reported:
“The horror of the Noakhali outrage is unique in modern history in that it was not a simple case of turbulent members of the majority community (Muslims) killing off helpless members of the minority Hindu community, but was one whose chief aim was mass conversion, accompanied by loot, arson and wholesale devastation… No section of the Hindu community has been spared, the wealthier classes being dealt with more drastically. Abduction and outrage of Hindu women and forcible marriages were also resorted. The slogans used and the methods employed indicate that it was all part of a plan for the simultaneous establishment of Pakistan.”
Muriel Lester
Muriel Lester, a British relief worker in Noakhali, dew a pen picture of the plight of Hindu women during the genocide:
“Worst of all was the plight of women. Several of them had to watch their husbands being murdered and then be forcibly converted and married to some of those responsible for their death. Those women had a dead look. It was not despair, nothing so active as that. It was blackness… the eating of beef and declaration of allegiance to Islam has been forced upon many thousands of as the price of their lives.”
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani
Describing the events in Noakhali,  Jivatram Bhagwandas Kriplani, the President-elect of the Indian National Congress said:
“The attack on the Hindu population in the districts of Noakhali and Tipperah was previously arranged and prepared for and was the result of League propaganda – it was absolutely communal and one-sided; the authorities had warnings of what was coming beforehand; the Muslim officials connived at the preparations going on, and a few encouraged; the Police did not function during the riots, there being no orders to fire except in self-defence; there were a very few miscreants, if at all, from outside; and there have been many cases of forcible marriages and religious conversions en masse.”
On 21st October 1946, Kripalani observed:
“I am clearly of opinion that whatever the Government, Provincial or Central, may or may not do, every Bengalee, male or female, has to defend himself or herself by whatever means he or she can think.”
Sucheta Kripalani
Sucheta Kripalani, the leader of Indian National Congress and wife of Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani and who later became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to become a Chief Minister in India, lauded the bravery of Rajendra Lal Roy Chowdhury in the following words:
“Fortunately for the Hindus, Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh are not mythical figures buried in the dusty pages of learned historical treatises; they are living forces inspiring our daily life. Their footsteps were followed in his humble and limited sphere by Rajendra Lal Roy Chowdhury, who died a martyr’s death in his village home fighting almost single-handed against thousands of armed hooligans. His fight in defence of faith and family honour was, in Acharya Kripalani’s significant words, ‘the nearest approach to non-violence.’”
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
On 18th October 1946, when the news of Noakhali reached Mohandas Gandhi through a telegram from Bidhan Chandra Roy, he commented:
“If one half of India’s mankind was paralysed, India could never really feel free. I would far rather see India’s women trained to wield arms than that they should feel helpless.”
Commenting on the uphill task before him in restoring peace in Noakhali, Gandhi said:
“I do not want to die a discredited or a defeated man… I would rather die in Noakhali than go back a defeated man.”
Regarding the inevitability of Hindu exodus, he commented:
“My heart bleeds, my brain is strained to think that the East Bengal Hindus who were in the vanguard in the struggle for freedom, will be deprived of their ancestral home and hearth.”
Frederick Burrows
On 6th December 1946, a month after Mohandas Gandhi’s arrival in Noakhali, Frederick Burrows put forward his views regarding the futility of Gandhi’s peace mission:
“It will take a dozen Gandhi to make the Muslim leopard and the Hindu kid to lie down together again in that part of the world.”Commenting on large scale abductions of Hindu women, Burrows could not hide his glee:“Large scale abduction of Hindu women (by Muslims) was quite natural since Hindu women were more handsome than Muslim women.”
E. S. Simpson
Describing the devastation of the Haimchar market, Simpson commented:
“It looks like destroyed by a high power bomb.”
Shamsuddin Ahmad
At a public meeting in Noakhali, Shamsuddin Ahmad, the Labour Minister of Bengal commented:“In Noakhali, there was no mutual slaughter. It was the majority community who attacked the minority community who in some cases only resisted.”
Definition to India intellogisia those who condem Hindu as terrisost and terrios Osam like Osam Ji.
What is a genocide?
Polish legal scholar Raphael Lemkin coined the term ‘genocide’ from Greek root ‘genos’ meaning family, tribe or race and Latin root ‘cide’ meaning massacre. Lemkin described genocide as follows -Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a co-ordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objective of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion and the economic existence of national groups and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity and the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity but as members of the national group.Article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide adopted by the United Nations General Assembly state -In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group, conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
How many people were killed in Noakhali Genocide?
