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'''Bijon Setu massacre''' ({{lang-bn|বিজন সেতু হত্যাকান্ড}}) refers to the killing and burning of 16 monks and a nun belonging to [[Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha]] at Bijon Setu, [[Calcutta]] in [[West Bengal]], India on April 30, 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made.  After repeated calls for a formal judicial investigation, a single-member judicial commission was set up to investigate the killings in 2012.
{{#seo:
|keywords=Bijon Setu,massacre,Ananda Marga
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{{Infobox Opponents
| image          = BijonSetuMassacre.jpg
| image_size    =
| alt            =
| caption        = Procession in memory of those slain in 1982
| birth_name    = <!-- name before becoming a religious teacher -->
| birth_date    =
| birth_place    =
| death_date    =
| death_place    =
| organization =
| positions_held =
| literary_works =
| website =
}}
'''Bijon Setu massacre''' ([[:wikipedia:Bengali language|Bengali]]: বিজন সেতু হত্যাকান্ড) refers to the killing and burning of 17 persons, including 1 nun and 14 monks, belonging to [[Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha]] at Bijon Setu, [[:wikipedia:Calcutta|Kolkata]] in [[:wikipedia:West Bengal|West Bengal]], India on April 30, 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made.  After repeated calls for a formal judicial investigation, a single-member judicial commission was set up to investigate the killings in 2012.


==Incident==
==Incident==
On the morning of April 30, 1982, a nun and 16 [[Ananda Marga]] monks were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at their headquarters in [[Tiljala]] in Kolkata's southern suburbs. At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then set on fire. The killings were witnessed by thousands of people. However, not a single arrest has been made to date.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=1997-05-02|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=2008-07-04}}</ref>
On the morning of April 30, 1982, 17 [[Ananda Marga]] members were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at their headquarters in [[:wikipedia:Tiljala|Tiljala]] in Kolkata's southern suburbs. At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then set on fire. The killings were witnessed by thousands of people. However, not a single arrest has been made to date.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=1997-05-02|work=[[:wikipedia:The Indian Express|The Indian Express]]|accessdate=2008-07-04}}</ref>


== List of assassinated people ==
== List of assassinated people ==
This is the list of the people who were killed on that day—
This is the list of the people who were killed on that day—
=== At Bijon Setu ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 70%; text-align: center;"
|-
! Name !! Designation
|-
| Anandapraceta Acarya || Avadhutika
|-
| Ac. Adishivananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Artasevananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Balabhadra || Brahmacarii
|-
| Ac. Bhaveshvarananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Giirishananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Kamaleshananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Krpashivananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Mukul || Brahmacarii
|-
| Ac. Prashivananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Shrii Ram Raghuvir || Margii from Jaipur 
|-
| Ac. Somnath || Brahmacarii
|-
| Ac. Subrata || Brahmacarii
|-
| Ac. Sutreshvarananda || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Venkateshvaranada || Avadhuta
|-
| Ac. Viirendra || Brahmacarii
|-
| Unidentified Margii || Body burned beyond recognition
|}


==Initial Press Reports and Reactions==
==Initial Press reports and reactions==
''The Statesman Weekly'', the leading Calcutta newspaper at the time, reported a week after the incident that "Seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were done to death on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta in the suspicion that they were child-lifters."<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1>{{citation
''The Statesman Weekly'', the leading Calcutta newspaper at the time, reported a week after the incident that "Seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were done to death on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta in the suspicion that they were child-lifters."<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1>{{citation
| publisher=The Statesman Weekly
| title=The Statesman Weekly
| pages=1, 7
| pages=1, 7
| date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3&ndash;4
| date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3&ndash;4
}}</ref>  The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media.  Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the May 5th edition of the ''Statesman'' as well as contemporaneous editions of ''Sunday'' and ''[[India Today]]''.  The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1 />  In his study on the incident, historian [[Narasingha Sil]] concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious."
}}</ref>  The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media.  Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the May 5th edition of the ''Statesman'' as well as contemporaneous editions of ''Sunday'' and ''[[:wikipedia:India Today|India Today]]''.  The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1 />  In his study on the incident, historian [[:wikipedia:Narasingha Sil|Narasingha Sil]] concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious."
<ref name=Sil1988>{{citation
<ref name=Sil1988>{{citation
| last=Sil
| last=Sil
Line 23: Line 78:
| year=1988
| year=1988
}}
}}
</ref>{{rp|4}} The wire story sent out by [[United Press International]] added the detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation
</ref>{{rp|4}} The wire story sent out by the [[:wikipedia:United Press International|UPI]] added the erroneous detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation
| author=[[United Press International]]
| author=[[:wikipedia:United Press International|United Press International]]
| publisher=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]
| publisher=[[:wikipedia:Sarasota Herald-Tribune|Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]
| date=May 1, 1992
| date=May 1, 1992
| title=Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12
| title=Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12
Line 32: Line 87:


