From The Diary of 1947 by Nirmal Kumar Basu, in Sandip Mukherji's Noakhali 1946, translated by Rinita Mazumdar.
During the genocide of Hindus Hindu women suffered most
Here is a description of pregnant Hindu women refugees during Noakhali mayhem during 1946. The excerpt is from Anadabazar Patrika, the most circulated Bengali language daily, published from Calcutta, India.
The most heart-wrenching stories are those of the women who are about to give birth. They are lying in the station and having labor pain. One can only imagine that there are beds on the floor of the refugee camp. There is a scarcity of midwives and several newborns died. Sometimes the new mothers need blood. On November 21 in February in the Faridgung area we got the news that in the previous 12 days more than 200 babies were born and most of them died without special care and there was little chance of saving the mothers.
-The following was published by the Public Relations Department of the Bengal Government]
“Last 15th December the article “Destruction of Noakhali” was published in Anandabazar Patrikaa. Mr. Chapalakanta Bhattachrya, wrote that last November 9 to November 21 in Faridgung 200 babies were born and all the newborns died right after birth. A detailed inquiry about this was made. In Chandpur camp, the public Head Department of the Special assistant Director had ignored during the publication of the article in the Faridgung area only 14 babies were born. Among them, 2 babies and one pregnant woman died. Yours Sincerely, P.S. Mathur, Director of Bengal Government Anandabazar Patrika, City Edition, 13th January 1947.
From The Diary of 1947 by Nirmal Kumar Basu, in Sandip Mukherji's Noakhali 1946, translated by Rinita Mazumdar, PhD. Forthcoming translated book will be available April 2024.
Sri Nagendra Chandra Das
On the day of the Goddess Laxmi festival in the evening, my 3 uncles (father’s younger brother) and I took the boat and went to hear kirtans[1] . When we were returning home, we saw a boat with about 150 Muslims. They caught up with us and told us to convert or die. We refused and they imprisoned and tortured us. They beat us with sticks, slashed our necks, and inflicted wounds on our bodies. We appealed to some of the Muslim leaders in the village to help us. Then we had to give these criminals a bribe of Rs. 50 and promised them not to report this to the police and then they let us go. The next evening about 300 Muslims attacked our village and we again appealed to the Muslim leaders of our village for help. They convened a joint meeting of Hindus and Muslims and decided to support each other. However, the next day, they started to threaten us again. They told us, “Either convert, or you will suffer.” They threatened all the other Hindus in the village. Then we all left the village and fled where we would be safe. I left the village with my wife and our two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to go to the Chandpur relief camp. After a little while on our journey, we saw fire. We heard that several Hindus were converted to Islam and those who refused were confined to their homes. Also, we heard that the daughter of the Chatkhil School Headmaster was married to a Muslim. My maternal grandfather’s house in Nichanpur was set on fire and everyone was confined till they converted to Muslims. I heard all of this while we were coming to Chandpur relief camp. I then tried again to return home, and in Balakal station I saw about 500 Muslims were standing there and prohibiting the Hindus from returning to their homes. Seeing this kind of hostile atmosphere, I returned to Chandpur relief camp, and from there with my wife and daughter came to Calcutta.
The amount of loss. Land 3 pieces. Tin roofed room 2 Thatched roof room 2 Wooden stuff Rs. 50 Petol[1] , kansha worth Rs 100, rice paddy, just worth Rs. 500.
Yours Truly,
Nagendranath Das,
Address: Village, Alipore, District —Tripura
Police Station —Hajigung, Post office Kamranga
(From The Diary of 1947, Nirmal Kumar Basu).
[1] This is a devotional song sung in groups in the praise of Sri Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu. It is popular in several parts of India, including in Bengal, where there are professional Kirtan singers. In Niachpur my maternal uncle’s home was set on fire and everyone was imprisoned in their homes till they accepted to convert to Islam. I heard all this when I was returning to my home from Chandpur relief camp. When we came to Balakhal Station to return home we saw 500 Muslims gathering and stopping Hindus from going out of the village. Seeing that we did not proceed to our homes but returned to the Chandpur relief camp and came with my family to Calcutta.