There has been very few scholarly studies on Noakhali Genocide and there has been no objective study regarding the number of Hindus actually died in the Noakhali Genocide. However, it is generally accepted that around 5,000 Hindus died as a result of the mass killings. Contemporary press reports cite a figure of 5,000 or even more. The Muslim League controlled Bengal Government however tried to downplay the incident and deny the figures in the press, while certain Muslim League owned media denied the genocide all together. The official investigation reports were never published. The British colonial administration, in order to hide their administrative inefficacy, too downplayed the incidents Dr. Sachi Ghosh Dastidar, who has researched extensively on the atrocities committed on the Hindus in East Pakistan and Bangladesh, has noted that the elderly people in Noakhali recalled that 5,000 to 10,000 Hindus were killed in the Noakhali Genocide. Bangladeshi scholar Salam Azad and Islamic scholar M. A. Khan both give a figure of 5,000.
How many people were forcibly converted in Noakhali Genocide?
As with the number of dead, there is also no clear consensus about the number of Hindus forcibly converted. However, it is accepted that figure ran into thousands and probably into hundreds of thousands. Contemporary press reports mention a figure of around 150,000 as quoted by Bangladeshi scholar Salam Azad. According to Islamic scholar M. A. Khan, at least 95% of the approximately 400,000 Hindus of Noakhali were forcibly converted to Islam.
Why there is no memorial for the victims of Noakhali Genocide?
The Noakhali Genocide was almost immediately followed by the Partition of India, within less than a year. The province of Bengal was partitioned and the eastern half, including the districts of Noakhali and Tipperah became Pakistan, the homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent. The Bengali Hindus eastern Bengal were forced to leave Pakistan through subsequent pogroms and genocides, most notably in 1950 and 1964. The rehabilitation of millions of Bengali Hindu refugees became real challenge before the Government of West Bengal and India. The memoirs of Noakhali became suppressed in the saga of struggle for a new life.
Everyone is thinking why i am putting hows it started in the end. I want to say these words because i am writing this article without any bias.
Hows it started?
The districts of Noakhali and Tipperah lay in the south eastern corner of Bengal, in the division of Chittagong and bordering the princely state of Hill Tippera. The district of Noakhali constituted of two sub-divisions Sadar and Feni covered a total area of 1,658 square miles. Noakhali was situated on the eastern bank near of Meghna near its confluence and therefore included in its domain several river islands, known as chars in Bengali, the Sandwip and Hatia being the largest two of such islands. Mainland Noakhali itself was crisscrossed by a network of small rivers and canals. The economy was mainly agrarian, with extensive plantations of jute, betel, betel nuts and coconuts. Given the physiographic nature of the district, country boats were the primary means of transport with hardly any motorable roads in the district. A metre gauge railway connecting Comilla and Chittagong ran through Feni, branching off at Laksham to connect Noakhali town.
Muslims constituted 80.57% of the population in Noakhali to 19.31% Hindus, reflecting a demographic pattern characteristic of the districts of eastern Bengal, where the Muslims were in overwhelming majority. Agriculture being the economic mainstay of the region, a majority of the population, Hindus and Muslims alike were cultivators, majority of them sharecroppers and landless agricultural labourers. Apart from agriculture, the Hindus were engaged in handloom, banking and small businesses. The educated Hindu gentry were white collared job holders, mainly teachers, lawyers and doctors, some of them small landowners.
  1. Sinha, Dinesh Chandra; Dasgupta, Ashok (2011). 1946: The Great Calcutta Killings and Noakhali Genocide. Kolkata: Himangshu Maity. pp. 278–280.
  2. Khan, Yasmin (2007). The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. Yale University Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 0300120788.
Books to Read:-
1946: The Great Calcutta Killings and Noakhali Genocide
Dinesh Chandra Sinha and Ashok Dasgupta
Tuhina Prakashani
Kolkata, 2011
Communalism in Bengal: From Famine to Noakhali, 1943-47
Rakesh Batabyal
Sage Publications
New Delhi, 2005
Noakhali-Tipperah Tragedy
Sucheta Kripalani
Noakhali Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation Committee
Kolkata, 1946
  1. Jalal, Ayesha (1994). The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521458501.
  2. The Calcutta Riots of 1946 The Encyclopedia of Mass Violence
  3. Burrows, Frederick (1946). Report to Viceroy Lord Wavell. The British Library IOR: L/P&J/8/655 f.f. 95, 96-107.
  4. Ghosh Choudhuri, Haran C. (6 February 1947). Proceedings of the Bengal Legislative Assembly (PBLA). Vol LXXVII. Bengal Legislative Assembly.
  5. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Batabyal, Rakesh. Communalism in Bengal : From Famine to Noakhali, 1943-47. Sage Publishers. ISBN 0761933352.
  6. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Mansergh, Nicholas; Moon, Penderel (1980). The Transfer of Power 1942-7.. Vol IX. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London. ISBN 9780115800849.
  7. Tuker, Francis (1950). While Memory Serves. Cassell.
  8. 9.0 9.1 “Ashoka Gupta, Those days in Noakhali…”. www.india-seminar.com. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  9.  Ian Stephens, Pakistan (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963), p. 111.
  10. Ian Stephens, Pakistan (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963), p. 113.
Categories:Hindu

