Prasenjeet at 22:10, 22 August 2022

2022-08-22T22:10:13Z

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{{short description|Massacre of police in India}}
{{Infobox protest
| title = Chauri Chaura Incident
| partof = [[Non-cooperation Movement]]
| place = [[Chauri Chaura]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now India)
| side1 = Protesters
| side2 = [[Indian Imperial Police]]
| result = Chauri Chaura police station burnt down with all occupants killed
| casualties1 = 3 dead
Several wounded
| casualties2 = 22 dead due to [[Burn|burn injuries]]
| casualties3 = 225 later arrested with 6 dying in police custody, 19 executed after trial in July 1923, 113 sentenced to varying years of imprisonment with 14 people getting life imprisonment.
| leadfigures1 = Nazar Ali, Lal Mohammad and 2000–2500 protesters
| leadfigures2 = ''Daroga'' Gupteshwar Singh{{KIA}}
}}

{{Use Indian English}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Coord|26.64283758611251|N|83.58969448910848|E|display=title}}
[[image:Chauri chaura new photo.jpg|thumb|200px|Chauri Chaura Martyrs Memorial|alt=]] The '''Chauri Chaura Incident''' took place on 4 February 1922 at [[Chauri Chaura]] in the [[Gorakhpur district]] of [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]] (now [[Uttar Pradesh]]) in [[British Raj|British India]]. The police there fired upon a large group of protesters participating in the [[Non-cooperation movement]]. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, which killed all of its occupants. The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen. [[Mahatma Gandhi]] halted the Non-Cooperation Movement on the national level on 12 February 1922 as a direct result of the incident. In spite of Gandhi's decision, 19 arrested demonstrators were sentenced to death and 14 to life imprisonment by the British colonial authorities.

==Background==
From 1920 onwards, [[Indian people|Indians]], led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], were engaged in a nationwide [[non-cooperation movement]]. Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as [[Satyagraha]], protests were organised by the [[Indian National Congress]] to challenge oppressive government regulatory measures such as the [[Rowlatt Act]], with the ultimate goal of attaining ''[[Swaraj]]'' (home rule).

==The incident==
Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in the [[non-cooperation movement]] led by a retired soldier of the [[British Indian Army]] named Bhagwan Ahir, protested against high [[Meat price|food prices]] and liquor sales at Gauri Bazaar. The demonstrators were beaten back by the local ''Daroga'' (inspector) Gupteshwar Singh and other police officers. Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at the [[Chauri Chaura]] police station. In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the Bazaar.<ref name=a>''[[Event, Metaphor, Memory]]'' – Chauri Chaura 1922–92 by Shahid Amin</ref>

On 4 February, approximately 2,000 to 2,500 protesters assembled and began marching towards the market lane at Chauri Chaura. They had gathered to picket the ''Gauri Bazaar Liquor Shop''. Armed police were dispatched to control the situation while the protesters marched towards the Bazaar, shouting anti-British slogans. In an attempt to frighten and disperse the crowd, Gupteshwar Singh ordered his 15 local police officers to fire warning shots into the air. This only agitated the crowd who began to throw stones at the police.<ref name=l/><ref name=g/><ref name=h/>

With the situation getting out of control, the Sub-inspector Prithvi Pal ordered the police to open fire on the advancing crowd, killing three and wounding several others. Reports vary on the reason for the police retreat, with some suggesting that the constables ran out of ammunition while others claimed that the crowd's unexpectedly assertive reaction to the gunfire was the cause. In the ensuing chaos, the heavily outnumbered police fell back to the shelter of the police ''chowki'' while the angry mob advanced. Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set the ''[[police station|chowki]]'' ablaze, killing all of the policemen trapped inside, including Inspector Gupteshwar Singh.<ref name=l>{{cite book|title=Longman History & Civics Icse 10 By Singh Vipul|year=2009|page=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RX4OiM0MGZUC&q=chauri+chaura+incident&pg=PA91|isbn=9788131720424|last1=Vipul|first1=Singh}}</ref><ref name=g>{{cite book|title=Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life By Kathryn Tidrick|year=2006|pages=176–180|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pp-gZ5OVkuUC&q=chauri+chaura+incident&pg=PA176|isbn=9781845111663|last1=Tidrick|first1=Kathryn}}</ref><ref name=h>{{cite book|title=History of Modern India: 1707 A.D. to 2000 A.D. By Radhey Shyam Chaurasia|year=2002|page=355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MS_jrForJOoC&q=chauri+chaura+incident&pg=PA355|isbn=9788126900855|last1=Chaurasia|first1=Radhey Shyam}}</ref>

