Noakhali riot - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Noakhali genocide also known as the Noakhali Carnage was a series of massacres, rapes, abductions and forced conversions of Hindus and loot and arson of Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of NoakhaliThe then undivided district of Noakhali consisted of the present districts of Noakhali

Noakhali District

Noakhali is a district in South-eastern Bangladesh. It is located in the Chittagong Division.-Geography:Noakhali District located in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh...

, Lakshmipur

Lakshmipur District

The district of Lakshmipur consists 3784 mosques, 489 temples, six churches and three Buddhist temples.-Places of interest:Upozila sader Mosque Bagbari, Archaeological heritage Tita Khan Jami Mosque, Mita Khan Mosque, Majupur Matka Mosque, Madhu Banu Mosque, Dayem Shah Mosque,Lawrance Bazar Baitul...

and Feni

Feni District

Feni is a small southern district of Bangladesh, bordering Tripura in India, Chittagong district, the Bay of Bengal, Noakhali district and Comilla district...

, now in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. and TipperahThe then undivided district of Tipperah consisted of the present districts of Comilla

Comilla District

The district of Comilla consists 4543 mosques, 379 temples, 98 churches, 34 Buddhist temples and six tombs.-Places of interest:Important landmarks include Kotbari, a cantonment, or military installation and Kandirpar, considered the heart of the Comilla district...

, Chandpur

Chandpur District

Chandpur is a district in east-central Bangladesh. It is located at the mouth of the Meghna River. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. The town of Chandpur is terminus of a metre gauge branch of Bangladesh Railways. It also has a water terminal situated here.-Geography:Chandpur district has a...

and Brahmanbaria

Brahmanbaria District

Brahmanbaria is a district in east-central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. It was part of greater Comilla District until 1984. Before 1830 the Sarail Pargana was a part of Mymensingh district...

, now in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

. in the Chittagong Division of Bengal

Bengal Presidency

The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and...

in October–November 1946, an year before India's independence from British Rule

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. 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

Hindu

population started on 10th 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, hundreds of Hindu

Hindu

women were raped and thousands of Hindu

Hindu

men and women were forcibly converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. Around 50,000 to 75,000 survivors were sheltered in temporary relief camps in Comilla

Comilla

Comilla is a city in south-eastern Bangladesh, located along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is the administrative center of the Comilla District, part of the Chittagong Division. The Eastern Wing of Bangladesh Highway Police is located 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

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

hooligans, where the administration had to say. In some areas the Hindus had to obtain permits from the Muslim

Muslim

leaders in order to travel outside their village. The forcibly converted Hindus were coerced to give written declaration that they have converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

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

Jizya

Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...

, the protection tax paid by zimmis

Dhimmi

A , is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. Linguistically, the word means "one whose responsibility has been taken". This has to be understood in the context of the definition of state in Islam...

in an Islamic state

Islamic State

An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...

.

Haran Chandra Ghosh Choudhuri, the only Hindu

Hindu

representative to Bengal Legislative Assembly from the district of Noakhali described the incidents as the organized fury of the Muslim

Muslim

mob. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply....

, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta and the former Finance Minister of Bengal

Bengal Presidency

, 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.

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. Majority of the survivors migrated to West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, Tripura

Tripura

Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...

and Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

Background

Police Station	Villages	Muslims (%)	Hindus (%)
Demography of Noakhali Sadar sub-division
Raipur	45	89.17	10.46
Lakshmipur	215	84.70	15.28
Ramganj	238	69.83	30.16
Begumganj	317	79.38	20.60
Senbag	98	83.58	15.21
Sudharam	212	84.49	15.13
Companyganj	22	83.56	16.44
Ramgati	27	91.03	8.97
Hatia	23	82.29	17.69
Sandwip	49	78.19	21.81