Noakhali riots

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Noakhali riots
নোয়াখালী গণহত্যা
Gandhi in Noakhali.jpg
Gandhi listens to a survivor in Noakhali
LocationNoakhali Region, Bengal, British India
DateOctober–November 1946
TargetBengali Hindus
Attack type
Massacre, Forced conversion
Deaths5,000 – 10,000
PerpetratorsMuslim National Guards, ex-servicemen, private militia
MotiveRumours of attacks by Hindus and Sikhs on Muslims
Part of a series on
Violence
against Hindus
Issues
Incidents
The Noakhali riots also known as the Noakhali genocide or the Noakhali Carnage, was a series of massacres, rapes, abductions and forced conversions of Hindus and looting and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of Noakhali in the Chittagong Division of Bengal in October–November 1946, a year before India's independence from British rule. It affected the areas under the Ramganj, Begumganj, Raipur, Lakshmipur, Chhagalnaiya and Sandwip police stations in Noakhali district and the areas under Hajiganj, Faridganj, Chandpur, Laksham and Chauddagram police stations in Tipperah district, a total area of more than 2,000 square miles.
The massacre of the Hindu population started on 10 October, on the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, and continued unabated for about a week. It is estimated that over 5,000 Hindus were killed,[1][2] hundreds of Hindu women were raped and thousands of Hindu men and women were forcibly converted to Islam.[3] Around 50,000 to 75,000 survivors were sheltered in temporary relief camps in Comilla, Chandpur, Agartala and other places.[4] Apart from that, around 50,000 Hindus that remained marooned in the affected areas were under the strict surveillance of the Muslims, where the administration had to say.[4] In some areas, the Hindus had to obtain permits from the Muslim leaders in order to travel outside their villages. The forcibly converted Hindus were coerced to give written declaration that they have converted to Islam on their own free will. Sometimes they were confined in houses not their own and only allowed to be in their own house, when an official party came for inspection. The Hindus were forced to pay subscription to the Muslim League and pay jiziyah, the protection tax paid by zimmis in an Islamic state.[5]
Haran Chandra Ghosh Choudhuri, the only Hindu representative to Bengal Legislative Assembly from the district of Noakhali, described the incidents as the organised fury of the Muslim mob.[6] Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta and the former Finance Minister of Bengal, dismissed the argument that the Noakhali incidents were ordinary communal riots. He described the events as a planned and concerted attack by the majority community on the minority community.[4]
Mohandas Gandhi camped in Noakhali for four months and toured the district in a mission to restore peace and communal harmony. However, the peace mission failed to restore confidence among the survivors, who couldn't be permanently rehabilitated in their villages. In the meanwhile, the Congress leadership accepted the Partition of India and the peace mission and other relief camps were abandoned. The majority of the survivors migrated to West Bengal, Tripura[7] and Assam.[8]

Prelude[edit]

Noakhali did not witness any violence during the Great Calcutta Killings. Though it was quiet the tension was building up. The Eastern Command Headquarters in Kolkata received reports, indicating tension in the rural areas of Noakhali and Chittagong districts, a week after the Great Calcutta Killings, six weeks before the genocide in Noakhali.[9] Village poets and ballads composed anti-Hindu poems and rhymes, which they used to recite and sing at the market place.[10]

Id-ul-Fitr violence[edit]

On 29 August, the day of Id-ul-Fitr, the tension escalated into violence. A rumor spread that the Hindus and Sikhs have accumulated arms and goondas.[11] A group of Hindu fishermen were attacked with deadly weapons while fishing in the Feni river. One of them was killed and two seriously injured. Another group of nine Hindu fishermen from Charuriah were severely assaulted with deadly weapons. Seven of them were admitted to hospital.[6] Devi Prasanna Guha, the son of a Congressman of Babupur village under Ramganj police station was murdered.[12][13] One of his brothers and a servant was assaulted. The Congress office in front of their house was set on fire.[6] Chandra Kumar Karmakar of Monpura was killed near Jamalpur. Jamini Dey, hotel worker was killed near Ghoshbag. Ashu Sen of Devisinghpur was severely beaten up at Tajumiarhat at Char Parvati. Rajkumar Choudhury of Banspara was severely assaulted on his way home.[6]
All the properties of six or seven Hindu families of Kanur Char were looted. At Karpara, a Muslim gang armed with deadly weapons entered the house of Jadav Majumdar and looted properties worth Rs. 1,500. Nakul Majumdar was assaulted. The houses of Prasanna Mohan Chakraborty of Tatarkhil, Nabin Chandra Nath of Miralipur and Radha Charan Nath of Latipur were looted. Five members of the Nath family of Latipur were injured.[6]
The temple of the family deity of Harendra Ghosh of Raipur was desecrated. A calf was butchered and thrown inside the temple. The Shiva temple of Dr. Jadunath Majumdar of Chandipur was desecrated in a similar manner. The household shrines of Nagendra Majumdar and Rajkumar Choudhury of Dadpur were desecrated and the idols were stolen. The Durga images of Ishwar Chandra Pathak of Kethuri, Kedareshwar Chakraborty of Merkachar, Ananta Kumar De of Angrapara and Prasanna Mohan Chakraborty of Tatarkhil were broken.[6]

Communal propaganda[edit]

The Diara Sharif of Shyampur, the residence of Ghulam Sarwar Husseini.
In 1937, Gholam Sarwar Husseini, the scion of a Muslim Pir family, was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly on a Krishak Praja Party ticket. However, in the 1946 elections, he lost to a Muslim League candidate. Gholam Sarwar's father and grandfather were pious Muslims and had led lives of penance. Their family happened to be the hereditary khadims at the Diara Sharif in Shyampur, revered as a holy place by Muslims andHindus alike. After the Direct Action Day riots in Kolkata, Husseini began to deliver provocative speeches, inciting the Muslim masses to take revenge for the Kolkata riots.[14][15] In some places Hindu shops began to be boycotted. In the Ramganj and Begumganj police station areas, the Muslim boatmen refused to ferry Hindu passengers.[15] In the first week of September, the Muslim miscreants looted the Hindu shops in Sahapur market.[15] The Hindus were harassed and molested when they were returning to their native villages from Kolkata to spend the Puja holidays.[15] From 2 October on wards there were frequent instances of stray killings, snatching and looting.[16]

Events[edit]

The immediate occasion for the outbreak of the disturbances was the looting of a Bazaar (market) in Ramganj police station following the holding of a mass meeting and provocative speech by Gholam Sarwar Hussein. This included attacks on the house of Surendra Nath Bose and Rajendra Lal Roy Choudhury, the erstwhile president of the Noakhali Bar and a prominent Hindu Mahasabha leader.[17][18]