'''The following are the names of the senior officers, constables and ''chaukidars'' (government watchmen) who were killed in the incident:'''

#Inspector (''Daroga'') Gupteshwar Singh
#Sub-Inspector Prithvi Pal
#Constable Bashir Khan
#Constable Kapil Dev Singh
#Constable Visheshwar Ram Yadav
#Constable Mohammad Ali
#Constable Hasan Khan
#Constable Gadabaksh Khan
#Constable Jama Khan
#Constable Manglu Chaubey
#Constable Rambali Pandey
#Constable Kapil Dev
#Constable Indrasan Singh
#Constable Ramlakhan Singh
#Constable Mardana Khan
#Constable Jagdev Singh
#Constable Jaigai Singh
#Chaukidar Lakhai Singh
#Chaukidar Wazir
#Chaukidar Ghisai Ram
#Chaukidar Jathai Ram
#Chaukidar Katwaru Ram

One of the constables, named Raghuvir Singh, was found to be alive, a few months after the incident. He had been declared dead in the [[First information report|report]] registered thereafter. He was later produced in the court as the sole witness to the incident.

Most victims were burned to death, although several appear to have been killed by the crowd at the entrance to the chowki and their bodies thrown back into the fire. The death count is reported in the literature as either 22 or 23 policemen by different accounts, possibly because of including or excluding the reported death of Raghuvir Singh.<ref name=l/><ref name=g/><ref name=h/>

==Aftermath ==
In response to the killing of the police, the British colonial authorities declared [[martial law]] in and around Chauri Chaura. Several raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested.

Appalled at the outrage, Gandhi went on a [[List of fasts undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi|five-day fast]] as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed.<ref name=g/> In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against the [[British Raj|British colonial government]] without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of ''[[ahimsa]]'' (non-violence) and without adequately training the people to exercise restraint in the face of attack.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roychowdhury|first=Adrija |title=When the violence of Chauri Chaura prompted Gandhi to suspend the non-cooperation movement|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/chauri-chaura-centernary-anniversary-narendra-modi-7175289/|access-date=9 April 2021|work=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> He decided that the Indian people were ill-prepared and not yet ready to do what was needed to achieve independence. Gandhi was also arrested and sentenced to six years of imprisonment but was later released in February 1924, on grounds of his ill health.<ref name=h/>

On 12 February 1922, the [[Indian National Congress]] halted the non-cooperation movement on the national level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.<ref>Batsha, "Gandhi and Chauri Chaura,"</ref>

[[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and most of the workers of the Congress, who were in prison when Gandhi made this decision, felt that this was a hasty and incorrect decision at a time when the nation was reaching the epoch of support for the Indian independence movement. A few months after this withdrawal, the colonial government arrested Gandhi and put him in Jail.<ref name="nh">{{cite book |last1=Nehru |first1=Jawaharlal |title=An Autobiography |publisher=Bodley Head }}</ref>

==Trial and conviction==
A total of 225 people were brought to trial at Gorakhpur Sessions Court of Judge H. E. Holmes, on charges of "rioting and arson" in conjunction with the Chauri Chaura affair.<ref name=Legal>M.N. Roy, "Legal Murder in India," ''International Press Correspondence,'' vol. 3, no. 9 (24 January 1923). Reprinted in G. Adhikari (ed.), ''Documents of the History of the Communist Party of India: Volume 2, 1923–1925.'' New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1974; pp. 62–64.</ref> Of these, six died while in police custody, two were sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment, 170 were convicted and [[Capital punishment|sentenced to death]] by [[hanging]] while 47 were acquitted on 9 January 1923, following a trial which lasted eight months.<ref name=Legal/>

A storm of protest erupted over the verdicts, which were characterised as "legalised murder" by [[Communist involvement in the Indian independence movement|Indian communist leader]] [[M. N. Roy]],<ref name=Legal/> who called for a [[Hartal|general strike]] of Indian workers.<ref>M.N. Roy, "An Appeal to the Labour Unions of India," ''Vanguard,'' vol. 2, no. 2 (1 March 1923). Reprinted in G. Adhikari (ed.), ''Documents of the History of the Communist Party of India: Volume 2, 1923–1925.'' New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1974; pp. 64–65.</ref>

