2024-08-16 20:59:48
New Delhi : A year before the end of British rule in India, there was a bloody conflict in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In that conflict, the streets of Kolkata turned red with blood. About 5,000 people were killed in just 72 hours. More than one lakh people became homeless. Thousands of people lost their lives in this riot between Hindus and Muslims. The riots were so terrible that they prepared the ground for the partition of India. The ‘Great Calcutta Killings’, which lasted from 16 to 19 August, was the most violent massacre before independence and partition. In fact, on 16 August 1946, communal riots broke out in Calcutta when the Muslim League led by Jinnah called for ‘direct action’ demanding a separate Pakistan state. Thus this incident is also known as ‘Direct Action Day’.
How the ground for riots was prepared
At that time, the two major parties in the country were the Congress and the Muslim League. The Muslim League had been demanding since 1940 that the areas where the majority of Muslims lived should be made a separate country. In 1946, the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, sent a three-minister delegation to India to finalize a plan to hand over power in India to Indian leaders. The delegation rejected the Muslim League’s demand for a separate country, but suggested a three-tier structure to run India. This structure was of the central government, group of provinces and individual provinces. The plan also stated that the Muslim League’s demand for a separate country for Muslim-majority areas could be met in these “groups of provinces”. Initially, both parties, the Muslim League and the Congress, accepted this suggestion.
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Jinnah’s call for 16 August
However, things changed when on 10 July 1946, in a press conference, then Congress President Jawaharlal Nehru said that the party had the right to modify the Cabinet Mission plan. This comment was strongly objected to by the Muslim League leaders. The Muslim League leaders feared that the transfer of power from the British would result in the central government being dominated by the majority Hindus. Instigated by Muslim League politicians, Jinnah rejected the British Cabinet Mission plan to transfer power to a caretaker government. Not only this, Jinnah also decided to boycott the Constituent Assembly.
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By August 1946, relations between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress had deteriorated beyond repair. On 29 July 1946, the Muslim League passed a resolution declaring 16 August as “Direct Action Day”. They announced a nationwide protest against the Congress’s stance. They also called for the suspension of all business. The tension was palpable and the entire country was restless. The rift between Hindus and Muslims had already deepened. In such a situation, on Jinnah’s call, riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims on the streets of Calcutta on 16 August.
Why did violence erupt only in Calcutta?
The political situation in Bengal, especially Calcutta, led to violence in the city. Bengal had a Muslim majority. According to the 1941 census, Bengal had a Muslim population of 54% and Hindu population of 44%. However, most Muslims lived in the villages of East Bengal (which is now Bangladesh). Kolkata was mostly Hindu (73% Hindu and 23% Muslim). Muslims in the city were marginalised socially, economically and geographically. Relations between these two communities had been tense since the beginning of the 20th century. There were incidents of communal violence from time to time in Bengal, especially in Kolkata. In the year 1946, Bengal was under the rule of the Muslim League. Therefore, it was a good place for the Muslim League to show its might.
Suhrawardy was the reason for the violence!
Hussain Suhrawardy was the biggest leader of Bengali Muslims. He was also the Chief Minister of Bengal at that time. He was also considered a rival of Jinnah in the Muslim League. He was highly respected among Muslims, but was hated by Hindus. Hindus held him responsible for the Bengal famine of 1943, in which about three lakh people died. He was the Food Supply Minister at that time. Suhrawardy was also infamous for his angry statements. Many historians believe that Suhrawardy’s work and his ideas were mainly responsible for the outbreak of violence in Kolkata on 16 August. Before the violence began, Suhrawardy had given several speeches which seemed to support violence, even if not openly.
At a large public meeting at the Maidan a week before 16 August, Suhrawardy reportedly said that he had taken steps to keep the police in check on ‘Direct Action Day’. His critics say this was an open challenge to people to resort to violence. When 16 August came, Jinnah warned the Congress that we do not want war. If you want war, we will obey you without thinking. We will either have a divided India or a destroyed India. Suhrawardy planned a big rally. Muslim League men and Muslims from different places gathered at the Ochterlony Monument (now Shaheed Minar) near the Maidan in Kolkata.
5 thousand people died
Muslim League leaders gave provocative speeches at the rally. This infuriated the crowd and led to large-scale violence and arson. Tensions had escalated even before the rally began due to incidents of shops being shut down and stone pelting. Women were raped in the riots. Many institutions in Calcutta were set on fire. The riots also affected other areas and soon the houses of Hindus were set on fire in Noakhali in East Bengal. Although there are no exact figures, many experts estimate that the death toll in the Kolkata riots was between 5,000 and 10,000. About 15,000 people were injured.
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Historian Markovits Claude in his book ‘The Calcutta Riots of 1946, Mass Violence and Resistance’ (2007) described the brutality of the violence as gruesome. The victims were not only brutally killed, but their bodies were also mutilated in a very brutal manner. The riots stopped after the imposition of Governor’s rule in Bengal on 21 August. However, these riots left deep scars on the history of Calcutta.