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Direct Action Day (16 August 1946), also known as the Great Calcutta Killing, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) in the Bengal province of British India.[1] The day also marked the start of what is known as "The Week of the Long Knives"
Troubles started on the morning of the August 16. Even before 10 o'clock Police Headquarters at Lalbazar had reported that there was excitement throughout the city, that shops were being forced to close, and that there were many reports of brawls, stabbing and throwing of stones and brickbats.
The meeting began around 2 pm though processions of Muslims from all parts of Calcutta had started assembling since the midday prayers. A large number of the participants were reported to have been armed with iron bars and la this (bamboo sticks). The (Muslim) Star of India reporter put it at about 100,000. The main speakers were Khawaja Nazimuddin and Chief Minister Suhrawardy.
And listeners started attacking Hindus and looting Hindu shops as soon as they left the meeting.[1][24] Subsequently, there were reports of lorries (trucks) that came down Harrison Road in Calcutta, carrying Muslim men armed with brickbats and bottles as weapons and attacking Hindu-owned shops.[5].
Hindus and Sikhs were every bit as fierce as the Muslims in the beginning.[5][21] Field Marshal Viscount Wavell estimated that appreciably more Muslims than Hindus were killed.[25] Parties of one community would lie in wait, and as soon as they caught one of the other community, they would cut him to pieces.[25] Near military installations, static guards, forces specially trained to protect such installation, took over from police guards and a party of troops under Major Littleboy, the Assistant Provost-Marshal of Calcutta, did valuable work in the rescue operation for displaced and needy persons. Outside the military areas, the situation worsened hourly. Buses and taxis were charging about loaded with Sikhs and Hindus armed with swords, iron bars and firearms.[16]
The death toll was accounted at 65000 approx
where about 27 thousand Hindu died but causality of Muslim was more and despite starting the communal riots Muslim league try to play a card of victims but it was jinnah who called for war
But as ,hindu merchants and Sikhs purchased arms and ammunitions from American soldiers, which were later used during the riot.[23] Acid bombs were manufactured and stored in Hindu-owned factories before the outbreak
the Hindus and Sikhs of the Punjab in 1947, Amritsar occupies an outstanding position. It was in this city, along with Lahore, though with an intensity even greater
than in the latter town, that the most sustained war, lasting for over five
months was waged on the Hindus and Sikhs, especially the latter, by the
Amritsar Muslims. In the scheme of the Muslim League, Amritsar appears to have been Theatre of War
No. 1.
To surrender Amritsar
to the Muslims would mean practically the writing off of Sikh history and
admitting a status inferior to that of the Muslims in the Punjab-a
status, in view of the past record and declared ambitions and methods of the
Muslim League, of serfdom. To break the Sikh resistance and morale in Amritsar was, therefore,
of the first importance. And it was in Amritsar that the League poured all its
strength and resources from
March to August, 1947. Amritsar,
The Sikhs successfully stood the Muslim onslaught for four months or more.
A devastating riot rocked Bihar towards the end of 1946. Between October 30 and November 7, a large-scale massacre of Muslims in Bihar brought Partition closer to inevitability
An important incident following Direct Action Day was the Noakhali and Tippera district massacres in October 1946. The Noakhali?Tippera riot was a direct sequel to the Great Calcutta Riot and therefore, believed to be a repercussion of the latter. However, studies have indicated that violence was different in nature from Calcutta.[10][22
While the "Hindu" press placed the figures in thousands, the "League" press went on to the other extreme and even denied incidents of death.[16] the Muslim League claimed that only 500 Hindus were killed in the mayhem, but the survivors opined that more than 10000 Hindus were killed.
The violence erupted all over India then.
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When does Hindu and Muslims fight badly with each other ?