On 30 April 1923, the [[Allahabad High Court|High Court of Allahabad]] pronounced the final judgements in the case, after appeals had been considered regarding the 170 convicted accused, who had been awarded death sentences:

*The (19) people who were sentenced to death were — Nazar Ali, Bhagwan Ahir, Lal Mohammad, Shyamsundar, Abdullah, Vikram Ahir, Dudhi Singh, Kali Charan, Lauti Kumar, Mahadev Singh, Meghu Ali, Raghuvir, Ramlakhan, Ramroop, Sahdev, Rudali, Mohan, Sampat and Sitaram.

*14 people were sentenced to life imprisonment.

*19 people were sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment.

*57 people were sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment.

*20 people were sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment.

*3 people were sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment.

*38 people were acquitted.

*The 19 defendants condemned to death were hanged between 2 and 11 July 1923.

==Memorial==

*A memorial to the dead policemen was dedicated by the British colonial authorities in 1923.<ref name=toi/> Following independence, the words ''[[Jai Hind]]''<ref name=it/> were added to it, as well as a verse by poet Jagdamba Prasad Mishra which is made famous by revolutionary poet [[Ram Prasad Bismil]]. The verse reads: ''{{transl|hi|Shaheedon ki chitaaon par lagenge har baras mele}}'' ("On the pyres of martyrs, there will be fairs every year").<ref name=ht/>
*The people of the district did not forget the 19 persons tried and executed after the Chauri Chaura incident. In 1971, they formed an association named ''Chauri Chaura Shaheed Smarak Samiti''. In 1973, this Samiti constructed near the lake at Chauri Chaura a {{convert|12.2|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} triangular minaret on each side of which a figure is depicted hanging with a noose round his neck. The minaret was built at a cost of Rs 13,500 contributed by popular subscription.<ref name=toi>{{cite news|title=No tears for these martyrs|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-22/special-report/27989263_1_martyrs-railway-station|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901145907/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-22/special-report/27989263_1_martyrs-railway-station|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 September 2013|access-date=1 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref name=it>{{cite news|title=Haunted by memories|access-date=5 January 2017|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chauri-chaura-village-that-became-metaphor-for-gandhism-gets-entangled-in-criminal-violence/1/205175.html|newspaper=India Today newspaper}}</ref><ref name=ht>{{cite news|title=Your memory versus mine|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/Your-memory-versus-mine/Article1-586846.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629113055/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/Your-memory-versus-mine/Article1-586846.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 June 2013|access-date=1 March 2013|newspaper=Hindustan Times}}</ref>
*Later another Shaheed Smarak (now the main one) was built by the Government of India to honour those hanged after the incident. This tall memorial has names of those executed engraved upon it.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dilapidated freedom fighters' memorial angers Gorakhpur residents|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_dilapidated-freedom-fighters-memorial-angers-gorakhpur-residents_1727224|access-date=1 March 2013|newspaper=DNA}}</ref> A library and museum related to the independence struggle has been set up near the memorial.
*[[Indian Railways]] have named a train to honour those executed after the Chauri Chaura incident. The train is named [[Chauri Chaura Express]], which runs from [[Gorakhpur]] to [[Kanpur]].

[[File:Chauri Chaura Express at Kanpur Anwarganj.jpg|250 px|thumb|Chauri Chaura Express ready to depart from [[Kanpur]]—Anwarganj]]

==References==
{{Reflist}} 14 ^ Narayan, Badri (14 November 2006). Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics

==External links==
{{Refbegin}}
*[http://www.chaurichaura.com A Complete Portal of Chauri Chaura describing the history of Chauri Chaura incident]
{{Refend}}
{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Gandhi}}

[[Category:1922 protests]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]
[[Category:1922 in India]]
[[Category:Protests in British India]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1922]]
[[Category:Massacres in India]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1922]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:1922 murders in India]]
[[Category:February 1922 events]]
[[Category:Attacks on police stations]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1920s]]

Chauri Chaura incident - Revision history

Prasenjeet at 22:10, 22 August 2022