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One day I asked my grandfather – “What were you doing
on 15th August 1947, the day India got independence? He thought for
a while then told – “That day I attended the flag hoisting ceremony at Tarapur
congress office. (Tarapur is now subdivision town, just two kilometer far away
from my village). That was the day of celebration but many speakers there
became very emotional during their speeches. During freedom struggle, many
people of the area died resisting British. After quit India Movement, the
political atmosphere of Tarapur became very charged. People of this area became
very politically conscious and they participated in every agitation and
struggle. But during last leg of freedom struggle Tarapur witnessed violence
and riot too.”
“Riot?”- I became curious to know.
“Political consciousness gives a good understanding about what is beneficial for an individual or group and what is not but sometimes it misleads too. During freedom struggle, local leader took a great pain to mobilize the people and educate them the meaning of independence and disadvantages of being under British/ local Maharaja. Even though the leaders created an atmosphere of political agitation and struggle, but they could not discipline or control the people. When it became clear that India would divide into two parts, communal harmony of the area got disturbed. The news / rumors of violence at other places affected the people here and few people who were never into politics took the lead for riot and influenced the local people with vitriolic sentiments. Many dacoits and thieves took part in riot with intention of making money. General Public came under the influence of antisocial, and they extended their moral support. Dacoits and thieves killed the people and looted their belongings.”
“Was that riot big?”- I asked.
“I shudder to think about riot period. The field near Gazipur was full of corpse. It used to stink so much that it was impossible to pass that road. That was feast for vultures and dogs. After few days of riot, even dogs were not eating the corpse. The behavior of dogs became very violent and they would attack on passerby. Local sweeper refused to clear the corpse, then sweeper from Munger and Bhagalpur were called and then, they cleared the field. I do not know what is official figure but more than thousand people must have been killed in that riot.”
“Then what happened?”- I felt depressed to hear about such gory incident.
“It was so big that the news of Tarapur riot reached to Delhi. Jawaharlal Nehru and Liyakat Ali came to visit the area and spent a day here.
“Who was Liyakat Ali?”- I asked.
“He was a muslim league leader. Later he became prime minister of Pakistan. I still remember his speech – he told in the speech – ‘Before Independence, this is the condition, what will happen after independence?’ - He told that he was fighting for independence not for seeing people killed and maimed. He was very agitated that day.”
“What about Nehru? What he did that day?”-I asked.
“Nehru was very angry that day. His eyes were red and he was fumbling during speech. He spoke – ‘who mislead my gullible people?’- He told to shun the violence and believe in truth and non-violence. He did not eat anything that day. That time, leader had real power and people used to listen /obey leaders’ word. Nehru made people to take vow not to participate in any violence act and many people respected the vows until death. After Nehru left, all local people gathered and helped riot affected people in their rehabilitation.”
After saying this, he became silent for few minutes. I was also feeling depressed. When he did not speak for long, I asked- “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing .just thinking, People celebrated the independence that day but wound was too big to heal soon. It took almost decade for people to come out the trauma of the riot. Expect those criminals, dacoits who gained some wealth, all who were part of the riot lead the rest of the life with guilt consciousness. They could not justify their participation in riot. In fact, there cannot be any justification for killing people. ”
I had many questions to ask, but he looked sad after remembering the independence period. I too became pensive after hearing his memories of Independence period.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
“Riot?”- I became curious to know.
“Political consciousness gives a good understanding about what is beneficial for an individual or group and what is not but sometimes it misleads too. During freedom struggle, local leader took a great pain to mobilize the people and educate them the meaning of independence and disadvantages of being under British/ local Maharaja. Even though the leaders created an atmosphere of political agitation and struggle, but they could not discipline or control the people. When it became clear that India would divide into two parts, communal harmony of the area got disturbed. The news / rumors of violence at other places affected the people here and few people who were never into politics took the lead for riot and influenced the local people with vitriolic sentiments. Many dacoits and thieves took part in riot with intention of making money. General Public came under the influence of antisocial, and they extended their moral support. Dacoits and thieves killed the people and looted their belongings.”
“Was that riot big?”- I asked.
“I shudder to think about riot period. The field near Gazipur was full of corpse. It used to stink so much that it was impossible to pass that road. That was feast for vultures and dogs. After few days of riot, even dogs were not eating the corpse. The behavior of dogs became very violent and they would attack on passerby. Local sweeper refused to clear the corpse, then sweeper from Munger and Bhagalpur were called and then, they cleared the field. I do not know what is official figure but more than thousand people must have been killed in that riot.”
“Then what happened?”- I felt depressed to hear about such gory incident.
“It was so big that the news of Tarapur riot reached to Delhi. Jawaharlal Nehru and Liyakat Ali came to visit the area and spent a day here.
“Who was Liyakat Ali?”- I asked.
“He was a muslim league leader. Later he became prime minister of Pakistan. I still remember his speech – he told in the speech – ‘Before Independence, this is the condition, what will happen after independence?’ - He told that he was fighting for independence not for seeing people killed and maimed. He was very agitated that day.”
“What about Nehru? What he did that day?”-I asked.
“Nehru was very angry that day. His eyes were red and he was fumbling during speech. He spoke – ‘who mislead my gullible people?’- He told to shun the violence and believe in truth and non-violence. He did not eat anything that day. That time, leader had real power and people used to listen /obey leaders’ word. Nehru made people to take vow not to participate in any violence act and many people respected the vows until death. After Nehru left, all local people gathered and helped riot affected people in their rehabilitation.”
After saying this, he became silent for few minutes. I was also feeling depressed. When he did not speak for long, I asked- “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing .just thinking, People celebrated the independence that day but wound was too big to heal soon. It took almost decade for people to come out the trauma of the riot. Expect those criminals, dacoits who gained some wealth, all who were part of the riot lead the rest of the life with guilt consciousness. They could not justify their participation in riot. In fact, there cannot be any justification for killing people. ”
I had many questions to ask, but he looked sad after remembering the independence period. I too became pensive after hearing his memories of Independence period.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
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