Friday, April 17, 2020

Exodus of Bengali Hindus - 1950

There was a huge exodus of Hindus from East Bengal to different parts of the Indian Union including West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. There was a major influx of Bengali Hindu refugees in West Bengal after the Kalshira massacre. 
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Thousands of Hindu refugees were stranded at railway stations, steamer stations and at the Dhaka airport. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy took the responsibility of bringing the refugees to India. He arranged 16 chartered planes to airlift the stranded evacuees from Dhaka airport. He further arranged 15 big passenger steamers to rescue the stranded refugees from Faridpur and Barisal. 
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No. of Hindu students in schools of Dhaka
School Type     Jan-50    Dec-50
Priyanath High School Boys 187 9
Pogose School Boys 580 50
K. L. Jubilee School Boys 719 52
Gandaria High School Boys 245 10
East Bengal High School Boys 204 16
Nabakumar Institution Boys 51 5
Nari Shiksha Mandir Girls 275 8
Banglabazar Girls High School Girls 606 2
Anandamayee Girls High School Girls 75 5
Gandaria Girls High School Girls 227 10
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In March 1950, an estimated 75,000 Bengali Hindu refugees from East Bengal were admitted in the refugee camps of West Bengal. Around 200,000 refugees arrived in Tripura in March, 1950.  An estimated 110,000 refugees arrived in Karimganj district in Assam from Sylhet district till 2 April 1950. 
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On 11 April 1950, 2,500 Hindu refugees arrived at Shalimar in Howrah from Barisal in four chartered steamers. 20,000 refugees were still awaiting evacuation in Barisal. Till 12 April 1950, 120,000 refugees arrived in West Dinajpur district of West Bengal. Thus more than 500,000 refugees had arrived in West Bengal since the exodus began in January 1950. 
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The total figure of refugees ran into millions. On 4 April 1950, Bidhan Chandra Roy stated that 2 million refugees from East Bengal had already taken shelter in India.  According to Rabindranath Trivedi, a total of 3.5 million Hindu refugees arrived in India in 1950.  
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According to researcher A. Roy, 500,000 Hindus were killed in the pogroms, which resulted in the exodus of 4.5 million Hindus into India. About a million Hindu refugees from Sindh arrived in India.
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Source : Wikipedia

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee talking to Bengali Hindu refugees at a refugee camp in Dhubulia, West Bengal








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