Tarapur Massacre of Bihar

Source: The Indian Express

Why in News?

Recently, Bihar Chief Minister has announced that 15th February would be commemorated as “Shahid Diwas” in memory of the 34 freedom fighters who were killed by police in Tarapur town (now subdivision) of Bihar’s Munger district 90 years ago.

The Tarapur massacre was the biggest carried out by the British police after the one in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919.

What Happened in Tarapur?

On 15th February, 1932, a group of young freedom fighters planned to hoist an Indian national flag at Thana Bhawan in Tarapur.

Police were aware of the plan, and several officers were present at the spot.

A 4,000-strong crowd pelted the police with stones, injuring an officer of the civil administration.

The police responded by opening indiscriminate fire on the crowd. After about 75 rounds were fired, 34 bodies were found at the spot, even though there were claims of an even larger number of deaths.

But only 13 of the dead could be identified.

What Triggered the Protest?

The hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru in Lahore on 23th March, 1931, sent a wave of grief and anger around the country.

Following the collapse of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Mahatma was arrested in early 1932.

By this Pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference (the Congress had boycotted the first Round Table Conference) in London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.

The Congress was declared an illegal organization, and Nehru, Patel, and Rajendra Prasad were also thrown into jail.

In Munger, freedom fighters Srikrishna Singh, Nemdhari Singh, Nirapad Mukherjee, Pandit Dasrath Jha, Basukinath Rai, Dinanath Sahay, and Jaymangal Shastri were arrested.

A call given by the Congress leader Sardar Shardul Singh Kavishwar to raise the tricolour over government buildings resonated in Tarapur.