1948 Guwahati riots: Difference between revisions

In May 1948, widespread rioting broke out in [[Guwahati]] and adjoining areas where [[Bengali Hindu]] businesses, schools and residences in general and [[Bengali Hindu]] staff of the Bengal and Assam Railway in particular were attacked.<ref name="wara">{{cite news |last1=Wara |first1=Gauhar Nayeem |title='চল মিনি আসাম যাব...' |url=https://www.prothomalo.com/opinion/article/1406311/%E2%80%98%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AC...%E2%80%99 |accessdate=20 April 2020 |work=Prothom Alo |date=11 January 2018 |location=Dhaka |language=Bengali}}</ref> The Assamese Hindu nationalists who saw the Bengali Hindus as foreign usurpers in the territory of Assam led the attacks while Muslim League members joined them.<ref name="biswas72">{{cite book |last1=Biswas |first1=Sukumar |title=আসামে ভাষা আন্দোলন ও বাঙালি-প্রসঙ্গ ১৯৪৭-১৯৬১ |date=2017 |publisher=Parul Prakashani |location=Kolkata |isbn=9789386708250 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LlADwAAQBAJ |accessdate=20 April 2020 |language=Bengali}}</ref> The Bengali Hindus were looted and their properties were looted and set on fire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ghosh |first1=Srikanta |title=Indian Democracy Derailed: Politics and Politicians |date=1997 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=9788170248668 |pages=74–75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RGyO0E86X1oC |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref> No Bengali-speaking Muslim was attacked, as they were seen as [[Na Asamiya]]s who had adopted [[Assamese language]] and culture and therefore assimilated in the land Assam. The Guwahati riots mark the beginning of the [[Bongal Kheda]] movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Subir |title=Troubled Periphery: The Crisis of India's North East |date=2009 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=9789352801817 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdRjDwAAQBAJ |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Karmakar |first1=Rahul |title=That Rohingya feeling: NE no stranger to xenophobia, genocides, say experts |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/that-rohingya-feeling-northeast-no-stranger-to-xenophobia-genocides-say-social-scientists/story-06Q284Y07C9rP5uh86KUlO.html |accessdate=20 April 2020 |work=Hinustan Times |publisher=HT Media Ltd. |date=27 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="wara" /><ref name="nag">{{cite journal |last1=Nag |first1=Sajal |title=Nehru and the North East |journal=NMML OcassionalOccasional Paper |date=10 June 2015 |volume=New Series |issue=75 |pages=11–12 |url=http://www.nehrumemorial.nic.in/images/pdf/occasional/Sajal_Nag_10June_2015_final.pdf |accessdate=22 April 2020 |publisher=Nehru Memorial Museum and Library |location=New Delhi}}{{Dead link|date=November 2022}}</ref>

In June 1947, after the [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|Partition of Bengal]], the Government of India shifted the headquarters of Bengal and Assam Railway from [[Kolkata]] to [[Pandu railway station|Pandu]], near [[Guwahati]]. Several [[Bengali Hindu]] railway staff were transferred from [[Kolkata]] to [[Pandu, Guwahati]]. Immediately after their arrival, the local Assamese people launched a campaign to drive out the newly arrived Bengali Hindu railway staff and the Bengali Hindu residents of the area. Bengali Hindu residents, especially the Assam Railway staff were attacked in [[Guwahati]] and were served notices to quit Assam in 24 hours. Following the [[Partition of India]], several non-Assamese staff of Post and Telegraph, mostly [[Bengali Hindus]], were also transferred to [[Assam]]. There was also a steady influx of [[Bengali Hindus]] from the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] into [[Assam]]. Though the Government of Assam was rehabilitating and setting the refugees in the various districts of Assam, there was a strong resentment against the settlement of [[Bengalis|Bengali]] refugees in Assam.<ref name="nag"/>

On 23 August, a huge public gathering was held by the Ahom Jatiya Mohasabha, where the newly transferred central government officers dubbed as 'foreigners', who had conspired to dominate Assam. The meeting ended with cries of ''[[Bongal Kheda]]'' (literally meaning 'drive away the [[Bengali Hindus]]'). Anti-[[Bengali Hindu]] demonstrations followed. On 24 August, a meeting of Assamese Railway Employees' Association presided by [[Assamese language|Assamese]] poet [[Nilmoni Phukan]] where anti-[[Bengalis|Bengali]] sentiment was voiced.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} The meeting was followed by rowdy demonstrations, anti-[[Bengali Hindu|Bengali]] slogans and attacks on [[Bengali Hindu]] shops.