From The Diary of 1947 by Nirmal Kumar Basu, in Sandip Mukherji's Noakhali 1946, translated by Rinita Mazumdar, PhD. Forthcoming translated book will be available April 2024.
Sri Nagendra Chandra Das
On the day of the Goddess Laxmi festival in the evening, my 3 uncles (father’s younger brother) and I took the boat and went to hear kirtans[1] . When we were returning home, we saw a boat with about 150 Muslims. They caught up with us and told us to convert or die. We refused and they imprisoned and tortured us. They beat us with sticks, slashed our necks, and inflicted wounds on our bodies. We appealed to some of the Muslim leaders in the village to help us. Then we had to give these criminals a bribe of Rs. 50 and promised them not to report this to the police and then they let us go. The next evening about 300 Muslims attacked our village and we again appealed to the Muslim leaders of our village for help. They convened a joint meeting of Hindus and Muslims and decided to support each other. However, the next day, they started to threaten us again. They told us, “Either convert, or you will suffer.” They threatened all the other Hindus in the village. Then we all left the village and fled where we would be safe. I left the village with my wife and our two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to go to the Chandpur relief camp. After a little while on our journey, we saw fire. We heard that several Hindus were converted to Islam and those who refused were confined to their homes. Also, we heard that the daughter of the Chatkhil School Headmaster was married to a Muslim. My maternal grandfather’s house in Nichanpur was set on fire and everyone was confined till they converted to Muslims. I heard all of this while we were coming to Chandpur relief camp. I then tried again to return home, and in Balakal station I saw about 500 Muslims were standing there and prohibiting the Hindus from returning to their homes. Seeing this kind of hostile atmosphere, I returned to Chandpur relief camp, and from there with my wife and daughter came to Calcutta.
The amount of loss.
Land 3 pieces.
Tin roofed room 2
Thatched roof room 2
Wooden stuff Rs. 50
Petol[1] , kansha worth Rs 100, rice paddy, just worth Rs. 500.
Yours Truly,
Nagendranath Das,
Address: Village, Alipore, District —Tripura
Police Station —Hajigung, Post office Kamranga
(From The Diary of 1947, Nirmal Kumar Basu).
[1] This is a devotional song sung in groups in the praise of Sri Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu. It is popular in several parts of India, including in Bengal, where there are professional Kirtan singers. In Niachpur my maternal uncle’s home was set on fire and everyone was imprisoned in their homes till they accepted to convert to Islam. I heard all this when I was returning to my home from Chandpur relief camp. When we came to Balakhal Station to return home we saw 500 Muslims gathering and stopping Hindus from going out of the village. Seeing that we did not proceed to our homes but returned to the Chandpur relief camp and came with my family to Calcutta.