Killings[edit]

On 10 October, the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, when the Bengali Hindus were busy in puja activities, the Muslim League leadership started a false rumour that the Sikhs had attacked Diara Sharif.[citation needed] As the rumour spread Muslims from the surrounding areas began to assemble at the Diara Sharif. Ghulam Sarwar instructed the Muslim masses to march towards the Sahapur market. Another Muslim League leader Kasem too arrived at the Sahapur market with his private army, then known as Kasemer Fauz.[N 1]
Surabala Majumdar, the wife of Dr. Pratap Chandra Majumdar, who was killed in the genocide.
After that Kasem's army marched to Narayanpur to the zamindari office of Surendranath Basu. Kasem's army was joined their by another Muslim mob from Kalyannagar. Some of the Muslim tenants too joined the mob and attacked the zamindari office. After a brief resistance Surendranath Basu was critically wounded by a sharp weapon. The Muslim mob tied his hands and legs burned him alive.[citation needed] On hearing that Surendranath Basu had been attacked, Rajkumar Pal, a doctor from the nearby village of Panchgharia set out to rescue him. But he was stabbed by a miscreant on the way.[citation needed]
The destroyed house of Rajendralal Roychowdhury.
On 11 October, the private army of Gholam Sarwar, known as the Miyar Fauz attacked the residence of Rajendralal Roychowdhury, the president of the Noakhali Bar Association and the Noakhali District Hindu Mahasabha. At that time Swami Tryambakananda of Bharat Sevashram Sangha was staying at their house as guest. Rajendralal defended the mob from his terrace with his rifle for the entire day. At the nightfall, when the mob retreated Rajendralal sent the Swami and his family members to safety. The next day the mob attacked again. The set fire to the house and killed 22 family members including Rajendralal's elder brother Chintacharan and younger brother Satish and himself.[citation needed] The severed head of Rajendralal Roychowdhury was presented to Golam Sarwar on a platter and his two daughters were given to two of his trusted generals.[19] According to Sucheta Kriplani, Rajendralal Roychowdhury had followed the footsteps of Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh and became a martyr, defending his faith and family honour.[20] Acharya Kripalani, a staunch believer in non-violence, held that the resistance offered by Rajendralal Roychowdhury and his family, was the nearest approach to non-violence.[20] After three months Mohandas Gandhi while touring Noakhali visited their gutted house. On 11 January 1947, the corpses of the Roychowdhurys were exhumed from a swamp in Azimpur and brought before Mohandas Gandhi's prayer assembly at Lamchar High School. After the prayers the corpses were cremated according to Hindu rites.[citation needed]
A destroyed Hindu homestead in Chandpur.
On 12 October, the residence of Chittaranjan Dutta Raychaudhuri at Shayestaganj under Raipur police station was attacked by a Muslim mob. He took all his family members to the terrace and began to defend the attackers with his rifle. Heavily outnumbered and running out of ammunition he used pump to fire water cannon on the attackers. In the end, he shot his aged mother and children and finally himself.[citation needed] Kasem's private army attacked the Das family of Gopairbag near Sompara market under Ramganj police station. The Das family were Kasem's immediate neighbour. The attackers killed 19 members of the family.[citation needed] The Chaudhuri family of Noakhola village under Ramganj police station were attacked by a Muslim mob. The attackers resorted to murder, loot and arson. All the eight male members of the household were killed.[citation needed] Another Muslim mob attacked the residence of Yashoda Pal and Bharat Bhuiyan at Gobindapur under Ramganj police station. They tied together 16 members of the family and burnt them alive.[citation needed] Between Amishapara and Satgharia the residences of the Bhaumiks and the Pals were total burnt to ashes. 19Hindus of the two families were killed.[citation needed]In Nandigram, Golam Sarwar's private army burnt the Nag residence, the post office and even the school founded by Ramanikanta Nag. The Hindus from the nearby areas had taken shelter in the Nag residence and initially the police protected them. When the Golam Sarwar's private army initially attacked the Nag residence, the attacks were repulsed by the police. The attackers then resorted to indiscriminate looting in the village. An aged man named Kunja Karmakar was burnt alive.[citation needed] On 13 October, at 12 noon, a mob of 200 to 250 Muslims armed with deadly weapons attacked the Hindus in Changirgaon. 1,500 maunds of paddy were burnt. The attackers destroyed all the temples. The Hindu women were stripped of theirshankha and sindur. The men were forced to perform the namaz.[21]
On 14 October, Jogendra Chandra Das, the M.L.A. from Chandpur, Tipperah wrote to Jogendra Nath Mandal stating that thousands of Scheduled Caste Hindus have been attacked in Ramganj police station area in Noakhali. Their houses were being looted and set on fire and they were being forcibly converted to Islam.[22]
Freedom fighterLalmohan Sen was killed by a Muslim mob.
According to eyewitnesses, the attackers used petrol to set the houses on fire. In the remote island of Sandwip which had no motor cars, petrol was imported from the mainland to set the Hindu houses on fire. According to Rakesh Batabyal, the use of petrol and kerosene indicates the pre-meditated and organised nature of the attacks.[23] In Sandwip, revolutionary freedom fighterLalmohan Sen was killed when he tried to resist a Muslim mob from killing the Hindus.[24][25]
An affidavit, attesting the atrocities on Hindu women.
Violence broke out in the Ramganj police station area in the northern Noakhali district on 10 October 1946. The violence unleashed was described as "the organised fury of the Muslim mob".[6]It soon engulfed the neighbouring police stations of Raipur, Lakshmipur, Begumganj and Sandip in Noakhali, and Faridganj, Hajiganj, Chandpur, Lakshman and Chudagram in Tippera.[17][18]The devastation caused by widespread violence was quite extensive. Initial statistics regarding casualties remained doubtful. If the "Hindu" press placed the figures in thousands, the "League" press went on to the other extreme and even denied incidents of death.[26] As per Gandhian Ashoka Gupta's report during visit with Mahatma Gandhi from the genocide site at least 2000 Hindus were forced to change their religion to Islam, six were forced to marry by force and one was murdered.[27] However, the official estimate was a conservative 200.[17][18] Jashoda Ranjan Das, one of jamidar of noakhali Nauri, was killed during the riot. He succeed to save his wife and kids, sent them to Westbengal with the help of local Muslims.. and stayed with his brother in laws. Few months later, with the help of Mahatma Gandhi, the bodies were found.