The districts of Noakhali and Tipperah lay in the south eastern corner of Bengal

Bengal Presidency

, 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

Meghna River

The Meghna River is an important river in Bangladesh, one of the three that forms the Ganges Delta, the largest on earth fanning out to the Bay of Bengal. Being a part of the Surma-Meghna River System, Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh by the joining of different rivers originaing from the hilly...

near its confluence and therefore included in its domain several river islands, known as chars in Bengali, the Sandwip

Sandwip

Sandwip is an island along the south eastern coast of Bangladesh.It is also spelled "Sandvip" both are mostly used.It is a sub-division of Chittagong District. It is situated at the estuary of the Meghna River on the Bay of Bengal and separated from the Chittagong coast by the Sandwip channel. It...

and Hatia

Hatia Island

Hatia Island is an island in the northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, at the mouth of the Meghna river. The island has an area of 371 km2. Other major offshore islands of this region are Bhola Island and Manpura Island. All of these islands are densely populated....

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

Comilla

and Chittagong

Chittagong

Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

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

Bengal Presidency

, 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.

Direct Action Day

In 1940, the Muslim League raised the Pakistan proposal at its Lahore convention, that envisaged a Muslim homeland in British India, consisting of the provinces where the Muslims were in a majority, including Bengal. In the 1946, the Muslim League contested the elections on the plank of Pakistan, and an overwhelming 97% of the Muslim population of Bengal voted for Muslim League.

The Muslim League refused to accept the Cabinet Mission plan and join the Interim Government. Instead it resolved to embark on ‘direct action’ in order to achieve Pakistan. The Muslim League decided to observe Direct Action Day on 16th August 1946. In Bengal, the only Muslim League ruled province in British India, the day was declared a public holiday. Kolkata witnessed an unprecedented mass violence in the next five days, leaving 4,000 dead according to official reports. The Direct Action Day

Direct Action Day

Direct Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...

was simultaneously observed in the district towns of Bengal

Bengal Presidency

, most notably in Dhaka

Dhaka

Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

where Hindu properties were looted and Hindus murdered. The situation in the districts of eastern Bengal

Bengal Presidency

became tense, and sporadic acts of violence against the Hindu minority were reported from places like Mymensingh

Mymensingh

Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...

and Narayanganj

Narayanganj

Narayanganj is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Narayanganj District, near the capital city of Dhaka and has a population of 220,000. The city is on the bank of the Shitalakshya River. The river port of Narayanganj is one of the oldest in Bangladesh...

Prelude

Noakhali did not witness any violence during the Great Calcutta Killings. Though it was quiet the tension was building up. The Eastern Command Head Quarters 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. The situation quickly escalated into violence on the day on Id-ul-Fitr. From 2nd October onwards there were frequent instances of stray killings, snatching and looting.

Id-ul-Fitr riots

Although there were no major incidents in Noakhali during the Kolkata riots, the district remained tense. On 29 August, the day of Id-ul-Fitr, a rumour spread that Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s, hired by Hindus were killing the Muslims en masse. Muslims mobs the suburban mosques from poured into the Noakhali town and resorted to loot and arson. Incidents of waylaying and murder of Hindus took place in the roads and waterways.

A group of Hindu

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

Hindu

fishermen from Charuriah were severely assaulted with deadly weapons. Seven of them were admitted to hospital. Devi Prasanna Guha, the son of a Congressman of Babupur village under Ramganj police station was murdered. One of his brothers and a servant was assaulted. The Congress office in front of their house was set on fire. 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.

In Chandraganj, the shops of Kamini Kumar Pal and Jadav Chandra Saha were looted. The latter was beaten up. The Hindu-owned shops of Koresh Munshi Hat were looted. At Bholakot, three boats full of clothes were looted. Hindu-owned shops including two pharmacies were looted in Kankirhat. The Hindu shopkeepers of Tajmohammad Hat were driven away. Some Hindu shops of Sahapur market were looted. At Sonapur market, the shop of Subal Chandra Banik was looted.

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.