==Explanations==
==Explanations==
As part of its initial coverage, ''The Statesman Weekly'' reported the state's Chief Minister's suspicious that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power prior to the upcoming election.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|4}} Ananda Marga blamed the attack on the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].
As part of its initial coverage, ''The Statesman Weekly'' reported the state's Chief Minister's suspicious that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power prior to the upcoming election.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|4}} Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha has always blamed the attack on the [[:wikipedia:Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].
<ref name=Crovetto>{{citation
<ref name=Crovetto>{{citation
| chapter=Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force
| chapter=Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force
Line 40: Line 95:
| editor-last=Lewis
| editor-last=Lewis
| editor-first=James R.
| editor-first=James R.
| authorlink = James R. Lewis
| year=2011
| year=2011
| publisher=
| publisher=
[[Oxford University Press]]| ISBN=9780199735631
[[:wikipedia:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]| ISBN=9780199735631
| pages=249&ndash;274
| pages=249&ndash;274
}}</ref>{{rp|257}} While this accusation was repeated for many years,<ref name=HinduismToday1989>{{cite news
}}</ref>{{rp|257}} This accusation has been repeated for many years.<ref name=HinduismToday1989>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=621
|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=621
| accessdate=2013-02-17
| accessdate=2013-02-17
| publisher=[[Hinduism Today]]
| publisher=[[:wikipedia:Hinduism Today|Hinduism Today]]
| date=May, 1989
| date=May, 1989
| title=Controversial Movement Survives Years Of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever
| title=Controversial Movement Survives Years Of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever
}}</ref><ref name=IBN2011>{{citation
| publisher=PTI
| title=CPI-M's allegation against us baseless, malicious: AMPS
| date=April 30, 2011
| url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/cpims-allegation-against-us-baseless-malicious-amps/667831.html
| accessdate=2013-02-17
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
recent Ananda Marga scholarship now assumes the mob was motivated by unfounded allegations of child kidnapping.<ref name=Inayatullah>{{cite book
Allegedly, a mob was stirred up by Communist activists, making unfounded claims of child kidnapping.<ref name=Inayatullah>{{cite book
| last=Inayatullah
| last=Inayatullah
| first=Sohail
| first=Sohail
Line 64: Line 112:
| title=Understanding Sarkar:  The Indian Episteme Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge
| title=Understanding Sarkar:  The Indian Episteme Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge
| year=2002
| year=2002
| publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]
| publisher=[[:wikipedia:Brill Publishers|Brill]]
| ISBN=9004121935
| ISBN=9004121935
}}</ref>
}}</ref>{{rp|20}}
{{rp|20}}


