The forgotten case of Marichjhapi

 

 

 

The History of Communism is an open testimony to the fact that wherever the so-called ideology of equality procured power, it unleashes a reign of raw terror and massacres, India indeed is no exception to this and it is roughly estimated that more than 50000 people had perished during the 35 years of left regime in West Bengal alone.

 

One such incident which vividly unmasked the true colors of the Marxist venom was the Marichjhapi massacre in 1979 when the state police under command of the CPM government along with the goons of the left unleashed the deadliest state sponsored massacre after independence.

 

Located in the Sundarban region of Bengal The Marichjhapi island was then inhabited by around 15000 Hindu refugees uprooted from East Pakistan during the struggle of a separate Bangladesh, these refugees were earlier settled in the vast Dandakaranya region after the then central government promised them aid to make the hostile land of Dandakaranya more cultivable.

 

Though CPM who had become the major opposition force during the late 60s started instigating these refugees to return back and settled in more familiar terrain in Bengal for which the leftist leaders had also promised job, lands and aid once securing the power in state.

 

Instigated by the left, these refugees came back and settled in large number in different island of Sundarvans, they cleared the forests, build ridges and made the hostile deltas a place to live with, the refugees had high hopes from the Communist party who initially promised a brighter future for these refugees only to change its stance after procuring the power in the state assembly election in 1977.

 

Once in power the communist government did a bizarre U-turn and announced that the refugees cause would no longer be entertained and those who had settled in the Sundarbans would have to return to their earlier settlements in Dandakaranya region, the change in the policy made the state police to deport these Hindu refugees to their earlier settlement by force, resulting in migration of thousand of them in the Dandakaranya region by force.

 

In order to ensure the complete eviction of the refugees the state police along with the communists goons also reached the Marichjhapi island and threatened the inhabitants to leave their settlements to which the already prosecuted Dalit refugees refused to obey, it was then that the furious communist leadership decided to teach them a lesson for refusing their Diktas.

 

 

Offended by the rightful protest of the refugees the state government under the command of the then chief minister comrade Jyoti Basu ordered the police to block all means of essential supplies to the island and start patrolling the adjoining rivers forcing the inhabitants to face starvation.

 

In the buildup to the massacre the communist regime also started floating fabric stories like the island had been captured by the Hindu hardliners who wanted to eradicate any nearby settlements of Muslims in the region, the blockade also restricted the men of the island to sail to the nearby islands, in addition to that mobile attack by the goons and police in the late hours of the night had also became a regular exercise.

 

 

 

More or less a week after the blockade the hapless refugees unanimously decided to bypass the blockade to feed their starving children, on the night of 29th January a dozen and a half sailed to the nearby Kumirmari island to buy food and other daily use stuff, though the police detected them on the next morning and killed at least a dozen of them.

 

Once the news of the killing reached Marichjhapi the refugees was in complete shock but the starving faces of their children forced them to act again, It was then decided that a few women will sail to the nearby island on 31st of January to bring some essentials, the strategy to send the womenfolk was finalized with a view that at least the communist police will leave the womenfolk untouched.

 

Though relentless in his decision to crush the Hindu refugee the communist goons along with the police didn't even spared the womenfolk’s as their approaching boat on 31st of January was ransacked by the communist goons, two of them were shot dead while trying to flee through the waters while the rest were taken to a nearby forest where they had been subjected to repeated rapes and unbearable torture.

 

 

 

The police and the goons arrived at the island with a clear motive to eradicate the settlers, the generally accepted figure refers to the brutal killing of at least 1700 islanders including children's beneath 6 years old, more than 100 womens were subjected to brutal rape and molestation in broad day light, the mayhem lasted for the whole day.

 

There was not a quota of doubt that this gruesome act was a well thought course of action which was executed on the order of comrade Basu itself who also ensured that no journalists or activists could have shed any light on the heart wrenching incident at all.

 

 

 

The insensitivity of the successive communist governments can be better understood by the fact that not a single person has ever been held accountable for this brutal state sponsored massacre additionally attempts have always been made to downplay or even denying the act of terror, though, the irony is that the same ideology still portray itself as the champion of equality liberty and tolerance at first place.

 

Today marks the 44th anniversary of the unimaginable, gruesome and brutal act of state sponsored terrorism by the then incumbent communist regime in the history of Independence India, which had undeniably unleashed an act of raw terror on the hapless Hindus of Marichjhaphi.