1950 East Pakistan genocide
Encyclopedia
The East Pakistan genocide of 1950 refers to massacre of Bengali Hindus by Muslim mobs, the Pakistani police and the para-military accompanied by arson, loot, rape and abduction in the months of February and March 1950. An estimated 1 million Bengali Hindus were forced to migrate into India
by the end of the year. The killings subsided after the conclusion of the Delhi Pact which was supposed to ensure the security of the minorities in the two dominions. Three Bengali Hindu
ministers - Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Kshitish Chandra Niyogi of India
and Jogendra Nath Mandal
of Pakistan
resigned in protest of the government failure in protecting the Bengali Hindu
minority in Pakistan
.
shops of Dhaka
were looted and many of them burnt. The Hindu
jewellery shops were looted in the presence of police officers. An estimated 50,000 Hindus were displaced in seven hours of murder loot and arson. According to the PTI
reports, the worst affected areas were Banagram and Makims Lane. Most of the houses in the two predominantly Hindu localities were completely looted, many completely burnt down and places of worship desecrated. Tajuddin Ahmed, who travelled in the different parts of Dhaka between 1 pm to 6 pm acknowledged the destruction and loss inflicted upon the Hindus by the Muslims in the localities of Nawabpur, Sadarghat, Patuatuli, Islampur, Digbazar, English Road, Bangshal and Chowk.
On the afternoon of 12 February, 60 India
-bound Hindu passengers were attacked at the Kurmitola airport. All the non-Muslim passengers arriving at the Tejgaon airport
were stabbed.
. At the nightfall eight places were set on fire. 30 houses and shops were reduced to ashes and ten persons were severely burnt. The situation further deteriorated after 16 February when indiscriminate loot and arson of Hindu properties started in Gournadi, Jhalakati and Nalchiti under Sadar sub-division of Barisal district. The Hindu passengers on the water route between Barisal and Dhaka were killed within the steamer and thrown in the river.
In the river port of Muladi in Barisal district, several hundred Hindus took shelter in the police station after their homes were torched. They were later attacked within the police station compound and most of them were killed within the precincts of the police station. A Hindu school teacher was roasted alive by his Muslim students who danced around the fire. In the village of Madhabpasha, under Babugunge police station presently Babuganj upazila, two to three hundred Hindus were rounded up by a Muslim mob. They were made to squat in a row and their heads were chopped off one by one with a ramda. In the Madhabpasha zamindar house 200 Hindus were killed and 40 injured.
Satindranath Sen, the local Hindu leader and member of East Bengal assembly was arrested on 15 February under Section 307 C.C.P. and B.S.P.O. 1946 and imprisoned as an ordinary prisoner. Sen wrote to Liaquat Ali Khan
, the Prime Minister of Pakistan
on 18 February appraising him of the situation in Barisal.
According to contemporary Muslim
eye witnesses a few thousand Hindus were killed and about two thousand Hindus went missing from Barisal district alone. Documentary filmmaker Supriyo Sen estimated that as many as 650,000 Hindus attempted to flee from Barisal to India and on their way were looted, killed and abducted.
in India
. On 12 February riots started in Chittagong town
. The Hindu
pilgrims who had assembled in Sitakunda
on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri
were attacked by Muslim mobs. Nellie Sengupta
, member of East Bengal
assembly from Chittagong wrote to the Liaquat Ali Khan
, the Prime Minister of Pakistan
about the anti-Hindu riots in Chittagong.
of Noakhali, the Hindus were attacked on 2 February, even before the attacks had actually broken out in Dhaka
. One Hindu
was killed and seven injured. Nine Hindu shops were looted. On the 10th February, the Hindus were attacked in Noakhali town. On the afternoon of 13 February, the Hindus were attacked in broad daylight in the town of Feni
, within 200 yards of the S.D.O., the police station and the courts. The Hindu quarters of the town like Masterpara, Ukilpara, Daktarpara, Sahadebpur, Barahaipur and Sultanpur were attacked and looted and then set on fire. Gurudas Kar, an influential member of the Hindu community was killed. After the destruction of the Hindu areas of the Feni town, the violence spread to the nearby villages under the Feni
and Chhagalnaiyan
police stations, mainly habitated by the Nath community. The villages of Banspara, Rampur, Madhupur, Srichandrapur, Basikpur, Chakbasta, Shibpur, Baligaon were burnt to ashes.
The Hindu women were abducted and forcefully married to Muslims. Harendra Kar's teenage daughter Mila Kar was forcefully married to Sultan Mian, a civil supply contractor after her father, grandfather and son were slaughtered. A married Hindu woman named Ranubala was forcefully married to Rahmat Ali, the son of Honorary Magistrate Barik Mian.