Narasingha Sil discusses at length the state of the reputation of Ananda Marga in the years and months leading up to the massacre.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|15}}  Sil describes how members of Ananda Marga had engaged in many acts of violence (including murders of members leaving the group), media coverage and government response made the group out to be far more violent than it actually was.  Sil then describes how the term "child-lifter" (''chheledhara'') is a particularly loathsome label in Bengal and draws the parallel to how women accused of witchcraft were treated in the West.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|15}}  Sil reports how three people were beaten to death by a mob after being suspected of child kidnapping even though no report of any such kidnappings had been made to the police.{{refn|group="Note"|On August 25, 2010 a woman in Chittagong was lynched by a mob after a similar accusation.  The news report indicated that this was an ongoing problem.<ref>{{citation | title=Another woman falls prey to kidnap hoax in Ctg | publisher=BanglaNews24.com | url=http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=d40e0a2a2f466a90ee2630fc925e7af9&nttl=201205184238 | date=August 25, 2010}}</ref>}}
==Investigations and memorials==
 
The [[:wikipedia:National Human Rights Commission|National Human Rights Commission]] took up the investigation of the case in 1996 but did not make much headway, allegedly due to interference from the state government at the time.<ref name=TheStatesman2012>{{citation
Historian Helen Crovetto further develops this line of thought, noting that the social services provided by the Ananda Marga may have made them more vulnerable to such an accusation.<ref name=Crovetto />{{rp|257}}  She detail how, in Portugal, the institutional expectation of constantly rising enrollment of children in the Ananda Marga schools and children's homes led to a reluctance to release the children back to their parents when the parents were once again able to care for them.  Crovetto speculates that a similar situation in Bengal could have precipitated the accusations and mob violence.  Neither Crovetto nor Sil give any credence whatsoever to the accusations.
 
==Investigations and Memorials==
The [[National Human Rights Commission]] took up the investigation of the case in 1996 but did not make much headway, allegedly due to interference from the state government at the time.<ref name=TheStatesman2012>{{citation
| title=Judicial probe into killings of Margis
| title=Judicial probe into killings of Margis
| publisher=The Statesman
| publisher=The Statesman
| date=March 7, 2012
| date=March 7, 2012
| url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8
| url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8
}}</ref> On April 30, 1999 the Ananda Marga Pracharaka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe into the mass killing of Ananda Margis.
}}</ref> On April 30, 1999 the Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe into the mass killing of Ananda Margiis.<ref name=IndianExpress1999>{{citation
<ref name=IndianExpress1999>{{citation
| work=Indian Express
| work=Indian Express
| title=Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought
| title=Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought
| date=May 1, 1999
| date=May 1, 1999
| url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html
| url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html
}}{{dead link|date=February 2013}}</ref> On April 30, 2004, Ananda Marga was able to hold the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the necessity of first acquiring a court order forcing the police to allow the rally to occur.<ref name=Telegraph2004>{{citation
}}{{dead link|date=February 2013}}</ref> On April 30, 2004, Ananda Marga was able to hold the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the necessity of first acquiring a court order forcing the police to allow the rally to occur.<ref name=Telegraph2004>{{citation
| title=Police nod for Marga rally
| title=Police nod for Marga rally
| publisher=The Telegraph
| publisher=The Telegraph
Line 92: Line 134:
| accessdate=2013-02-17
| accessdate=2013-02-17
}}</ref> A single-member judicial commission to investigate the killings was finally empaneled in March 2012.<ref name="TheStatesman2012"/>
}}</ref> A single-member judicial commission to investigate the killings was finally empaneled in March 2012.<ref name="TheStatesman2012"/>
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="Note"}}


==References==
==References==
Line 101: Line 140:
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://canvaspix.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/bijonsetu1982/ A documentary about the 30 April 1982 massacre]  
*[http://canvaspix.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/bijonsetu1982/ A documentary about the 30 April 1982 massacre]  
*[http://www.ananda-marga.org/?p=12 30 April 1982, A Pathetic Chapter of History Written in Blood of the 17 Monks and Nuns of Ananda Marga] ananda-marga.org (link from the official website of Ananda Marga)
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/13829121@N06/sets/72157604255490575/ Photos of Ananda Margi processions in Calcutta marking the anniversary of the massacre]
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/13829121@N06/sets/72157604255490575/ Photos of Ananda Margi processions in Calcutta marking the anniversary of the massacre]
{{coord missing|West Bengal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bijon Setu Killings}}

Latest revision as of 13:27, 27 April 2023

Bijon Setu massacre
BijonSetuMassacre.jpg
Procession in memory of those slain in 1982
Location in Sarkarverse
SVmap Opponents.png

Bijon Setu massacre (Bengali: বিজন সেতু হত্যাকান্ড) refers to the killing and burning of 17 persons, including 1 nun and 14 monks, belonging to Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha at Bijon Setu, Kolkata in West Bengal, India on April 30, 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made. After repeated calls for a formal judicial investigation, a single-member judicial commission was set up to investigate the killings in 2012.