From The Diary of 1947 by Nirmal Kumar Basu, in Sandip Mukherji's Noakhali 1946, translated by Rinita Mazumdar.
Noakhali Village
Last October 19, 1946 (English Calendar) Monday a group of Muslim men invaded our house. I know their faces but not their names. I know the name of one person, Mucha. They had lethal weapons. When they came into the courtyard, we immediately closed the front door. When they broke the door and started coming inside, we climbed the roof. From there we saw that all the outer rooms were set on fire. We saw from the roof that some of the hoodlums were starting a fire. Then some of them came upstairs. Then they dragged some of us downstairs and threw some downstairs. When we women came up, we saw that some of the men were tied by ropes, and some were beaten up and some wounded via knife and spear attacks. We, meaning the women and children, were all taken to the north near the concrete steps that lead to the pond.
My elder brother-in-law Dinnatha Roy hit some of the criminals on the head. He was with us. They pulled him from our midst and took him to the mandap[1] where the bigraha[1] of Goddess Durga is kept and threw him in the fire in front of the Mandap. From the concrete steps leading to the pond, we saw that many were killed in the same way. Ramaniromon Roy, husband of my younger sister, was hit on the head by a club and then the goons threw him into the fire.
My brother-in-law Binod Majumdar, husband of my sister Jashoda, was among the women. They also took him, hit him with a club in the head, and threw him in the fire. They killed several people in this same manner. We could clearly see the mandap and Goddess Durga’s bigraha from the steps of the pond. We could see a large crowd there in front of the mandap. We saw that some of those who were half burnt were coming out of the fire and the criminal goons were throwing them back into the fire again. Then we saw that Bharat Bhowmick, our neighbor, was brought in front of the mandap and was killed. Seeing all this some of the women fainted. Then we were taken to our neighbor Bhowmick’s house, and they snatched all the jewelry from our bodies.
When they were snatching the jewelry some women’s noses and ears were also torn; they completely disrobed some women. After this the Muslims in the Patari household took us and put us in the betelnut grove that belonged to the Bhowmick’s. Then yesterday they took us to the Patari house. From there the cops rescued seventeen of us and brought us here, to Noakhali. There were several women with us, but I do not know if all of them were rescued.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Barmala Roy Wife of Late Monomohan Roy Village, Govindapur Police Station, Begumgung District Noakhali.
From TheDiary of 1947 by Nirmal Kumar Basu. Picture Credit: picryl.com
Find previous articles of Dr. Mazumdar's series on Global Conflict by clicking here.
From the forthcoming book Noakhali, 1946: By Sandip Mukherjee, Translated and recreated by Rinita Mazumdar PhD. Subscribe below for access to pre-sale discounts and signed copies!
From Bengali Daily, Anandabazar Patrika July 5, 1947:
(This is still the largest circulated daily in Bengali and also supports an independent Television news channel which airs news in 5 Indian languages)
Allahabad (a city in Northern India) July 3, 1947:
Mr. Amiyo Mukherjee, appealed in the Kotwali police station in Allahabad that one Hindu girl from his family, named Anima Mukherjee, was abducted three months ago during the attack in Noakhali and was brought here under a Muslim name, Zohra. The Mukherjee household was burnt down during the attack on Hindus in Noakhali. The girl herself testified that she was abducted by a Muslim man named Siddiqui and was confined in his home. This girl would be produced in Court to testify. She wrote letters to a relative and appealed to rescue her. After killing her parents, the gang brought her to Howrah Station in West Bengal and then to Marrek Springs; there she was forced to put on a hijab and brought to Allahabad. She further testified that 8 people gang raped her. She was given a Muslim name after the man abducted her. The Magistrate gave further directions to the inquiry.
During the trial the girl was residing with a Hindu family under the directions of the Court, and was called by her given name, Anima Mukherjee. The man who abducted her was arrested in Uttar Pradesh (Anandabazar Patrika, July 5, 1947).
