The Salem Riots of 1882 is a term used to refer to serious Hindu-Muslim disturbances which took place in the city of Salem, Tamil Nadu in the then Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

 in August 1882.

Causes

The riots are believed to have originated by the objection of Hindus to the construction of a mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 by the Muslims of the Sevvoypettai area of the city of Salem on the path of a Hindu religious procession. When the Hindus of Salem insisted upon their right to continue their procession through the mosque, riots followed.

Events

Full scale riots erupted in August 1882. For three days, the British government had no authority in Salem city. The mosque was pulled down and there was indscriminate killing on both sides. Eventually, peace was restored. Large number of alleged suspects were arrested, speedily convicted and given harsh imprisonment terms at the Andaman Cellular Jail.

Aftermath

The atmosphere continued to remain tense till 1884. The police arrested a large number of Indian nationalists accusing them of instigating the violence. The partisan behaviour of the Madras government and Governor's handling of the situation were sharply criticized by the Indian media. Indian nationalist newspaper The Hindu

The Hindu

The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

criticised the administration thus:
One of the arrested suspects, C. Vijayaraghavachariar

C. Vijayaraghavachariar

Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar was an Indian politician. He rose to prominence following his appeal against the charges alleging him to have instigated a Hindu - Muslim riot in Salem...

, a member of the Salem municipality, eventually proved his innocence and even won back his municipality seat along with a compensation sanctioned by the Secretary of State for India

Secretary of State for India

The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...

. Vijayaraghavachariar would eventually emerge as one of the pioneers of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 and foremost leaders of the Indian Independence movement

Indian independence movement

The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

.