“The thoroughness of the
sabotage had to be seen to be believed, wrote Sir T Stewart, governor of Bihar
on August 20, 1942. Chaos prevailed all through the province.” What baffled the
authorities above all was the faceless and leaderless character of the uprising.
Alarmingly still, there seemed to be a method to the madness. Means of
transportation and communication were systematically targeted. In Bihar, the
disturbances were so widespread that for several days authorities at Patna were
left clueless about what was going on in different regions of the province.
People swarmed from rural areas to attack roads, telegraph and rail lines.
Unarmed crowds had taken to overpowering the accompanying troops and
high-jacking trains. Strikes were being observed all over the province, led by
owners and foremen and joined by class C employees and sweepers. All symbols of
imperial authority came under attack. Prisons were attacked and the police
didn’t seem to respond with the usual alacrity. During the first two months close
to 200 cases of police defections were recorded. An exasperated governor wrote
on August 16, ‘the usual police and CID sources of information have all but
dried up. The entire countryside is up in rebellion.’
In Patna, a hartal was observed on August 10. On August 11, the
Secretariat and Assembly building was raided. A 2000-strong students’
procession tried to break through the lines of armed Gurkha policemen and plant
the tricolor on the secretariat building. A group of seven students broke
through the picket lines and marched straight into the face of Gurkha riflemen.
Despite being warned that they would be shot, they marched fearlessly towards
the secretariat building, passing the tricolor from hand to hand as they were
shot down one by one. The oldest among them was 21 and the youngest 17.
In the weeks that followed
telegraph lines were attacked with systematic ferocity. Entire telegraph poles
were being uprooted, sometimes with the help of elephants that the rural had
brought along. Train lines had been almost completely cut off. Starting August
12, the government started sending out trains loaded with troops to clear the
crowds gathered around rail lines and remove blockades. Simultaneously, an
operation to evacuate the white planter class from rural areas was begun. But
by August 19, the government had managed to secure roads and rail only up to 57
miles East of Patna. Despite this, on the 13th, two Royal Airforce
pilots were dragged out of a military train at Fatuha and lynched in broad
daylight by a crowd armed with spears and lathis.
“With rail, telegraph and
telephone communications out of order we lost immediate touch with other
districts”, wrote the governor, except Gaya with which we at an early date
established a daily shuttle service by ‘Tiger Moth' planes belonging to the
Bihar flying club.” On the 14th the government decided to
deploy fighter planes to clear the railroads. The first sortie was sent out to
disperse with machine gun fire, the crowd reportedly dismantling the railroad
tracks at Kajra. The same day a report was received that all residences of
officials had been torched at Dehri-on-Sone by a mob. On the 15th “40
wagons of military supplies were set on fire near Danapur”.
On the 17th the
government reported, “all railroads going towards Calcutta dislocated”. At
Narayanpur on the 18th, a military aircraft firing at rural crowds
crashed. The pilot died in the crash; the rest of the crew, reported the
governor, “were killed by a mob.”
On the 19th it
was, reliably reported that saboteurs in certain areas have taken trains and
driven them away.” We learn what they might have been up to from Baldev
Narayan's account. Swaraj trains, as they were called, moved from district to
district, distributing leaflets, before being overpowered by the railway
police.
On the 21st Tata
Iron and Steel Works, vital to the British war effort, went on an indefinite
strike. The workers, led by the subordinate supervisory staff, “Openly stated
they will not resume work until a National Government has been formed”. The
plant could not resume work till September 3rd.
On August 24 it was
reported that an “Officer and four men of the Yorks and Lancs Regiment were
slain near Chhapra.” It was reported that they shot 40 people armed with lathis
and spears before being overcome.
On August 25 a complaint
was received that the railway tracks could not be repaired because the railway
technical staff was holding up repairs.
On the 30th it
was discovered that nearby villagers had made a 500-foot breach in a railway
embankment twenty miles east of Mansi. On September 3rd Jamshedpur
police went on strike. On the 4th, six hundred prisoners in the
Bhagalpur jail mutinied and “murdered and burnt” the deputy superintendent and
several other jail employees. On the 7th at Champaran “Troops
seized massive stores of spears, bows, arrows, pepper, syringes and nitric acid
(to prepare explosives).” On the 9th, it was reported from Darbhanga
that “during the period of disturbances all police stations except five in the
district (were) attacked and in most cases, records and furniture burnt.” On
the 10th, word came that the breach east of Mansi was now 700 feet.”
