MASSACRE ON BIJON SETU BY CPI (M)

ANANDA  MARGIS BUTCHERED (2/7)

16 MONKS AND 1 SANYANSIN LOST LIFE

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

 

Ananda Marga is a global spiritual and social service organization founded in 1955 by Shrii Shrii Ananda Murti (Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar). The mission of Ananda Marga is self-realization (individual emancipation) and service to humanity (collective welfare): the fulfilment of the physical, mental and spiritual needs of all people. Through its meditation centers and service projects around the world, Ananda Marga offers instruction in meditation, yoga and other self-development practices on a non-commercial basis, and responds to social emergencies and long-term social needs. They were opposed to both communism and capitalism. They had their Head Quarters in Purulia. Their focus was on a grassroot socio-economic democracy. As they were ideologically opposed to the communists, the CPM of the early 80s was deeply suspicious of their activities. The first attack on them was at its Purulia headquarters in 1967, in which five Margis were murdered by CPM cadres.

Two years later, their Cooch Behar congregation was attacked.  Few people injured. No knowledge of any death, even if happened.  The CPI (M ) used to cover up these incidents by saying political ambitions and agenda lay underneath the spiritual-religious cover of the Marga, and local  public up-rising happened.

On 6th February 1982, local CPI (M ) leaders of the Kasba-Jadavpur area called forward a public convention to discuss about the upcoming  establishment of Ananda Marga at Tiljala, which was a communist bastion.
Prominent CPM leaders present at the meeting were:-
1) Kanti Ganguly, later minister in the last Left Front cabinet;
2) Sachin Sen, then local MLA;
3) Nirmal Haldar, local CPI (M) leader;
4) Amal Majumdar, councillor of ward no 108 (Tiljala);
5) Somnath Chatterjee, then MP from Jadavpur and former Speaker.

On 8th February 1982, a report was published in local CPI (M)  mouthpiece, GANASHAKTI, asking local people to protest against the upcoming MARGI ESTABLISHMENT. This campaign finally ended with the gruesome murders, as described below,  which  will be completing about 42 years soon.

In the early hours of 30th April 1982, 16 monks and 1 sannyasin of the spiritual organisation Ananda Marga were lynched in broad daylight in the heart of South Kolkata. They were headed to their establishment in Tiljala, a locality in Kolkata. The way was through Bijon Setu in South Kolkata. Taxis carrying monks and sannyasin were intercepted at three separate pre-determined  locations. The MARGIS were forced out of the Cars, were beaten with iron rods, doused in petrol and set on fire. 17 Margis were charred to death, several others were severely injured. A whisper campaign has begun earlier saying the Margis were kidnapping children. Co-incidentally, similar gory details can be found for the Palghar lynching. But that’s another story.

Even after the 1982 attack, in April 1990, five Ananda Margis were murdered in Purulia by CPI (M) cadres.

IN ALL, MAY BE ABOUT 50 ANANDA MARGIS WERE KILLED BY CPI(M) IN WEST BENGAL.

REACTIONS
Initial reporting in the media did not include any compassion for the victims, a tone that prefigured the reaction of left front government. The left leaders said that incident was staged to embarrass the party prior to the upcoming Assembly Election. Then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu infamously said, “What can be done? Such things do happen”.

INVESTIGATIONS
The state government set up a commission of inquiry that did not proceed beyond its notification, and did not have a single hearing. The NHRC took up the case in 1996, but it did not make much headway, due to interference from the state government.

When Trinamul Congress government came to power in 2011, Justice Amitabh Lala Commission was formed to investigate this atrocity. He noted that the Commission filed its report in 2019 but still today, the report has not been released by the West Bengal government. Most of the murderers are by now DEAD.

NO JUSTICE WAS EVER DONE.

References:-

1.0 https://www.opindia.com/2020/04/bijon-setu-massacre-kolkata-ananda-marga-cpim-lynching/

2.0 https://www.thestatesman.com/bengal/41-years-on-justice-awaits-ananda-margis-1503177027.html

3.0 https://www.projecthindukush.com/incident/bijon-setu-massacre-west-bengal-india/

4.0 https://hindupost.in/politics/a-40-year-old-massacre-swept-under-the-carpet/

5.0 IMAGE: GOOGLE