The attacks continued till 23 February and by then 4,500 Hindus had taken shelter at the refugee camp at Feni College and another 2,500 were scattered in various refugee camps across the Noakhali district. The Hindus who were trying to flee to the Indian state of Tripura were looted and assaulted on the way. Hindu women and children were held at the Chandpur and Akhaura railway stations. The Ansars, the police and the Muslim mobs refused to allow them to flee to Agartala or Kolkata
. According to Amritabazar Patrika report, 5,000 Hindus fled to Belonia, in the Indian state of Tripura.
religious places were desecrated. In the villages of Dhamai, Baradhami, Pubghat and Baraitali about 500 Manipuri families were affected by the riots.
On 12 February, the Hindu passengers in the Akhaura - Bhairab Bazar rail route between Comilla and Mymensingh were massacred. Taya Zinkin
the reporter of the London Economist and the Manchester Guardian reported that the Mymensingh bound trains from Ashuganj were stopped on the Bhairab Bridge on the Meghna. The Muslim mobs attacked the Hindu passengers from both sides of the bridge. Those who dived into the river and tried to swam ashore were hit by brickbats and forcefully drowned. According to eyewitness Pierre Dillani about 2,000 Hindus were massacred on the Bhairab Bridge. On the same day, the Hindu passengers on board were attacked near Sararchar, a railway station between Bhairab Bazar and Kishoreganj.
correspondent was imprisoned on 25 November 1949 without any charges and released after a month. In February, several attempts were made on India
n newspaper correspondents in Feni sub-division
in Noakhali. Dr. Dhirendra Kumar Dutta the younger brother of PTI
correspondent Jadugopal Dutta was stabbed to death. On 2 March 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru
, the Prime Minister of India
, in a session in the Parliament, acknowledged that all correspondents attached to India
n newspapers and the Press Trust of India
, working in East Pakistan
were disaccredited and prevented from sending any news.
Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India visited Kolkata on 6 March and later on 16 March and after seeing the plight of the Bengali Hindu
refugees he made an appeal to Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
to stop the atrocities.
refugees in West Bengal
after the Kalshira massacre. In March 1950, an estimated 75,000 Bengali Hindu
refugees from East Bengal were admitted in the refugee camps of West Bengal
.
According to the Time magazine, 70,000 Hindus fled from East Pakistan to India when the passport was introduced on 15 October 1952.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by the end of the year. The killings subsided after the conclusion of the Delhi Pact which was supposed to ensure the security of the minorities in the two dominions. Three 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...
ministers - Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Kshitish Chandra Niyogi of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Jogendra Nath Mandal
Jogendra Nath Mandal
Jogendra Nath Mandal was an Indian and later Pakistani statesman who served as the first minister of law and labour in Pakistan. As leader of the Scheduled Castes, Jogendranath had made common cause with the Muslim League in their demand for Pakistan, hoping that the Scheduled Castes would be...
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
resigned in protest of the government failure in protecting 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...
minority in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Kalshira massacre
On 20 December 1949, four police constables raided the house of one Joydev Brahma in the village of Kalshira under Mallahat police station in Bagerhat sub-division in the district of Khulna, in search of some suspected communists, late in the night. Failed to find any suspects the constables tried to rape the wife of Brahma. Her cry alerted him and his companions, who in a desperate bid to save her attacked two constables, one of whom died on the spot. The remaining two raised an alarm and the neighbouring people came to their rescue. On the next day, the District Superintendent of Police arrived in Kalshira accompanied by armed police contingent and the Ansars and attacked Kalshira and other neighbouring Hindu villages mercilessly. They encouraged Muslims from neighbouring villages to loot the Hindu properties. A number of Hindus were killed, men and women were forcibly converted. Images were broken and shrines were desecrated. All the 350 homesteads in the village, except three, were demolished. The cattle and boats were forcibly taken away. Within a month of the massacre 30,000 Hindus fled from Khulna to India.Nachole massacre
In January 1950, a police officer along with a few police constables and some agitating Santal peasants were killed in a clash related to the Tebhaga movement in Nachole under Rajshahi district. Immediately after the incident the police launched an army offensive in the area. Villages after Santal villages were burnt down, the Santal peasants were beaten and tortured mercilessly. Santal properties were looted and Santal women were raped. 24 Santal peasants succumbed to death after police excesses at the Nachole police station. Several peasants were killed in Nawabganj and Rajshahi jails. Ila Mitra, the leader of the Tebhaga Movement was brutually tortured and raped in police custody.Dhaka
By the eveing, 90% HinduHindu
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...
shops of 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...
were looted and many of them burnt. The 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...
jewellery shops were looted in the presence of police officers. An estimated 50,000 Hindus were displaced in seven hours of murder loot and arson. According to the PTI
Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
reports, the worst affected areas were Banagram and Makims Lane. Most of the houses in the two predominantly Hindu localities were completely looted, many completely burnt down and places of worship desecrated. Tajuddin Ahmed, who travelled in the different parts of Dhaka between 1 pm to 6 pm acknowledged the destruction and loss inflicted upon the Hindus by the Muslims in the localities of Nawabpur, Sadarghat, Patuatuli, Islampur, Digbazar, English Road, Bangshal and Chowk.