Forcible conversions[edit]

Villages after villages were forcibly converted to Islam. The men were forced to wear skullcaps and grow beards. The women were stripped off shankha[N 2] and sindur and forced to recite the kalma. Moulavis visited their homes and imparted Islamic teachings. The men were forced to offer prayers at the mosques. The converted Hindus were forced to eat beef, an act which is considered a sacrilege. They were also forced to establish marital relations with the Muslims. The converted Hindus were given new Arabic names. The Muslim leaders even awarded certain upper caste Hinduconverts honorific titles like Chaudhuri and Thakur.[citation needed]
Ashoka Gupta, whose husband was then a judge serving in Chittagong, was among the first outsiders to reach Noakhali to provide relief - she remembers above all the fate of one village woman. "Every night she was being carried away by the same group of men. Her husband said: I am so helpless, please help me. I went to the police station, but I was not able to help her at all.[28]
The movements of the converted Hindus were restricted. They had to take permission from local Muslim leaders to go outside the village. In Khalishpara village under Ramganj police station, the Muslims forced the converted Hindus to give written statement that no untoward incident had taken place in the village.[citation needed]
When the news of the killings and forced conversions appeared in the news for the first time, the Muslim League patronized newspaper The Star of India denied any incidents of forcible conversion.[29] However, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, while answering the question of Dhirendranath Datta in the assembly stated that there had been 9,895 cases of forcible conversion in Tipperah. The exact figure was not known for Noakhali, but it ran into thousands.[30] Edward Skinner Simpson stated in his report that 22,550 cases of forcible conversion took place in the three police station areas of Faridganj, Chandpur and Hajiganj in the district of Tipperah. Dr. Taj-ul-Islam Hashmi concluded that the number of Hindu women raped or converted were probably many times than the number of Hindus killed. According to M. A. Khan, at least 95% of the Hindus of Noakhali were converted to Islam.[31]According to Justice G.D. Khosla, the entire Hindu population of Noakhali had been robbed of all they possessed and then forcibly converted to Islam.[32]

Official developments[edit]

On 13 October, Kamini Kumar Dutta, the leader of the Indian National Congress at the Bengal Legislative Council, he undertook a visit of inquiry to Noakhali on personal capacity where he interviewed Abdullah, the District Superintendent of Police. On the 15th, he met the Minister of Civil Supplies of the Government of Bengal, who was on his way to Noakhali. On his return he communicated to the Home Department of the Interim Government, seeking effective remedial measures and stating that it was impossible for anyone from outside to enter the disturbed areas without the risk of life. No force was sent to the disturbed areas till 14 October. He further stated that the authorities were anxious to hush up the entire episode from public inspection.[33]
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Prime Minister of Bengal, held a press conference in Kolkata on 16 October where he acknowledged the forcible conversion, plunder and loot of Hindus in Noakhali. While insisting that the incidents had stopped, he said he had no idea why incidents occurred. He stated that it had become difficult for the troops to move in because the canals had been jammed, bridges were damaged and roads blocked. He contemplated dropping printed appeal and warning from the air, instead of rushing in troops.[34] On 18 October, Frederick Burrows, the Governor of Bengal, along with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and the Inspector General of Police, Bengal visited Feni by plane and flew over the affected areas.[35] Later, the Government of Bengal sent an official team to Noakhali and Tipperah to assess the situation. The team consisted of Jogendra Nath Mandal the newly appointed Member-in-Charge of Law in the Interim Government, Shamsuddin Ahmed the Minister of Labour in the Bengal Government, Abul Hashem the Secretary of Bengal Provincial Muslim League, Fazlur Rahman, Hamidul Haque Chowdhury, Moazzem Hossain, A. Malik and B. Wahiduzzaman.[22]
On 19 October, Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, the president-elect of Indian National Congress, Sarat Chandra Bose, the Member-in-Charge of Works, Mines and Power in the Interim Government, Surendra Mohan Ghosh, the President of Bengal Provincial Congress Committee, Sucheta Kripalani, Major General A. C. Chatterjee, Kumar Debendra Lal Khan and the editor of Anandabazar Patrika flew to Chittagong at the suggestion of Mohandas Gandhi.[36] On the way they made a brief stop at Comilla, where thousands of Hindu victims narrated them the atrocities on them. In Chittagong, they met Frederick Burrows, the Governor of Bengal, who assured them that according to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Prime Minister of Bengal, everything was peaceful and orderly. He explained the rape and molestation of Hindu women as natural because they were more handsome than Muslim women.[37]
On 21 October, Arthur Henderson, the Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma read out a report from the Governor of Bengal, at the House of Commons, that stated that the number of casualties were expected to be in the three figure mark.[38] Sarat Chandra Bose challenged the statement made at the House of Commons, citing that 400 Hindus were killed in a single incident at the office/residence of landlord Surendranath Bose.[39]
On 25 October, at a mass meeting in New Delhi held under the presidency of Suresh Chandra Majumdar, the managing director of the Anandabazar Patrika and the Hindusthan Standard, a resolution was passed demanding the immediate of recall of the Governor of Bengal, the dismissal of the Muslim League ministry and intervention of the Centre.[40] At a press conference in Kolkata on 26 October, Lieutenant General F. R. R. Bucher, the GoC of Eastern Command stated that it was impossible to estimate how long it would take to restore the confidence among the affected people.[40]

