Noakhali riots

rdf:langString Noakhali riots

rdf:langString Gandhi listens to a survivor in Noakhali, 1946

rdf:langString Religion in Noakhali district

rdf:langString red

rdf:langString orange

rdf:langString darkgreen

rdf:langString October–November 1946

rdf:langString Others

rdf:langString Noakhali Region, Bengal, British India

rdf:langString Muslim National Guards, ex-servicemen, private militia

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Noakhali riots

rdf:langString Massacre, pogrom, forced conversion, arson, abduction and rape

rdf:langString 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. 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. 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 5,000 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. Around 50,000 Hindus remained marooned in the affected areas under the strict surveillance of the Muslims, where the administration had no say. In some areas, 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 declarations that they had converted to Islam of their own free will. Sometimes, they were confined in others' houses and only allowed to be in their own house when an official party came for inspection. According to Dinesh Chandra, Hindus were forced to pay subscriptions to the Muslim League and jiziyah, the protection tax paid by dhimmis in an Islamic state. Haran Chandra Ghosh Choudhuri, the only Hindu representative to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the district of Noakhali, described the incidents as "the organized genocide by the Muslim mob". 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 on the minority community by the majority community. Mahatma 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 could not be permanently rehabilitated in their villages. In the meantime, 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 and Assam.