Cultural Hegemony & Untold Genocides by Rinita Mazumdar PhD
Noakhali, Bengal India, now in Bangladesh: 1946:
In 1946, the Muslim majority population of India (specially in the Punjab in North West and Bengal province in the East) demanded a separate state for Muslims. One of their methods to obtain a “Muslim homeland” was genocide of the Hindu population in West Punjab and East Bengal, which both had a Muslim majority and Hindu minority populations.
From the book, Noakhali 1946 by Sandip Mukherjee, that I translated and created. Noakhali is a province in Bangladesh (present) and was also a province in undivided India (East Bengal). Here there was a massive genocide of Hindus. Some examples are given here from the testimony of one of Gandhi’s “Peace workers” or volunteers who went there to bring peace and opened refugee camps for Hindus who were evicted by the Muslims and whose houses were burned down and all their property looted:
“We were making an inventory of the killed and missing and here we were told that a total of 5 Hindus were killed, and others were missing. We made a note of all of that in our list. The attackers were well organized and their work was divided. Some had the job of setting fire to Hindu homes, some of looting, some of killing and abducting the women. Those who refused to convert were set on fire. In the entire village there was no instance of Hindus killing Muslims. In Dattapara, we heard that Mr. Rajendralala Basu did use his gun and fired some shots from the second floor and killed a couple of the Muslims. In the case of attack on Chittababu’s house one Muslim died of police firing. In Karpara what we witnessed is that they are either fleeing or fled and not attacking the attackers. For they were small compared to the hundred Muslims. There were only 15/20 Hindu households. In some villages no more than three Hindus were left. Not a single wealthy Hindu household was spared. Most of the houses were either completely burned down or partially burned down. Only some very poor huts were spared. All the young and pretty Hindu women were abducted. After this no Hindu returned to their village. After Gandhi came here and there several relief camps were open, they tried to bring the Hindus back, but none returned till this date.
A few days before the attack on Hindus, there was a rumor that something like this would happen. The people, however, were not sure. The Hindus thought that if they unify, they will be able to resist even if the attack happened. Actually, in all places they resisted. So, a batch of 500 Muslims seeing all the Hindus united fled. About 46/47 concrete houses were destroyed. In one of the villages called “Mandartalli”, the most palatial house was called “Singha[1] house” or “Lion House”. About 100 people attacked that house. A young man named Nani Singh tried to resist and protect the women of the household. The attackers came into the Courtyard and looked for the women. Nani Singha took a long sword[2] and stood in the doorway and attacked about 5 people who tried to enter. He severed the neck of one Muslim and the others fled. They were not able to take anything. At night with the help of one Muslim gentleman, the family took a boat and fled. The boat reached them to Chandpur and took some of their stuff and the rest was in the house. Next day about 4.5 thousand people came and destroyed the house.”
Noakhali 1946 by Sandip Mukherjee
Undivided
Map of Undivided Bengal. In 1947 when India won independence from British rule, two states were born, India (Hindu majority, secular democracy), and Pakistan (Muslim majority, theocratic state). West Bengal became a state in India with Hindu majority and Muslim minority, while East Bengal became East Pakistan, with Muslim majority and Hindu minority. Then in 1971, East Pakistan broke away from West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and became an independent nation, Bangladesh after India and Pakistan went for a 14 day war.
Map of undivided Bengal in 1947:
Find previous articles of Dr. Mazumdar's series on Global Conflict by clicking here.
Shiva’s Dance in Albuquerque
Rinita Mazumdar, Ph.D. is one of the leading feminist scholars in the Southwest. Originally from India, Dr. Mazumdar earned her Masters from India and Canada in Philosophy and MSc in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. She received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Find her poetry collection, “Shiva’s Dance in Albuquerque” by clicking here.
Curated by Mary Ann Gilbreth, Ed.D., Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy, at the University of New Mexico. This collections includes the work of her students from several of her Reading Methods Classes, promoting cultural diversity in the classroom.
