Noakhali riot

Noakhali riot (also known as Noakhali-Tippera riot) was a series of communal riots in and around Noakhali (and Tippera) in India (now in Bangladesh) in 1946, one year before India's independence from British Rule.

Rioting in the districts began in the Ramganj police station area in the northern Noakhali District on October 10 1946. The violence unleashed was described as "the organized fury of the Muslim mob".cite book
last=Ghosh Choudhuri
first=Haran C.
authorlink=
title=Proceedings of the Bengal Legislative Assembly (PBLA)
volume="Vol LXXVII"
publisher=Bengal Legislative Assembly
isbn=
date=6 February 1947 ] It soon engulfed the neighbouring police stations of Raipur, Lakshmipur, Begumganj and Sandip in Noakhali, and Faridganj, Hajiganj, Chandpur, Lakshman and Chudagram in Tippera.cite book
last=Batabyal
first=Rakesh
authorlink=
title=Communalism in Bengal : From Famine to Noakhali, 1943-47
publisher=Sage Publishers
isbn=0761933352 ] cite book
last=Mansergh
first=Nicholas
coauthors=Moon, Penderel
authorlink=Nicholas Mansergh
title=The Transfer of Power 1942-7.
volume="Vol IX"
publisher= [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London]
isbn=9780115800849
date=1980 ] The devastation caused by widespread violence was quite extensive. Initial statistics regarding casualties remained doubtful. If the "Hindu" press placed the figures in thousands, the "League" press went on to the other extreme and even denied incidents of death.cite book
last=Tuker
first=Francis
authorlink=Francis Tuker
title=While Memory Serves
publisher=Cassell
date=1950] However, the official estimate was a conservative 200.

The immediate occasion for the outbreak of the disturbances was the looting of a "Bazaar" (market) in Ramganj police station following the holding of a mass meeting and provocative speech by Gholam Sarwar Hussein. This included attacks on the house of Surendra Nath Bose and Rajendra Lal Roy Choudhury, the erstwhile president of the Nokhali Bar and a prominent Hindu Mahasabha leader.

Mahatma Gandhi, along with his aides, toured the riot-stricken area, and was instrumental in calming the communal tension.

Notes