The Noakhali Genocide took place in the year 1946 in the Noakhali District (present day Bangladesh). In this genocide, the Muslim League killed over 5,000 Hindus and forced 95% of the population out of a population of 400,000 to convert to Islam. [1]
The massacre started on October 10, the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja and continued unabated for about a week. It is estimated that 5,000 Hindus were killed, hundreds of Hindu women were raped and thousands of Hindu men and women were forced to convert to Islam. Around 50,000 to 75,000 survivors were sheltered in temporary relief camps in Comilla, Chandpur, Agartala and other places. Additionally over 50,000 Hindus remained marooned in the affected areas.
Gruesome accounts were reported of the atrocities perpetrated against Hindus:
“𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴…….𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴” - Miss Muriel Leister, member of a relief committee sent to Noakhali(V.V Nagarkar - Genesis - pg.446)
“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 13𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 120 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘫, 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘳, 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘳, 𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘮𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘫 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘴 (𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴) 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 90,000 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 70,000 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘫 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 (𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢) 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.” - Amrita Bazar Patrika on 23/10/46
“𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 200 𝘴𝘲 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 (𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴) 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵." - The Statesman on 16/10/1946
“𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 400 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 300 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥, 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯” - Mr. Simpson, I.C.S in his letters