The temple of the family deity of Harendra Ghosh of Raipur was desecrated. A calf was butchered and thrown inside the temple. The Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

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

Durga

For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

images of Ishwar Chandra Pathak of Kethuri, Kedareshwar Chakraborty of Merkachar, Ananta Kumar De of Angrapara and Prasanna Mohan Chakraborty of Tatarkhil were broken.

Communal propaganda

In 1937, Gholam Sarwar Husseini the scion of a Muslim pir family had got elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly on a Krishak Praja Party ticket. However, in the 1946 elections, he got defeated to a Muslim League candidate. Gholam Sarwar's father and grandfather were pious Muslim

Muslim

s 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 Muslim

Muslim

s and Hindu

Hindu

s alike. After the Direct Action Day

Direct Action Day

Direct Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...

riots in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, Husseini began to deliver provocative speeches, inciting the Muslim

Muslim

masses to take revenge of the Kolkata riots. In some places Hindu

Hindu

shops were began to be boycotted. In the Ramganj and Begumganj police station areas, the Muslim

Muslim

boatmen refused to ferry the Hindu

Hindu

passengers. In the first week of September, the Muslim

Muslim

miscreants looted the Hindu

Hindu

shops in Sahapur market. The Hindu

Hindu

s were harassed and molested when they were returning to their native villages from Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

to spend the Puja holidays.

Events

On 10 October, the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, when the Bengali Hindu

Bengali Hindu

Bengali Hindus are an ethno-linguistic group, belonging to the Indo-Aryan family and are native to the Bengal region of the Indian Subcontinent. The Bengali Hindus along with other related ethno-linguistic groups constitute the vast majority of Hindus...

s were busy in puja activities, the Muslim League leadership started a false rumour that the Sikh

Sikh

s had attacked Diara Sharif. As the rumour spread Muslims from the surrounding areas began to assemble at the Diara Sharif. Ghulam Sarwar instructed the Muslim

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.Kasemer Fauz literally means Kasem's army. The shrine of Kali was desecrated and the Hindu

Hindu

shops were looted. The Muslim

Muslim

mob began to shout anti-Hindu slogans.
After that Kasem's army marched to Narayanpur to the zamindari office of Surendranath Basu. Kasem's army was joined their by another Muslim

Muslim

mob from Kalyannagar. Some of the Muslim

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

Muslim

mob tied his hands and legs burned him alive. 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.
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

Bharat Sevashram Sangha

Bharat Sevashram Sangha is a Hindu charitable non-governmental organisation in India. It was founded in 1917 by Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj. The Sangha has hundreds of ashrams in India and other countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Bangladesh...

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. The severed head of Rajendralal Roychowdhury was presented to Golam Sarwar on a platter and his two daughters were gifted to two of his trusted generals. According to Sucheta Kriplani

Sucheta Kriplani

Sucheta Kriplani , born Sucheta Mazumdar, was an Indian freedom fighter and politician in Uttar Pradesh, India. She became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister of any Indian state.-Early life:...

, Rajendralal Roychowdhury had followed the footsteps of Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...

and became a martyr, defending his faith and family honour. 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. 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

Hindu

rites.
On 12 October, the residence of Chittaranjan Dutta Raychaudhuri at Shayestaganj under Raipur police station was attacked by a Muslim

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. 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. The Chaudhuri family of Noakhola village under Ramganj police station were attacked by a Muslim

Muslim

mob. The attackers resorted to murder, loot and arson. All the eight male members of the household were killed. Another Muslim

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. Between Amishapara and Satgharia the residences of the Bhaumiks and the Pals were total burnt to ashes. 19 Hindu

Hindu

s of the two families were killed. 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.
Riot in the district broke out in the Ramganj police station area in the northern Noakhali District on October 10, 1946. The violence unleashed was described as "the organized fury of the Muslim mob". It soon engulfed the neighbouring police stations of Raipur, Lakshmipur, Begumganj and Sandip in Noakhali, and Faridganj, Hajiganj, Chandpur, Lakshman and Chudagram in Tippera. 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. As per Gandhian Ashoka Gupta

Ashoka Gupta

Ashoka Gupta was an Indian freedom fighter and social worker. She was the founder of Mahila Seva Samity, member of the All India Women's Conference and president of Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption...