On the 11th,
5000 copper miners at Mushabanai went on strike. On the 15th,
Losarhi, “Troops opened fire at 2 mobs, which successively attacked them with
spears and other weapons, killing 9 including the chowkidar (night watchman)
who led one of the mobs.” In Ranchi district, during the first half of
October, “police on two occasions had to disperse parties who had assembled armed
with bows and arrows to raid dak bungalows and destroy mission houses.”
At a raid on Saidraja
station it was noted, “Though the attackers were numerous they were not a mob
but advanced in some sort of formation and when repulsed carried off their dead
in bullock carts.” At Madhuban in the Azamgarh district “The rebel forces came
up from three directions and then combined in due order to carry out the
assault. They were armed with spears and lathis and were assisted by two
elephants.” Ballia was completely cut off for ten days. The CID report read,
“In most places, there was a complete collapse of morale. Police stations were
captured, and guns were taken. In the disturbed areas, the rebels are
everywhere accompanied by an organizing core of students and agitators.
Individuals who were properly trained were sent aloft to clip telegraph lines
with wire cutters and protective gloves. Often, however, the aroused villagers
simply tossed ropes over the wires and pulled them down, poles and all,
occasionally with the assistance of elephants.” One report read, “Spears and
other weapons are being made manufactured by village blacksmiths from fish
plates and other pieces of metal taken from railway lines.” Cut off from all
other avenues, the government was reduced to retaliating from the air.
By October, Bihar's jails
were crammed with prisoners double their rated capacity. In the month of August
reports of dacoity had grown fourfold. On occasions, hardened criminals were
heard raising political slogans such as ‘Swaraj aa gaya', and ‘Gandhi ji ki
jai' while carrying out robberies. By November, some measure of control was
reestablished over police stations in far-flung rural areas. However, by now
the movement was showing signs of moving underground. On November 9, Jai Prakash
Narayan escaped from Hazaribagh central jail in a party of “six political
prisoners, five of whom are of an extremely dangerous type,”. He would go on to
establish the legendary underground Azad dasta.
What has been described in
the foregoing is just the tip of the iceberg. The scale and scope of the
uprising were unprecedented. There was no palpable leadership structure that
the government could crack down on. It no longer made much sense to draw up a list
of prime suspects and put them under preventive detention, because there was a
general sense that the entire peasantry was up in rebellion.
By the time the first wave
of insurrections was quelled, the British knew that their Iqbal over these
lands was over. The prestige and aura of the Raj had been damaged beyond
repair. People had begun to display unprecedented callous disregard and
contempt for government authority. Insubordination had now penetrated the ranks
of the police and CID, while the armed forces tethered on the edge of
rebellion. Bihar’s white administration had been conveyed a vociferous message
by the faceless masses of Bihar that from now on there would be no more
governing these lands; just war. The Raj had always been able to mobilize legitimacy,
support and backing from sections of the local population. But by now it had
been reduced to a regime based on the tip of the bayonet. The writing was on
the wall. The Raj was unravelling.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
Home Files (At the National
Archives of India), Fortnightly reports from the government of Bihar,
August-November 1942;
Home Files, Provincial
Summary of Events Connected with the Disturbances for the period 9th
August-14th September 1942 in Bihar
Home Files, Fortnightly
reports from the government of UP, August-November 1942
Correspondence between the
governor of Bihar, Sir T Stewart and Lord Linlithgow, printed in Mansergh,
ed. Transfer of Power
Secondary Sources:
India's Revolution: Gandhi
and the Quit India Movement, Francis G Hutchins, Harvard University Press,
Massachusetts, 1973
History of the Freedom
Movement in Bihar, volume 3 (1942-47), KK Dutta, Sanjivani Press, Digha Ghat,
Patna
Appendix
Patna Town Congress
Committee Circular (12th August 1942)
"Workers in factories,
mills, railways, Post Offices, dockyard, electric supply companies, water
supply board, weighmen (palledars) and cartmen- be ready to do your duty. Your
actions should in no way hamper the struggle for freedom. There is no sacrifice
which the workers have not made to gain independence in the world. There is no
reason why you should lag behind. The largest measure of freedom shall be
allowed to the workers. To live like slaves is a curse. It is better to die
after having achieved independence. If we fail to achieve freedom now then
heavens help us! Such a golden opportunity shall never repeat itself. This is
the last fight for freedom. Go and raise the standard of rebellion in your
villages. Don't be afraid of the might of the British empire."
Congress Circular number 5,
1942
"India's struggle for
freedom has begun. From now we consider ourselves independent and don't
recognize the sovereignty of the British government. So we should not abide by
the laws and orders of the British government. The British government is trying
to repair the railways and telegraph lines. We should again damage and
dislocate them, so that they are unable to reestablish communications. We
should also disrupt the railway and telegraph lines where we have been unable
to do so. The Tommies have the technology of cross ditches 32 feet wide. If we
can make ditches 40 feet wide it would be impossible for them to
cross."
