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Bijon Setu massacre: Difference between revisions
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'''Bijon Setu massacre''' ( | {{#seo: | ||
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'''Bijon Setu massacre''' ([[:wikipedia:Bengali language|Bengali]]: বিজন সেতু হত্যাকান্ড) refers to the killing and burning of 17 persons, including 1 nun and 14 monks, belonging to [[Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha]] at Bijon Setu, [[:wikipedia:Calcutta|Kolkata]] in [[:wikipedia:West Bengal|West Bengal]], India on April 30, 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made. After repeated calls for a formal judicial investigation, a single-member judicial commission was set up to investigate the killings in 2012. | |||
==Incident== | ==Incident== | ||
On the morning of April 30, 1982, 17 [[Ananda Marga]] members were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at their headquarters in [[Tiljala]] in Kolkata's southern suburbs. At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then set on fire. The killings were witnessed by thousands of people. However, not a single arrest has been made to date.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=1997-05-02|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=2008-07-04}}</ref> | On the morning of April 30, 1982, 17 [[Ananda Marga]] members were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at their headquarters in [[:wikipedia:Tiljala|Tiljala]] in Kolkata's southern suburbs. At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then set on fire. The killings were witnessed by thousands of people. However, not a single arrest has been made to date.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=1997-05-02|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=2008-07-04}}</ref> | ||
== List of assassinated people == | == List of assassinated people == | ||
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| pages=1, 7 | | pages=1, 7 | ||
| date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4 | | date=May 8, 1982, cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4 | ||
}}</ref> The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media. Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the May 5th edition of the ''Statesman'' as well as contemporaneous editions of ''Sunday'' and ''[[India Today]]''. The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1 /> In his study on the incident, historian [[Narasingha Sil]] concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious." | }}</ref> The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media. Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the May 5th edition of the ''Statesman'' as well as contemporaneous editions of ''Sunday'' and ''[[:wikipedia:India Today|India Today]]''. The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1 /> In his study on the incident, historian [[:wikipedia:Narasingha Sil|Narasingha Sil]] concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious." | ||
<ref name=Sil1988>{{citation | <ref name=Sil1988>{{citation | ||
| last=Sil | | last=Sil | ||
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| year=1988 | | year=1988 | ||
}} | }} | ||
</ref>{{rp|4}} The wire story sent out by [[United Press International]] added the detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation | </ref>{{rp|4}} The wire story sent out by the [[:wikipedia:United Press International|UPI]] added the erroneous detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation | ||
| author=[[United Press International]] | | author=[[United Press International]] | ||
| publisher=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] | | publisher=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] | ||