Relief operations[edit]

Swami Abhayananda of Bharat Sevashram Sangha distributing relief items at Dalalbazar under Lakshmipur police station in Noakhali in 1946.
When the news of Noakhali genocide reached the outside world, Indian social, religious and political institutions came forward for relief and rescue operations. Notable among them were Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Hindu Mahasabha, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India, Indian National Army, Prabartak Sangha, Abhay Ashram, Arya Samaj and Gita Press.[41] 30 relief organisations and six medical missions were engaged in relief work in Noakhali. Apart from that there were 20 camps under Gandhi's one village one worker plan.[42]
On receiving the news of Noakhali, Ashutosh Lahiry, the General Secretary of Hindu Mahasabha immediately left for Chandpur. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee and Pandit Narendranath Das, along with other workers flew to Comilla and entered the affected area with military escorts. A plane was requisitioned and dispatched to the affected area fully loaded with rice, chira, bread, milk, biscuits, barley and medicines. Other consignments were dispatched by train.[43] The affected people who took refuge in Kolkata were given protection in about 60 centres in the city and suburbs.[43] In order to administer the funds generously contributed by the public, Syama Prasad Mookerjee appointed M/S. P.K.Mitter & Co., a Kolkata based accountants firm to control the collection, disbursement and audit of the public funds.[44]
Inauguration of Rajendralal Hospital at Lakshmipur.
Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee, the working President of the Bengal Provincial Hindu Mahasabha, Debendranath Mukherjee, the general secretary and Nagendranath Bose, the Assistant Secretary proceeded to the affected areas of Noakhali and Tipperah.[45] Chatterjee consulted Larkin, the Relief Commissioner and considered zonal settlement to be the best method for providing relief and safety, keeping in mind the future resettlement of the victims in their respective villages. Accordingly relief centres were opened at Bamni, under Raipur police station, Dalalbazar under Lakshmipur police station and at Paikpara under Faridganj police station.[45] M.L.Biswas, the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Hindu Mahasabha, P.Bardhan, the Medical Secretary and J.N.Banerjee, the Treasurer were sent to the other affected areas to set up relief centres. Each of the relief centres were provided with a mobile medical unit, placed in the charge of efficient medical officers.[45] Sanat Kumar Roy Chowdhury, the Vice-President of the Bengal Provincial Hindu Mahasabha inaugurated a well equipped 25-bed hospital at Lakshmipur, in the memory of Rajendralal Raychaudhuri who had died fighting the attackers. Dr. Subhodh Mitra was placed in charge of the hospital.[45] Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee visited Noakhali for a third time and inaugurated a students' home named, 'Shyamaprasad Chhatrabas' at Bajapati.[45]
Leela Roy rescued 1,307 Hindu girls.
On 20 October, at a meeting of the Chattogram Mahila Sangha, the Chittagong branch of the All India Women’s Conference, presided by Nellie Sengupta, a resolution was passed where it was decided that the organisation would work for the relief and recovery of the abducted Hindu women in Noakhali.[46] The Noakhali Relief Committee was formed for the purpose of providing relief, rehabilitation and recovering the abducted Hindu women.[47] From 26 October onwards, the Committee began to send a group of volunteers led by Ashoka Gupta to Noakhali for relief operations on a weekly basis.[48] Their task was to search for the abducted Hindu women, provide relief to the refugees at the railway stations, and prepare a list of affected villages based on the account of affected villagers. Leela Roy reached Ramganj on 9 December, walking 90 miles on foot from Chaumohani. She recovered 1,307 abducted girls. Her organisation National Services Institute set up 17 relief camps in Noakhali.[41] In December, the Srihatta Mahila Sangha decided to send Kiranshashi Deb, Leela Dasgupta, Saralabala Deb and Suhasini Das to Noakhali for relief work.[47] The Congress leaders who took the lead in the relief work were Satish Chandra Dasgupta, Dhirendranath Dutta, Trailokya Chakrabarti and Bishwaranjan Sen.[41]
Mohandas Gandhi send four Hindu girls to Sujata Devi, the daughter-in-law of Chittaranjan Das for their rehabilitation. Sujata Devi established the Bangiya Pallee Sangathan Samity for the rehabilitation and a free school for the education of the girls.[49]
The Government of Bengal appointed a Special Relief Commissioner with magisterial powers for the distribution of doles to the refugees.[50] A Government Order dated 10 February 1947, announced relief of Rs 250 to each affected holding for rebuilding their homestead. It also promised a dole of Rs 200 to each affected weaver, fisherman and peasant for buying new loom, langal, ox cart or fishing equipment on furnishing proof. The relief workers were surprised at the government decision of considering the entire joint family as one single holding or unit and contested that the sum of Rs 250 was far too inadequate for rebuilding the homestead. Ashoka Gupta met Akhtaruzzaman, the Additional District Magistrate of Noakhali, on 11 February on behalf of the relief workers and obtained an explanation of the government order so that none of the affected families were left out.[51]