Incident

On the morning of April 30, 1982, 17 Ananda Marga members were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at their headquarters in Tiljala in Kolkata's southern suburbs. At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then set on fire. The killings were witnessed by thousands of people. However, not a single arrest has been made to date.[1]

List of assassinated people

This is the list of the people who were killed on that day—

Name Designation
Anandapraceta Acarya Avadhutika
Ac. Adishivananda Avadhuta
Ac. Artasevananda Avadhuta
Ac. Balabhadra Brahmacarii
Ac. Bhaveshvarananda Avadhuta
Ac. Giirishananda Avadhuta
Ac. Kamaleshananda Avadhuta
Ac. Krpashivananda Avadhuta
Ac. Mukul Brahmacarii
Ac. Prashivananda Avadhuta
Shrii Ram Raghuvir Margii from Jaipur
Ac. Somnath Brahmacarii
Ac. Subrata Brahmacarii
Ac. Sutreshvarananda Avadhuta
Ac. Venkateshvaranada Avadhuta
Ac. Viirendra Brahmacarii
Unidentified Margii Body burned beyond recognition

Initial Press reports and reactions

The Statesman Weekly, the leading Calcutta newspaper at the time, reported a week after the incident that "Seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were done to death on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta in the suspicion that they were child-lifters."[2] The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media. Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the May 5th edition of the Statesman as well as contemporaneous editions of Sunday and India Today. The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".[2] In his study on the incident, historian Narasingha Sil concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious." [3]:4 The wire story sent out by the UPI added the erroneous detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".[4]

Explanations

As part of its initial coverage, The Statesman Weekly reported the state's Chief Minister's suspicious that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power prior to the upcoming election.[3]:4 Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha has always blamed the attack on the Communist Party of India (Marxist). [5]:257 This accusation has been repeated for many years.[6] Allegedly, a mob was stirred up by Communist activists, making unfounded claims of child kidnapping.[7]:20

Investigations and memorials

The National Human Rights Commission took up the investigation of the case in 1996 but did not make much headway, allegedly due to interference from the state government at the time.[8] On April 30, 1999 the Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe into the mass killing of Ananda Margiis.[9] On April 30, 2004, Ananda Marga was able to hold the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the necessity of first acquiring a court order forcing the police to allow the rally to occur.[10] A single-member judicial commission to investigate the killings was finally empaneled in March 2012.[8]

References

  1. ^ Namboodiri, Udayan (1997-05-02) "Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre" The Indian Express retrieved 2008-07-04 
  2. ^ a b The Statesman Weekly, May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4, pp. 1, 7 
  3. ^ a b Sil, Narasingha (1988), "The Troubled World of the Ananda Marga: An Examination", The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies 27 (4) 
  4. ^ United Press International (May 1, 1992), Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12, Sarasota Herald-Tribune 
  5. ^ Crovetto, Helen (2011), "Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force", in Lewis, James R., Violence and New Religious Movements, Oxford University Press, pp. 249–274, ISBN 9780199735631 
  6. ^ "Controversial Movement Survives Years Of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever" Hinduism Today May, 1989 retrieved 2013-02-17 
  7. ^ Inayatullah, Sohail (2002) Understanding Sarkar: The Indian Episteme Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge Brill ISBN 9004121935 
  8. ^ a b Judicial probe into killings of Margis, The Statesman, March 7, 2012 
  9. ^ "Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought", Indian Express, May 1, 1999 [dead link]
  10. ^ Police nod for Marga rally, The Telegraph, April 28, 2004, retrieved 2013-02-17 

External links

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