Events in various districts
Saran:
On 14th August, a 10000
strong crowd demonstrated at Bhagwan Bazar Railway Station and snatched the
weapons of police officers posted there.
15th August: Chhapra
Kutchery Railway station was set on fire
15th August: Sonepur
registration office and railway station were set on fire
16th August: A mob captured
the Maharajganj railway station. Police opened fire but didn't succeed in
dispersing the crowd in time.
16th August: the tricolor
was hoisted in the Bhorey Circle Building of the Hatwa Raj and the police
station and registration office at Marhowrah.
16th August: Ekma railway
station was set on fire and satyagrahis set up a parallel government in the
locality for a few day.
Chhapra Superintendent of
Police on 16th August- "we have been watching the conduct of lower police
constabulary with apprehension. They have been doing the minimum possible to
disperse the crowds and it is not very likely that in a crisis they would
abandon us. Slogans such as 'Police hamara bhai hai, uska beta, sathi hamara'
seem to soften their attitude.
Muzaffarpur:
15th August: Kanti and
Muzaffarpur Railway Stations were attacked. Katra and Kanti railways stations
and post offices were put on fire.
16th August: Katra police
station was attacked by an unarmed mob. The police had to open fire to disperse
the crowd.
16th August: Dholi Railway
Station torched.
16th August: Police fired
at a crowd assembled to block the Muzaffarpur Sithmarhi highway
16th August: Hajipur
railway station, post office and jail attacked. 79 political prisoners were
released.
15th August: A large crowd
marched to the Lalganj Police Station and hoisted the tricolor over it. R N
Pandey, SDM of the locality then present at the thana surrendered to
them.
15th August: Belsand police
station occupied by Satyagrahis.
Sitamarhi:
16th August: Satyagrahis
hoisted the national flag on the police station, post office and the sub-jail.
SDM Sitamarhi, Hardip Singh died of a heart attack while jostling with an angry
crowd.
15h-16th August: Minapur
Police Station was attacked. Sub inspector, Leo Waller was burnt alive. A Jat
platoon was dispatched in due time to take control of the situation. They and
opened fire at a crowd of satyagraphis at Minapur, and later at Rampurhari
(Sitamarhi) police station.
16th August: Sahebganj
police station was captured by a crowd, who hoisted the tricolor over it.
Champaran:
14th August: Students from
the Bettiah H E school took control of the criminal and civil courts, and
hoisted the tricolor over them.
15th August: Ghorasan and
Adapur police stations captured. National flag hoisted over them.
15th August: Unarmed mobs
took to dismantling telegraph and railway lines. Platoons of British infantry
had to dispatched from Muzaffarpur to restore order.
Darbhanga:
14th August: Pontoon
bridges at Laheria Sarai Road and Jatmalpur were destroyed.
14th August: A crowd led by
Karpuri Thakur set up a parallel government in the Singhwara area
15th August: One Chaturbhuj
Rai set the Ladha Bridge on fire. The bridge on Rahika Road was also pulled
down
16th August: Swami
Purushottamananda and his followers attacked the Tarsarai railways station.
bags of sugar were looted from the godowns at the railway station.
16th August: Muhammadpur
Railway Station was attacked. Railway sub-inspector was captured by
satyagrahis, and released only when he wrote his resignation and promised to
join the satyagrah.
17th August: Bahri,
Madhupur and Hayaghat post offices captured. The post officer was forced to
write his resignation. Bridges at Dashauta, Ramauli and Padhari were pulled
down.
16th August: At Kharari a
post office was attacked. Turbans and lathis of the police constables were
seized by satyagrahis. Laheria Sarai-Hathuari road was captured by
demonstrators. Kanak Lal Jha and Laksman Jha set up local self governments at
Rasiari (Supaul)
16th August: Biraul post
office was set on fire. The bridge at Nutaul was pulled down.
15th August: National flag
was hoisted at the police station in Tajpur area. Adarpur and Koari railway
bridge pulled down.
17th August: Pusa Farm was
raided by a 10000-strong crowd. The Anglo-Indian proprietor at once saved
himself by hoisting the tricolour over his factory, donning an Indian dress and
declaring himself a friend of the Indian freedom movement.
All of this is still just
the tip of the iceberg. There is enough material to fill up an entire
book.
Purnea:
Monghyr:
Bhagalpur:
Santhal Parganas:
Ranchi:
Manbhum district:
Hazaribagh:
Palamau:
Jamshedpur:
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