Gandhi peace mission[edit]

Gandhi in Noakhali, 1946
Mahatma Gandhi played a pivotal role in cooling down the situation. He along with his other aides, toured the genocide-stricken area, and was instrumental in calming the communal tension.[17][27]
On 18 October, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy personally communicated to Mohandas Gandhi, appraising him of the Hindu massacre in Noakhali and the plight of the Hindu women in particular. At the evening prayer Mohandas mentioned the events in Noakhali in a concerned note. He said, if one half of India’s mankind was paralyzed, India could never really feel free. He would far rather see India’s women trained to wield arms than that they should feel helpless. On 19 October, Mohandas Gandhi decided to visit Noakhali.[39] Prior to Mohandas Gandhi’s departure for Noakhali, he was interviewed by Dr. Amiya Chakravarty at the Abhay Ashram in Sodepur, near Kolkata on 6 November. After the interview, Dr. Amiya Chakravarty briefed that the most urgent need of the hour was to rescue the abducted Hindu women who obviously could not be approached by the military because, after being forcefully converted they were kept under the veil.[52]
Gandhi started for Noakhali on 6 November and reached Chaumuhani the next day. After spending two nights at the residence of Jogendra Majumdar, he embarked on his tour of Noakhali, barefoot on 9 November. For the next seven weeks he covered 116 miles and visited 47 villages. He set up his base in a half burnt house in the village of Srirampur where he stayed put till 1 January. He organised prayer meetings, met local Muslim leaders and tried to win their confidence. Mistrust between Hindus and Muslims continued to exist, and stray incidents of violence occurred even during his stay in Noakhali. On the evening of 10 November, Sunday, two persons were reported to be murdered on the way while returning home after attending Mohandas Gandhi’s evening prayer at Duttapara relief camp.[53]
Gandhi's stay in Noakhali was resented by the Muslim leadership. On 12 February 1947, while addressing a rally at Comilla, A. K. Fazlul Huq stated that Gandhi's presence in Noakhali had harmed Islam enormously.[54] His presence had created a bitterness between the Hindus and the Muslims.[54] The resentment against Gandhi's stay in Noakhali grew day by day. Towards the end of February 1947 it became vulgar. Gandhi's route was deliberately dirtied everyday and the Muslims began to boycott his meetings.[54]Gandhi took a goat from India. He kept that goat with him in Noakhali. Local Muslims stole that goat and ate it.[28] Mohandas Gandhi discontinued his mission halfway and started for Bihar on 2 March 1947 at the request of the Muslim League leaders of Bengal. On 7 April, more than a month after leaving Noakhali, Gandhi received telegrams from Congress party workers in Noakhali, describing attempts to burn Hindus alive. He stated that the situation in Noakhali demands that the Hindus should either quit or perish.[55]

Refugees[edit]

The survivors fled Noakhali and Tippera in two distinct phases. The first batches of refugees arrived in Kolkata, when the massacres and the forced conversions took place. The refugee flow subsided when the Government announced relief measures and the relief organizations started working in Noakhali and Tippera. However, in March 1947, when the Congress agreed to the Partition of India, the relief camps were abandoned and fresh refugee influx took place in Tripura, Assam and the region that was to become West Bengal. Around 50,000 Hindu refugees where were sheltered in temporary relief camps were relocated to Guwahati in Assam.[56]

Aftermath[edit]

According to historian Rakesh Batabyal, the situation never returned to normal.[57] Sporadic incidents of violence continued and even the police were not spared. In one incident, reported by Frederick Burrows to Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, that took place in early November, a senior ICS officer and his police party were attacked thrice on the way, while escorting the Hindu survivors to a refugee camp. The police had to open fire in which seven were killed and ten wounded.[58] Bengali periodical Desher Vani published fromNoakhali quoted a relief worker in the Ramganj police station area who stated that even after four months people have not returned to their houses.[59]

Investigation and cover-up[edit]

On 29 September 1946, the Government of Bengal had passed an ordinance prohibiting the press from publishing any correct information regarding any communal disturbances. Any statement, advertisement, notice, news or opinion were prohibited from mentioning (1) the name of the place where the incident occurred, (2) the way in which the victims were killed or injured, (3) the name of the community to which the victim or the perpetrator belonged and (4) the destruction or desecration of places of worship or shrines, if any. According to Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, the promulgation of the ordinance was the main reason why the news of the incidents were not published in the press for a week.[60]
The Government of Bengal appointed Edward Skinner Simpson, a retired judge to investigate the incidents in Noakhali. The report submitted by Simpson was covered up by the government. After arriving at Kolkata, on his way to Noakhali, Gandhi sought a copy of the report from the Suhrawardy. The latter had initially agreed in providing him a copy of the report. However, the Governor and the secretaries strongly objected to such a proposition and Suhrawardy declined to hand over the report to Gandhi. A copy of the report was with Mathur, the secretary to Suhrawardy, who secretly handed over a summary of the report to The Statesman. The editor of the Statesman published a censored version of the report on 13 November 1946. In the report, Simpson mentioned that for a proper investigation into the happenings in Noakhali, at least 50 senior officers needed to be engaged for a period of six months.[61]

