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Noakhali riots | |
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Part of Partition of Bengal (1947) | |
![]() Gandhi listens to a survivor in Noakhali, 1946 | |
Location | Noakhali Region, Bengal, British India |
Date | October–November 1946 |
Target | Bengali Hindus |
Deaths | 285,[1]
~200 (Roy Bucher, Indian Army chief)[2], ~200 (Francis Tucker[3] |
Perpetrators | Ex-servicemen, private militia |
Part of a series on |
Persecution of Hindus in pre-1947 India |
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Issues |
Incidents |
The Noakhali riots were a series of semi-organized massacres, rapes and abductions, combined with looting and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of Noakhali in the Chittagong Division of Bengal (now in Bangladesh) in October–November 1946, a year before India's independence from British rule.[4]
It affected the areas under the Ramganj, Begumganj, Raipur, Lakshmipur, Chhagalnaiya and Sandwip police stations in Noakhali district and the areas under the Hajiganj, Faridganj, Chandpur, Laksham and Chauddagram police stations in Tipperah district, a total area of more than 2,000 square miles.[5]
The massacre of the Hindu population started on 10 October, on the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja[6][7][8] and continued unabated for about a week. Around 50,000 Hindus remained marooned in the affected areas under the strict surveillance of the Muslims, where the administration had no say.[9] In some areas, Hindus had to obtain permits from the Muslim leaders in order to travel outside their villages.
Mahatma Gandhi camped in Noakhali for four months and toured the district in a mission to restore peace and communal harmony. In the meantime, the Congress leadership started to accept the proposed Partition of India and the peace mission and other relief camps were abandoned. The majority of the survivors migrated to West Bengal, Tripura[10] and Assam.[11]
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