On the afternoon of 12 February, 60 India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
-bound Hindu passengers were attacked at the Kurmitola airport. All the non-Muslim passengers arriving at the Tejgaon airport
Tejgaon Airport
Tejgaon Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh served as the country's sole international airport prior to the construction of Shahjalal International Airport....
were stabbed.
Barisal
In Barisal, riots started on 13 February. Hindus were killed, raped and abducted indiscriminately. According to the press note of the Government of East Bengal two unidentified youths began to spread provocative rumours on the afternoon of 13 February in the town of Barisal. As a result many of the shops in the market closed down. Another rumour was spread that Fazlul Haque had been murdered in KolkataKolkata
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...
. At the nightfall eight places were set on fire. 30 houses and shops were reduced to ashes and ten persons were severely burnt. The situation further deteriorated after 16 February when indiscriminate loot and arson of Hindu properties started in Gournadi, Jhalakati and Nalchiti under Sadar sub-division of Barisal district. The Hindu passengers on the water route between Barisal and Dhaka were killed within the steamer and thrown in the river.
In the river port of Muladi in Barisal district, several hundred Hindus took shelter in the police station after their homes were torched. They were later attacked within the police station compound and most of them were killed within the precincts of the police station. A Hindu school teacher was roasted alive by his Muslim students who danced around the fire. In the village of Madhabpasha, under Babugunge police station presently Babuganj upazila, two to three hundred Hindus were rounded up by a Muslim mob. They were made to squat in a row and their heads were chopped off one by one with a ramda. In the Madhabpasha zamindar house 200 Hindus were killed and 40 injured.
Satindranath Sen, the local Hindu leader and member of East Bengal assembly was arrested on 15 February under Section 307 C.C.P. and B.S.P.O. 1946 and imprisoned as an ordinary prisoner. Sen wrote to Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
, the Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
on 18 February appraising him of the situation in Barisal.
According to contemporary 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...
eye witnesses a few thousand Hindus were killed and about two thousand Hindus went missing from Barisal district alone. Documentary filmmaker Supriyo Sen estimated that as many as 650,000 Hindus attempted to flee from Barisal to India and on their way were looted, killed and abducted.
Chittagong
In Chittagong, four persons from the Buddhist community, including a police inspector were stabbed and monasteries were demolished. The residences of some Buddhist families in Fatickchari police station area and that of a Buddhist zamindar in Lamburhat under Rowjan police station were burnt to ashes. As a consequence large numbers of Buddhist people migrated to Lushai HillsMizoram
Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. On 12 February riots started in Chittagong town
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...
. The 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...
pilgrims who had assembled in Sitakunda
Sitakunda
Sitakunda or Sitakunda Town, is an administrative center and the sole municipality of Sitakunda Upazila.-Administration:...
on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivratri or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivarathri is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna...
were attacked by Muslim mobs. 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...
, member of East Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....
assembly from Chittagong wrote to the Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
, the Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
about the anti-Hindu riots in Chittagong.
Noakhali
In the Feni sub-divisionFeni District
Feni is a small southern district of Bangladesh, bordering Tripura in India, Chittagong district, the Bay of Bengal, Noakhali district and Comilla district...
of Noakhali, the Hindus were attacked on 2 February, even before the attacks had actually broken out 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...
. One 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...
was killed and seven injured. Nine Hindu shops were looted. On the 10th February, the Hindus were attacked in Noakhali town. On the afternoon of 13 February, the Hindus were attacked in broad daylight in the town of Feni
Feni Sadar Upazila
Feni Sadar is an Upazila of Feni District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The district headquarters and all other administrative offices are located here. One of the main attractions of Feni Sadar is the shrine of the historically famous Pagla Miah, an 18th century Muslim saint...