's report during visit with Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

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. However, the official estimate was a conservative 200.

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 Nokhali Bar and a prominent Hindu Mahasabha

Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha

The Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. It was founded in 1915, as an alternative for Hindus who were not attracted to the secular Indian National Congress and sought to oppose the Muslim separatism of the Muslim League.-Hindutva:The Mahasabha promoted the...

leader.

Forcible conversions

Villages after villages were forcibly converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. The men were forced to wear skullcaps and grow beards. The women were stripped off shankhaShankha is a bangle made of conch shell, traditionally worn by married Bengali Hindu women as a mark of their married life. and sindur

Sindoor

Sindoor is a traditional red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the parting of their hair. Usage of sindoor denotes that a woman is married in many Hindu communities, and ceasing to wear it usually implies widowhood...

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 Muslim

Muslim

s. The converted Hindu

Hindu

s were given new Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

names. The Muslim

Muslim

leaders even awarded certain upper caste Hindu

Hindu

converts honorific titles like Chaudhuri and Thakur.

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 Muslim

Muslim

s forced the converted Hindus to give written statement that no untoward incident had taken place in the village.

Official developments

On the 13th October, Kamini Kumar Dutta, the leader of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

at the Bengal Legislative Council, he undertook a visit of inquiry to Noakhali on personal capacity where he interviewed 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 the 14th of October. He further stated that the authorities were anxious to hush up the entire episode from public inspection.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...

, the Prime Minister of Bengal, held a press conference in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

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. On 18 October, Frederick Burrows

Frederick Burrows

Sir Frederick John Burrows, GCSI, GCIE , was a British politician who served as the last British Governor of Bengal during British Raj in India.He was Governor of Bengal from 19 February 1946 to 14 August 1947.Sir Frederick Burrows was against the partition of Bengal...

, the Governor of Bengal, along with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

and the Inspector General of Police, Bengal visited Feni by plane and flew over the affected areas.

On 19 October, Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani

Jivatram Kripalani

Acharya Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947. During the election for the post of the future Prime Minister of India held by the Congress party, he had the second...

, the President-elect of Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

, Sarat Chandra Bose

Sarat Chandra Bose

Sarat Chandra Bose was a barrister and Indian freedom fighter. He was the elder brother of Subhash Chandra Bose.-Early life:His forefathers had served the Afghan rulers of pre-Mughal Bengal with great distinction....

, the Member-in-Charge of Works, Mines and Power in the Interim Government

Interim Government of India

The interim government of India, formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India, had the task of assisting the transition of India from British rule to independence...

, 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

Anandabazar Patrika

Anandabazar Patrika is an Indian Bengali language daily newspaper published in Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.28 million copies making it the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language...

flew to Chittagong

Chittagong

at the suggestion of Mohandas Gandhi. On the way they made a brief stop at Comilla

Comilla

, where thousands of Hindu victims narrated them the atrocities on them. In Chittagong

Chittagong

, they met Frederick Burrows

Frederick Burrows

, the Governor of Bengal, who assured them that according to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

, the Prime Minister of Bengal, everything was peaceful and orderly. He explained the rape and molestation of Hindu

Hindu

women as natural because they were more handsome than Muslim

Muslim

women.

On 21 October, Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson, Baron Rowley

Arthur Henderson, Baron Rowley, PC was a British Labour Party politician.Arthur Henderson was the son of Arthur Henderson, who was Leader of the Labour Party between 1908-1910, 1914-17 and 1931-1932.-Parliament:...

, the Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma read out a report from the Governor of Bengal

Governor of Bengal

From 1690, a governor represented the British East India Company in Bengal, which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the local rulers, the nawabs of Murshidabad, who were nominal vassals of the Mughal emperor in Delhi....

