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'''Bijon Setu massacre''' ( | |keywords=Bijon Setu,massacre,Ananda Marga | ||
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| caption = Procession in memory of those slain in 1982 | |||
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'''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, | 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 == | |||
This is the list of the people who were killed on that day— | |||
{| 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 | ==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 | ||
| | | title=The Statesman Weekly | ||
| pages=1, 7 | | pages=1, 7 | ||
| date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4 | | date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4 | ||
}}</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 20: | Line 78: | ||
| year=1988 | | year=1988 | ||
}} | }} | ||
</ref>{{rp|4}} | </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 29: | 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}} | 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 37: | Line 95: | ||
| editor-last=Lewis | | editor-last=Lewis | ||
| editor-first=James R. | | editor-first=James R. | ||
| year=2011 | | year=2011 | ||
| publisher= | | publisher= | ||
[[Oxford University Press]]| ISBN=9780199735631 | [[:wikipedia:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]| ISBN=9780199735631 | ||
| pages=249–274 | | pages=249–274 | ||
}}</ref>{{rp|257}} | }}</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> | ||
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 61: | 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}} | |||
==Investigations and | ==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 | 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 | ||
| 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> | }}</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> | }}{{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 88: | Line 133: | ||
| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040428/asp/calcutta/story_3181577.asp | | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040428/asp/calcutta/story_3181577.asp | ||
| 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"/> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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==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.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] | ||