The Goreswar massacre was the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

Bengali Hindus Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Beng ...

Goreswar Goreswar is a town in Baksa district (part of erstwhile Kamrup district till 2004), situated in north bank of river Brahmaputra, surrounded by Rangiya and Baihata Transport The town is located north of National Highway 31, and well connected t ...

, in the

Kamrup district Kamrup Rural district, or simply Kamrup district (Pron: ˈkæmˌrəp or ˈkæmˌru:p), is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India formed by dividing the old Kamrup district into two in the year 2003; other being Kamrup Metro ...

(now

Baksa district Baksa district ( or ) is an administrative district in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, one of the North-Eastern states of India. The administrative headquarters is at Mushalpur. Manas National Park is a part of this district. Histor ...

) of the Indian state of Assam. The massacre was part of a pre-planned

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

, organized in a meeting of the local Teachers' Association.

Background

During and after the independence of India movement,

were ethnically cleansed in the Indian state of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. After the partition riots, the next major ethnic conflagration in Assam occurred during the Bengali language movement in 1960. The

Government of Assam The Government of Assam is the subnational government of Assam, a state of India. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Jagdish Mukhi. The head of government is the Chief Minister, ...

decided to make Assamese the only official language in the state. Bengali people protested against this decision as it would affect their employment prospects. The

Barak Valley The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam. The region is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The ...

was a Bengali dominated area and became a centre of agitation. This in turn resulted in a spate of police shootings. In the

Brahmaputra Valley The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India. The valley consists of the Western Brahmaputra Valley covering the regions of Goalpara and Kamrup; the Central ...

, an Assamese-dominated area, Assamese mobs started attacking Bengalis.

Pogrom

Planning

A report claims that there was a secret meeting in early July 1960, at a school in

Sibsagar Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. S ...

. This was said to have been organized by the Teachers' Association. During the meeting, the massacre was planned as an attack on the

Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of ...

. The next day a students' strike was organised at Sibsagar and groups of students and youths were sent to

Jorhat Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam i ...

and other adjoining areas to communicate the decision of the meeting.

Massacre

On July 14, 1960 riots began in Sibsagar with the looting of Bengali shops and assaults on several Bengalis. In lower Assam ( Kamrup, Nowgong and

Goalpara Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati. Etymology The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...

) intense violence occurred in 25 villages in

(in

). On July3 an Assamese mob of 15,000, armed with guns and other weapons, raided Bengali shops and houses. The whole area was ransacked. According to an inquiry commissioned under Justice Gopalji Mahotra, 4,019 huts and 58 houses were vandalized or destroyed. The commission reported that at least nine

were killed and more were wounded or crippled. There is also a report that one woman was attacked and raped. Nearly 1,000 Bengali Hindus fled from the area during the riot.

Aftermath

The worst phase of violence occurred between July and September 1960. Nearly 50,000

had crossed over to

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

to seek shelter by late August 1960. Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. B. C. Roy wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India about the violence. According to his letter, at least 4,000 Bengali Hindus had been displaced to West Bengal between July 5 and 11 as a result of the riots, and 447 others who may not have been fleeing the riot. After July 31 the flow of refugees increased. In a subsequent letter, Roy wrote that 45,000 displaced Bengalis had taken shelter in West Bengal.

References