, at the House of Commons, that stated that the number of casualties were expected to be in the three figure mark. Sarat Chandra Bose

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 cum residence of landlord Surendranath Bose.

On 25 October, at a mass meeting in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

held under the presidentship of Suresh Chandra Majumdar, the Managing Director of the Anandabazar Patrika

Anandabazar Patrika

and the Hindusthan Standard

Hindusthan Standard

Hindusthan Standard was an English daily published from Kolkata by the ABP group. It was headquartered at 3, Burman Street, Kolkata. It stopped publication in 1982....

, a resolution was passed demanding the immediate of recall of the Governor of Bengal

Governor of Bengal

, the dismissal of the Muslim League

Muslim League

The All-India Muslim League,, was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka , in 1906, in the context of the circumstances that were generated over the partition of Bengal in 1905...

ministry and intervention of the Centre. At a press conference in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

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.

Aftermath

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. William Barret, the Divisional Commissioner of the Chittagong Division reported to P. D. Martyn, the Additional Secretary to the Department of Home, Government of Bengal regarding the persecution of the Hindus in subtle manner. 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 Nath 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.

According to historian Rakesh Batabyal, the situation never returned to normal. Sporadic incidents of violence continued and even the police were not spared. In one incident, reported by Frederick Burrows to 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. Bengali periodical Desher Vani published from Noakhali quoted a relief worker in the Ramganj police station area who stated that even after four months people have not returned to their houses.

Relief operations

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

Bharat Sevashram Sangha

, Hindu Mahasabha, Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

, Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

, Indian National Army

Indian National Army

The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...

, Prabartak Sangha, Abhay Ashram

Abhay Ashram

Abhay Ashram is a social welfare organization founded by Dr. Prafulla Ghosh, Dr. Suresh Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Nripen Basu in 1910 in Comilla in the then Eastern Bengal and Assam, now in present day Bangladesh...

, Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...

and Gita Press.

On receiving the news of Noakhali, Ashutosh Lahiry, the General Secretary of Hindu Mahasabha immediately left for Chandpur. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply....

, Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee was the president of the Bengal Hindu Mahasabha and the vice-president of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha....

and Pandit Narendranath Das, along with other workers flew to Comilla

Comilla

and entered the affected area with military escorts. A plane was requisitioned and dispatched to the affected area fully loaded with rice, chira

Flattened rice

Flattened rice is a dehusked rice which is flattened into flat light dry flakes. These flakes of rice swell when added to liquid, whether hot or cold, as they absorb water, milk or any other liquids...

, bread, milk, biscuits, barley and medicines. Other consignments were dispatched by train. The affected people who took refuge in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

were given protection in about 60 centres in the city and suburbs. In order to administer the funds generously contributed by the public, Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply....

appointed M/S. P.K.Mitter & Co., a Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

based accountants firm to control the collection, disbursement and audit of the public funds.
Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee was the president of the Bengal Hindu Mahasabha and the vice-president of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha....

, 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. 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. 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. 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. Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee

Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee was the president of the Bengal Hindu Mahasabha and the vice-president of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha....

visited Noakhali for a third time a inugurated a students home named, 'Shyamaprasad Chhatrabas' at Bajapati.

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

Nellie Sengupta

Nellie Sengupta was an Englishwoman who fought for Indian Independence and was elected President of the Indian National Congress-Family:Born Edith Ellen Gray, she was the daughter of Frederick and Edith Henrietta Gray...