Noakhali on the eve of Partition[edit]

Though the massacres and mass conversions had stopped in October itself, the persecution of the Hindu population continued in Noakhali and even during Gandhi's stay in Noakhali. A week after Gandhi's departure from Noakhali, A.V. Thakkar before leaving for Mumbai wrote from Chandpur on 9 March that lawlessness was still persisting in Noakhali and Tipperah. Even after five months of the disturbances in October, there was no sign of recession in the lawlessness. On the contrary some of the temporary police stations were being withdrwan, encouraging the criminal elements further.[62] On 19 March, the Muslims held secret meetings at different places. They threatened the Hindus of slaughtering them en masse. The moderate Muslims added that this time they would not be able to protect the Hindus.[63] Ghulam Sarwar convened a huge meeting at Sonapur under Ramganj police station on 23 March 1947. The day was to be celebrated as Pakistan Day. The programme for the day was complete strike. Thousands of Muslims would gather at the meeting. The meeting was announced in the village markets on 20 March by the beating of the drums. At the announcement of the meeting, the Hindus began to flee fearing further oppression. The Choumohani railway station became packed with Hindu refugees.[64] The relief workers of the Gandhi peace mission requested the District Superintendent of Police, the Additional District Magistrate and Abdul Gofran, a minister to not allow the meeting to be held. The DSP however stated that the meeting would be held and the police would adopt adequate security measures. The relief workers reported the matter to Mohandas Gandhi and Suhrawardy and the latter wired a government order to the Noakhali SP on 22 March prohibiting meeting in public places, processions and slogans. However meetings could be held in private places like madrasas and mosques.[65] Rehan Ali, the Officer-in-Charge of the Ramganj police station contended that the meeting would be held at the Amtali ground, which was a private place as it was adjacent to a mosque, therefore the government order would not be violated.[65] The Muslim League leadership resolved to hold the meeting at any cost. Muslim League leaders Mohammad Ershad and Mujibur Rahman roped in minister Abdul Gofran as one of the speakers at the meeting.[66] On 23 March 4,000 to 5,000 Muslims marched in a procession from Ramganj to Kazirkhil and then back to Ramganj, chanting slogans and gathered for the meeting.[67] While addressing the gathering one of the speakers Yunus Mian Pandit criticised the Hindus for the practice of untouchability, lack of purdah system and justified the economic boycott on them.[57]
On 13 May 1947, William Barret, the Divisional Commissioner of the Chittagong Division submitted a top secret report to P. D. Martyn, the Additional Secretary to the Department of Home, Government of Bengal detailing the persecution of the Hindus in subtle manner.[62] He reported that the Hindus were sometimes searched by groups of Muslims and deprived of petty belongings which caught their fancy. In some cases the Hindus had their daily shopping snatched away. Coconuts and betel nuts were forcefully taken from the Hindu homesteads. Cattle were stolen. Corrugated iron sheets and timber were forcefully taken away. Paddy plants were uprooted from the Hindu-owned lands. Efforts were made to close down Hindu-owned cinema houses. Demands were made that the Muslims should have 50% of the loom licenses, even though the vast majority of weavers were Hindus belonging to the Yogi caste. Efforts were made to rid the marketplaces of Hindu merchants and shopkeepers. Hindus, who had rebuilt their houses were threatened to leave the district. Hindu complainants at the police station were threatened by Muslims and compelled to agree to their cases being compromised. The Hindus were openly addressed as malauns and kafirs.[68] It was reported on 13 May, that a Hindu woman of Dharmapur village was rescued while being abducted by Muslims.[69] On 16 May abduction was unsuccessfully attempted on two Hindu women.[70]

Repercussions in Bihar and United Provinces[edit]

As a reaction to the Noakhali Genocide, a riot rocked Bihar towards the end of 1946.[71] Between 30 October and 7 November, mass communal massacres in Bihar brought Partition closer to inevitability.[citation needed] Severe violence broke out in Chhapra and Saran district, between 25 and 28 October.[72] Very soon Patna, Munger and Bhagalpur also became the sites of serious turbulance. Begun as a reprisal for the Noakhali riot,[citation needed] it was difficult for authorities to deal with because it was spread out over a large area of scattered villages, and the number of casualties was impossible to establish accurately: "According to a subsequent statement in the British Parliament, the death-toll amounted to 5,000. The Statesman's estimate was between 7,500 and 10,000; the Congress party admitted to 2,000; Mr. Jinnah claimed about 30,000."[73] However, By 3 November, the official estimate put the figure of death at only 445.[18] According to some independent source, the death toll was around 8000 human lives.[74]
Some worst riot also took place in Garhmukteshwar in United Provinces where a massacre occurred in November 1946 in which "Hindu pilgrims, at the annual religious fair, set upon and exterminated Muslims, not only on the festival grounds but in the adjacent town" while the police did little or nothing; the deaths were estimated at between 1,000 and 2,000.[75]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Kasemer Fauz literally means Kasem's army.
  2. Jump up^ Shankha (Bengali: শাঁখা) is a bangle made of conch shell, traditionally worn by married Bengali Hindu women as a mark of their married life.
Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "das12" defined multiple times with different content

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