Marichjhapi massacre

After the division of Bengal (during independence in 1947) along communal lines many Hindu Bengalis fled East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The first flow of refugees who were mostly the upper and middle classes from upper castes easily resettled in West Bengal. However most lower caste Hindus remained behind, seeing their plight as no better than the Muslims. However they too were persecuted by Muslims and were forced to flee to West Bengal as well. But this latter huge flow of poor, mostly low-caste Hindus [4] couldn't be accommodated in Bengal. This later surge reached its peak in 1970's. During this time in 1976 Ram Niwas Mirdha said in Loksabha that Bengal had become saturated and relocating migrants was inevitable.

There was resistance from refugees (hailing from wetland marshy coastal landscape) against the relocation to wastelands. However, after initial resistance from they were forcibly sent to "rocky inhospitable semi arid land" of Dandakaranya (mostly in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh),[5][6] Terai (Uttar Pradesh, now in Uttarakhand), and Little Andamans. Most of them were destined to bear the brunt of an already failed Dandakaranya Project.

Left Front leaders like Ram Chatterjee then opposed the relocation policy of Union Govt. They reached out to migrants by visiting camps in Dandakaranya and promised them that if the Left Front comes to power in West Bengal then all migrants would be brought back and settled in Bengal itself.

Once the Left Front came to power in 1977, the refugees started to return to Bengal in huge numbers. Approximately 150,000 refugees, which was almost all of Dandakaranya, arrived.[6] In the meanwhile around 40,000 refugees went south to Hasnabad, Hingalganj and Geonkhali, and about 500 settling in the small island of Marichjhapi (renamed by them as "Netaji Nagar"), a protected place under Reserve Forest Act.[7] A survivor claims that there were only shrubs on the island when they came.[8] They were involved in fishing and had built schools and hospitals.

The Left government considered that unauthorized occupation of a reserved mangrove forest land, and subsequent chain of migrations that it may lead to in that area could result in a severe ecological disaster. The government pursued them to return to their respective place, and many had complied. By then activities of far-right, anti-Left organizations like that of the Anandamargis had started in that region. These groups sponsored cross border smuggling of arms from Bangladesh. By December 1978, seven sporadic cases of arms smuggling had been uncovered by the Police, near and around Marichjhapi. Added with these violent clashes between Anandamargis and the tribal population of that region, and Left Front activists had become common. On 24 January 1979, the Government of West Bengal clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC around the island of Marichjhapi. Thirty police launches started patrolling the island,[7] attempting to prevent any illicit activities in and around the island.

Eyewitness accounts say that armed groups of Anandamargis attacked police launches and camps with hand-made explosives and locally made fire-arms on 30 January, killing 10 policemen. CPI(M) activists Rajesh Dolui and Hari Biswas were burnt alive by the Anadamargis on the same day. On 31 January, the police retaliated with preventive encroachment, opened fire and killed 13 people. After 15 days Calcutta High Court ruled that "The supply of drinking water, essential food items and medicines as well as the passage of doctors must be allowed to Marichjhapi".[9]

The remaining 250-300 refugees were escorted in police launches to Hasnabad. The State Government allocated land for the building up of refugee colonies for them, particularly in Marichjhapi Colony near Barasat while the other remnants of the refugees from Dandakaranya were rehabilitated in Basirhat, Baduria and Bongaon.[10] Others resettled themselves in Hingalganj, Canning and nearby areas.[11]

The death count could never be confirmed but eyewitness accounts have put it to atleast 15-20, on both sides. The official toll was two.[12][13]

• 1964 East Pakistan genocide
• Dandakaranya Project
• The Hungry Tide, a novel by Amitav Ghosh

• Mandal, Jagadish Chandra (2002). Marichjhapi: Naishabder Antarale. Sujan Publications.
• Sengupta, Sukharanjan (2010). Marichjhapi Beyond & Within. FrontPage Publications.
• Halder, Deep (2019). Blood Island: An Oral History of the Marichjhapi Massacre. HarperCollins Publishers India.