, within 200 yards of the S.D.O., the police station and the courts. The Hindu quarters of the town like Masterpara, Ukilpara, Daktarpara, Sahadebpur, Barahaipur and Sultanpur were attacked and looted and then set on fire. Gurudas Kar, an influential member of the Hindu community was killed. After the destruction of the Hindu areas of the Feni town, the violence spread to the nearby villages under the Feni
Feni Sadar Upazila
Feni Sadar is an Upazila of Feni District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The district headquarters and all other administrative offices are located here. One of the main attractions of Feni Sadar is the shrine of the historically famous Pagla Miah, an 18th century Muslim saint...
and Chhagalnaiyan
Chhagalnaiya Upazila
Chhagalnaiya is an Upazila of Feni District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.It lies in the southern part of the district, bordering Tripura state of India and Mirsharai Upazila of Chittagong. It is rich in history and culture. The great medieval warrior Shamser Ghazi hailed from...
police stations, mainly habitated by the Nath community. The villages of Banspara, Rampur, Madhupur, Srichandrapur, Basikpur, Chakbasta, Shibpur, Baligaon were burnt to ashes.
The Hindu women were abducted and forcefully married to Muslims. Harendra Kar's teenage daughter Mila Kar was forcefully married to Sultan Mian, a civil supply contractor after her father, grandfather and son were slaughtered. A married Hindu woman named Ranubala was forcefully married to Rahmat Ali, the son of Honorary Magistrate Barik Mian.
The attacks continued till 23 February and by then 4,500 Hindus had taken shelter at the refugee camp at Feni College and another 2,500 were scattered in various refugee camps across the Noakhali district. The Hindus who were trying to flee to the Indian state of Tripura were looted and assaulted on the way. Hindu women and children were held at the Chandpur and Akhaura railway stations. The Ansars, the police and the Muslim mobs refused to allow them to flee to Agartala or 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...
. According to Amritabazar Patrika report, 5,000 Hindus fled to Belonia, in the Indian state of Tripura.
Sylhet
In Sylhet, the arson, loot and massacre were perpetrated in an extensive manner. 203 villages were devastated and more than 800 HinduHindu
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...
religious places were desecrated. In the villages of Dhamai, Baradhami, Pubghat and Baraitali about 500 Manipuri families were affected by the riots.
Mymensingh
In the Jamalpur and Kishoreganj sub-divisions of Mymensingh district, rioting started on 11 February and continued till 15th. The neighbouring Hindu villages around Sherpur, namely Lakshmanpur, Mucherer Char, Char Sherpur Jhankata, Bhatsana and Sapmari were attacked. Hindu houses were looted and burnt. The Hindu houses in the villages of Atkapara, Firozpur and Budda villages were burnt. In Jumpur village, three members of the family of Tarak Saha were killed and their residence burnt.On 12 February, the Hindu passengers in the Akhaura - Bhairab Bazar rail route between Comilla and Mymensingh were massacred. Taya Zinkin
Taya Zinkin
Taya Zinkin was a prominent English journalist and author. She wrote several books on India. She wrote several book of reportage as well as books on Gandhi and caste. She was married to the ICS officer and author Maurice Zinkin....
the reporter of the London Economist and the Manchester Guardian reported that the Mymensingh bound trains from Ashuganj were stopped on the Bhairab Bridge on the Meghna. The Muslim mobs attacked the Hindu passengers from both sides of the bridge. Those who dived into the river and tried to swam ashore were hit by brickbats and forcefully drowned. According to eyewitness Pierre Dillani about 2,000 Hindus were massacred on the Bhairab Bridge. On the same day, the Hindu passengers on board were attacked near Sararchar, a railway station between Bhairab Bazar and Kishoreganj.
Press censorship
Santosh Chatterjee, a PTIPress Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
correspondent was imprisoned on 25 November 1949 without any charges and released after a month. In February, several attempts were made on India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n newspaper correspondents in Feni sub-division
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...
in Noakhali. Dr. Dhirendra Kumar Dutta the younger brother of PTI
Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
correspondent Jadugopal Dutta was stabbed to death. On 2 March 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, the Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
, in a session in the Parliament, acknowledged that all correspondents attached to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n newspapers and the Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India
Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide...
, working in East Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
were disaccredited and prevented from sending any news.
Protests in India
The Government of West Bengal lodged a strong protest with the Pakistan government.Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India visited Kolkata on 6 March and later on 16 March and after seeing the plight of 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...
refugees he made an appeal to Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
to stop the atrocities.
Refugee rehabilitation
There was a major influx of Bengali HinduBengali 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...
refugees in 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...
after the Kalshira massacre. In March 1950, an estimated 75,000 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...
refugees from East Bengal were admitted in the refugee camps of 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...
.
According to the Time magazine, 70,000 Hindus fled from East Pakistan to India when the passport was introduced on 15 October 1952.
See also
- Noakhali genocide (1946)
- East Pakistan genocide (1964)1964 East Pakistan genocideThe 1964 East Pakistan Genocide refers to the gruesome massacre and ethnic cleansing of Bengali Hindus from East Pakistan in the wake of an alleged theft of a Prophet's relic from the Hazratbal shrine in Jammu and Kashmir in India...