On 10 October 1946, in Noakhali, East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh), Bengali Hindus preparing to worship Goddess Lakshmi were subjected to brutal violence by Islamists. Waves of attackers targeted the numerically weaker Hindus, resulting in the massacre of approximately 5,000, with many more forcibly converted to Islam through methods such as making them eat beef and recite the kalma. The attacks included the rape of Hindu women, often in front of their families, and the destruction of Hindu places of worship. Despite the intense and premeditated nature of the violence, historical accounts often refer to these events as ‘riots’ rather than acknowledging them as genocide. The complicity of the Muslim League administration, British authorities, and Mahatma Gandhi’s failure to prevent the genocide are notable aspects of this tragic episode.
Peasants in Bihar rebelled against the Islamist excesses in Noakhali. In November 1946, over 400 Hindu peasants were killed in a violent confrontation with the police. The peasants were protesting against Muslim atrocities in West Bengal’s Noakhali, where documented evidence revealed the massacre of a significant number of Hindus. International media coverage labelled the event as the ‘Bihar Communal Riots,’ and reports indicated that thousands of Hindu peasants fell victim to the violence, with hundreds specifically killed in indiscriminate police firing.
An Australian media report estimated that a single village in Bihar witnessed the deaths of more than 400-500 people, excluding casualties from police firing. It was reported that some Muslim refugees also lost their lives in certain areas.
In November 1946, the then-acting Prime Minister Nehru witnessed the police open fire, resulting in the deaths of 400-1000 Hindus in Nagarnausa, Bihar. This violence ensued as a response to Hindus retaliating against Muslims for the Noakhali massacre, where over 5000 were slaughtered, and numerous women were subjected to rape.
And guess how Nehru, the poster-boy of left-liberals who hail him as a champion of democracy and secularism, reacted to this massacre?
In a letter to Sarojini Naidu’s sister and his alleged lover, Padmaja Naidu, Nehru said he was “relieved” over the murder of 400 Hindus.
Read this letter which appears in Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Volume 1, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund.
“My dear,
Why exactly I am writing to you just at this present moment, nearing midnight, when I am tired out, I do not quite know. But suddenly after the excessive strain of the last two days, I had a feeling of reaction and relaxation and I thought of you and wanted to write.
This evening I returned by air from Bhagalpur. On arrival, I learnt that the military had fired on a peasant mob in the rural areas some miles from here, and about 400 had been killed. Normally such a thing would have horrified me. But would you believe it? I was greatly relieved to hear it! So we change with changing circumstances as layers of fresh experience and feeling cover up the past accumulation.”
“I have had horror enough during the past two days. Something incredible has happened here, or something that I would have refused to believe in, a few days ago. Hindu peasant mobs have behaved in a manner that is the extreme of brutality and inhumanity. How many have been done to death by them I do not yet know, but it must be a vast number. To think that the simple, unsophisticated, rather likable Bihar peasant can go completely mad en masse upsets all my sense of values.”
Without referencing the Hindu pogrom in Noakhali, he asserted that Hindus in Bihar had been unrestrained in their retaliation. In the letter, he emphasised that a careful equilibrium had been maintained by authorising security forces to engage in large-scale killings of Hindus. He added, “For a few days they had it their own way, with few checks or hindrances. And so when the news came that they have been stopped at last in one place and that 400 of them had died, I felt that the balance had been very slightly righted.”
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On Nov. 4th, Nehru threatened Hindus saying the "Govt. would not show any mercy…. they will be FIRED UPON & BOMBED from the air if necessary". He exhorted Hindus whose families were raped & massacred at Noakhali to protect Muslims "even at the cost of sacrificing your all"! pic.twitter.com/zUiSXZMuyV— Savitri Mumukshu – सावित्री मुमुक्षु (@MumukshuSavitri) November 14, 2023
On 4 November 1946, Nehru issued threats to Hindus, warning that the government would employ force, including aerial bombings, against any retaliation. He urged Hindus, who had suffered atrocities in Noakhali, to protect Muslims even if it meant sacrificing everything.
Reiterating his warnings on November 6, Nehru stated that any Hindu retaliation would be met with the full force of the government, including machine guns, bombs, and airplanes. By Bakrid, he aimed to neutralize all Hindus.
Surprisingly, Nehru’s letter to Bihar CM Sri Krishna Sinha on November 19 revealed his attempts to cover up his role in the massacre of Hindus.
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Shockingly Nehru's letter to Bihar CM Sri Krishna Sinha on Nov. 19 reveals him COVERING UP his role in massacring Hindus. He says 250 Hindu casualties was not a big figure "considering everything" & even instructs Sinha how to word an official fake alibi to save Nehru. pic.twitter.com/bFhEf7b2GP— Savitri Mumukshu – सावित्री मुमुक्षु (@MumukshuSavitri) November 14, 2023
He downplayed the significance of 250 Hindu casualties and instructed Sinha on how to create an official alibi to protect Nehru. Nehru dismissed the reported number of Hindus killed in East Bengal as exaggerated, refusing to acknowledge the systemic atrocities committed by Muslim Zamindars and the rape of Hindu women, factors that fuelled the anger of impoverished Hindu farmers leading to retaliation.
This dark side of Nehru has been buried deep in the pages of history, by the very same people who exalt him as a ‘freedom fighter’ and beacon of democracy.
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