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1964 Calcutta riots AI simulator
(@1964 Calcutta riots_simulator)
Hub AI
1964 Calcutta riots AI simulator
(@1964 Calcutta riots_simulator)
1964 Calcutta riots
The 1964 Calcutta riot was a religious riot that occurred in January 1964 and spread throughout the city of Calcutta. This event was the first intense religious violence in the city since the 1946 riots.
The violence included attacks resulting in bloodshed, property destruction, and organized looting, which led to the death of at least 264 people, according to official records. Unofficial estimates of casualties ranged from 100 to 500. Reports indicated that as many as 70,000 Muslim residents fled their homes.
The violence in Calcutta began to develop on 27 December 1963, when a sacred relic believed by many to be a strand from the beard of Islamic Prophet Muhammad was stolen from the Hazratbal Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. This incident sparked protests and mass agitation, which fueled hatred towards the minority Hindu community in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and eventually led to a violent riot turning into an exodus in the border districts of present-day Khulna Division, resulting in the deaths of 29 Hindus.
Despite strict international border controls, several hundred Hindu refugees crossed into the adjacent Hindu-majority Indian state of West Bengal due to the harsh conditions of the riot. As they moved towards Calcutta, approximately 30 miles from the frontier, they narrated stories of torture they suffered in Khulna and Jessore, which incited retaliation against Muslims in rural areas of West Bengal. By the evening of 9 January 1964, the impoverished slums on the eastern outskirts of Calcutta began to stir.
The news of violence against Hindus in East Pakistan spread throughout the city and suburbs by local press and migrated refugees. The resentment of the Hindu community first started to appear at the late hours of 8 January as Muslim stalls in the Sealdah area of central Calcutta were shut down by Hindu mobs.
Public meetings were held in various parts of the city to protest against the aggression of Muslims towards Hindus in East Pakistan. A large procession marched to the Deputy High Commissioner of East Pakistan demanding protection from the Pakistani government for Hindu victims and ensuring proper punishment for the people involved in violence there. They also burned effigies of Pakistani President Ayub Khan. The problems precipitated when an evening procession mostly done by students was attacked by a Muslim group with sticks, bricks, and soda-water bottles at Wellington Crossing. The same night a Hindu was stabbed to death by Muslim mobs in central Kolkata resulting in intense hatred among local Hindus which developed central Kolkata into the hotspot of the riot in the coming days.
On the morning of Friday, 10 January, communal incidents occurred in the Taltolla, Beniapukur, Entally, and Beliaghata police station areas of Calcutta where stray cases of assault, arson, and looting were reported. The police opened fire on five occasions and used 36 rounds of tear gas. Besides this, Hindu students in and around Calcutta boycotted schools and colleges and organized a march to Pakistan High Commissioner in order to protest against the communal violence in East Pakistan, which took the life of 29 Hindus. During this, a sudden involvement and confrontation of police caused the death of a protester named Bahudeb Sen, a BA first-year student from Andrew's College, who was shot by police firing near Jadavpur. The situation began to get worse after that and evoked considerable agitated response among the youth, the masses, and the intelligentsia. On the other hand, the Bangaon region along with Maheshtala, Rajabazar, Beliaghata, Entally and Sonarpur witnessed mob clashing with the police.
The riot started to reach its peak intensity in Calcutta as the Army had to be called in on 11 January to quell the rioting. The areas of Jadavpur, Budge-Budge, Metiabruz, Maheshtala and Sonarpur were clamped with 10pm-5am curfew. The situation at the outskirts of the city was also grim as in Gaighata near Bangaon three policemen were killed by a group of Hindu mobs because the policemen ordered the Hindus not to attack a Muslim village.
1964 Calcutta riots
The 1964 Calcutta riot was a religious riot that occurred in January 1964 and spread throughout the city of Calcutta. This event was the first intense religious violence in the city since the 1946 riots.
The violence included attacks resulting in bloodshed, property destruction, and organized looting, which led to the death of at least 264 people, according to official records. Unofficial estimates of casualties ranged from 100 to 500. Reports indicated that as many as 70,000 Muslim residents fled their homes.
The violence in Calcutta began to develop on 27 December 1963, when a sacred relic believed by many to be a strand from the beard of Islamic Prophet Muhammad was stolen from the Hazratbal Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. This incident sparked protests and mass agitation, which fueled hatred towards the minority Hindu community in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and eventually led to a violent riot turning into an exodus in the border districts of present-day Khulna Division, resulting in the deaths of 29 Hindus.
Despite strict international border controls, several hundred Hindu refugees crossed into the adjacent Hindu-majority Indian state of West Bengal due to the harsh conditions of the riot. As they moved towards Calcutta, approximately 30 miles from the frontier, they narrated stories of torture they suffered in Khulna and Jessore, which incited retaliation against Muslims in rural areas of West Bengal. By the evening of 9 January 1964, the impoverished slums on the eastern outskirts of Calcutta began to stir.
The news of violence against Hindus in East Pakistan spread throughout the city and suburbs by local press and migrated refugees. The resentment of the Hindu community first started to appear at the late hours of 8 January as Muslim stalls in the Sealdah area of central Calcutta were shut down by Hindu mobs.
Public meetings were held in various parts of the city to protest against the aggression of Muslims towards Hindus in East Pakistan. A large procession marched to the Deputy High Commissioner of East Pakistan demanding protection from the Pakistani government for Hindu victims and ensuring proper punishment for the people involved in violence there. They also burned effigies of Pakistani President Ayub Khan. The problems precipitated when an evening procession mostly done by students was attacked by a Muslim group with sticks, bricks, and soda-water bottles at Wellington Crossing. The same night a Hindu was stabbed to death by Muslim mobs in central Kolkata resulting in intense hatred among local Hindus which developed central Kolkata into the hotspot of the riot in the coming days.
On the morning of Friday, 10 January, communal incidents occurred in the Taltolla, Beniapukur, Entally, and Beliaghata police station areas of Calcutta where stray cases of assault, arson, and looting were reported. The police opened fire on five occasions and used 36 rounds of tear gas. Besides this, Hindu students in and around Calcutta boycotted schools and colleges and organized a march to Pakistan High Commissioner in order to protest against the communal violence in East Pakistan, which took the life of 29 Hindus. During this, a sudden involvement and confrontation of police caused the death of a protester named Bahudeb Sen, a BA first-year student from Andrew's College, who was shot by police firing near Jadavpur. The situation began to get worse after that and evoked considerable agitated response among the youth, the masses, and the intelligentsia. On the other hand, the Bangaon region along with Maheshtala, Rajabazar, Beliaghata, Entally and Sonarpur witnessed mob clashing with the police.
The riot started to reach its peak intensity in Calcutta as the Army had to be called in on 11 January to quell the rioting. The areas of Jadavpur, Budge-Budge, Metiabruz, Maheshtala and Sonarpur were clamped with 10pm-5am curfew. The situation at the outskirts of the city was also grim as in Gaighata near Bangaon three policemen were killed by a group of Hindu mobs because the policemen ordered the Hindus not to attack a Muslim village.