, a resolution was passed where it was decided that the organization would work for the relief and recovery of the abducted Hindu

Hindu

women in Noakhali. The Noakhali Relief Committee was formed for the purpose of providing relief, rehabilitation and recovering the abducted Hindu women. From 26 October onwards, the Committee began to send a group of volunteers led by Ashoka Gupta

Ashoka Gupta

to Noakhali for relief operations on a weekly basis. 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

Leela Roy

Leela Roy née Nag , was a radical leftist Indian politician and reformer, and a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose-Family:...

reached Ramganj on 9 December, walking 90 miles on foot from Chaumohani. She recovered 1,307 abducted girls. Her organization National Services Institute set up 17 relief camps in Noakhali. In December, the Srihatta Mahila Sangha decided to send Kiranshashi Deb, Leela Dasgupta, Saralabala Deb and Suhasini Das to Noakhali for relief work. The Congress leaders who took the lead in the relief work were Satish Chandra Dasgupta, Dhirendranath Dutta, Trailokya Chakrabarti and Bishwaranjan Sen.

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

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.

Gandhi peace mission

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

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. On 18th October, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy

Bidhan Chandra Roy

Bidhan Chandra Roy, M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal in India. He remained in his post for 14 years as a Indian National Congress candidate, from 1948 until his death in 1962. He was a highly respected physician and a renowned freedom fighter...

personally communicated to Mohandas Gandhi, appraising him of the Hindu

Hindu

massacre in Noakhali and the plight of the Hindu

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 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. On 19th of October, Mohandas Gandhi decided to visit Noakhali.

Prior to Mohandas Gandhi’s departure for Noakhali, he was interviewed by Dr. Amiya Chakravarty at the Abhay Ashram in Sodepur, near Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

on the 6th of November. After the interview, Dr. Amiya Chakravarty briefed that the most urgent need of the hour was to rescue the abducted Hindu

Hindu

women who obviously could not be approached by the military because, after being forcefully converted they were kept under the veil.

Gandhi started for Noakhali on 6th 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 organized 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 10th 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.

Mohandas Gandhi discontinued his mission halfway and started for Bihar on 2 March 1947 at the request of the Muslim League leaders of Bengal.

Repercussions in Bihar

As a reaction to the Noakhali Genocide, a riot rocked Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

towards the end of 1946. Between October 30 and November 7, a large-scale massacre of Muslims in Bihar brought Partition

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

closer to inevitability. Severe violence broke out in Chapra

Chapra

Chapra can refer to the following:* Chapra, Nadia in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal* Chapra, Nadia - assembly constituency in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal...

and Saran district

Saran district

Saran District is one of the thirty-seven districts of Bihar state, India. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chapra district after the headquarters of the district - Chapra...

, between 25 and 28 of October. Very soon Patna

Patna

Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

, Munger

Munger

Munger town is the headquarters of Munger district, in the Indian state of Bihar. Historically, Munger is known for its manufacturing of iron articles such as firearms and swords. One of the major institutions in Munger is Bihar School of Yoga. It is one of the foremost learning center in the...

and Bhagalpur

Bhagalpur

Bhagdattpuram was one of the most influential towns in "Aryavarta" . It is supposed to have been concurrent to Patliputra or Patna. Bhagdattpuram finds its mention in the Vedas and Ramayana as well. It is supposed to be the kingdom of Daanvir Karna, the son of Kunti and the Sun God...

also became the sites of serious turbulance. Begun as a reprisal for the Noakhali riot

Noakhali riot

Noakhali genocide also known as the Noakhali Carnage was a series of massacres, rapes, abductions and forced conversions of Hindus and loot and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of NoakhaliThe then undivided district of Noakhali consisted of the...

, whose death toll had been greatly overstated in immediate reports, 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, the death-toll amounted to 5,000. The Statesman

The Statesman

The Statesman is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper founded in 1875 and published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneswar. The Statesman is owned by The Statesman Ltd., its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national...

s estimate was between 7,500 and 10,000; the Congress party

Indian National Congress

admitted to 2,000; Mr. Jinnah claimed about 30,000." However, By November 3, the official estimate put the figure of death at only 445.
Some worst riot also took place in Garhmukteshwar

Garhmukteshwar

Garhmukteshwar is a town cum village and a municipal board in Panchsheel Nagar district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.-Demographics:...

in United Provinces

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh

The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...

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.

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