| Chauri Chaura Incident | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofNon-cooperation Movement | |||
| Date | 4 February 1922 (Saturday) | ||
| Location | |||
| Resulted in | Protesters' failure to prevent violence Chauri Chaura police station burnt down with all occupants killed | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties and losses | |||
| |||
| 225 later arrested with 6 dying in police custody, 19 executed after trial in July 1923, 99 sentenced to varying years of imprisonment with 14 people getting life imprisonment. | |||
26°38′34″N83°35′23″E / 26.64283758611251°N 83.58969448910848°E /26.64283758611251; 83.58969448910848TheChauri Chaura Incident took place on 4 February 1922 atChauri Chaura in theGorakhpur district ofUnited Provinces (nowUttar Pradesh) inBritish India. The police there fired upon a large group of protesters participating in thenon-cooperation movement. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants. The incident led to the deaths of three civilians and 22 policemen.Mahatma Gandhi halted the non-cooperation movement on the national level on 12 February 1922 as a direct result of the incident. Nineteen arrested demonstrators were sentenced to death and 14 to life imprisonment by the British colonial authorities.
From 1920 onwards,Indians, led byMahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwidenon-cooperation movement. Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known asSatyagraha, protests were organized by theIndian National Congress to challenge oppressive government regulatory measures such as theRowlatt Act, with the ultimate goal of attainingSwaraj (home rule).[2]
Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in thenon-cooperation movement led by a retired soldier of theBritish Indian Army named Bhagwan Ahir, protested against highfood prices and liquor sales at Gauri Bazaar. The demonstrators were beaten back by the localDaroga (inspector) Gupteshwar Singh and other police officers. Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at theChauri Chaura police station. In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the Bazaar.[3]
On 4 February, approximately 2,000 to 2,500 protesters assembled and began marching towards the market lane at Chauri Chaura. They had gathered to picket the Gauri Bazaar Liquor Shop. Armed police were dispatched to control the situation while the protesters marched towards the bazaar, shouting anti-British slogans. In an attempt to frighten and disperse the crowd, Gupteshwar Singh ordered his 15 local police officers to fire warning shots into the air. This only agitated the crowd who began to throw stones at the police.[4][5][6]
With the situation getting out of control, the sub-inspector Prithvi Pal ordered the police to open fire on the advancing crowd, killing three and wounding several others. Reports vary on the reason for the police retreat, with some suggesting that the constables ran out of ammunition while others claimed that the crowd's unexpectedly assertive reaction to the gunfire was the cause. In the ensuing chaos, the heavily outnumbered police fell back to the shelter of the townchowki (police station) while the angry mob advanced. Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set thechowki a blaze, killing all of the policemen trapped inside, including Inspector Gupteshwar Singh.[4][5][6]
The following are the names of the senior officers, constables, and "chaukidars" (government watchmen) who were killed in the incident:
One of the constables, Raghuvir Singh, was found to be alive, a few months after the incident. He had been declared dead in thereport registered thereafter. He was later produced in court as the sole witness to the incident.
Most victims were burned to death, although several appear to have been killed by the crowd at the entrance to thechowki and their bodies thrown back into the fire. The death count is reported in the literature as either 22 or 23 policemen by different accounts, possibly because of including or excluding the reported death of Raghuvir Singh.[4][5][6]
In response to the killing of the police, the British colonial authorities declaredmartial law in and around Chauri Chaura. Several raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested.
Appalled at the outrage, Mahatma Gandhi went on afive-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed.[5] In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against theBritish colonial government without sufficiently emphasizing the importance ofahimsa (non-violence) and without adequately training the people to exercise restraint in the face of attack.[7] He decided that the Indian people were not ready and needed preparation to do what was needed to achieve independence. Mahatama Gandhi was also arrested and sentenced to six years of imprisonment but was later released in February 1924, on grounds of his ill health.[6]
Jawaharlal Nehru and most of the workers of the Congress, who were in prison when Gandhi made this decision, felt that this was a hasty and incorrect decision at a time when the nation was reaching the epoch of support for the Indian independence movement. A few months after this withdrawal, the colonial government arrested Mahatama Gandhi and jailed him.[8]
A total of 225 people were brought to trial at Gorakhpur Sessions Court of Judge H. E. Holmes, on charges of "rioting and arson" in conjunction with the Chauri Chaura affair.[9] Of these, six died while in police custody, two were sentenced to two years' imprisonment, 170 were convicted andsentenced to death byhanging while 47 were acquitted on 9 January 1923, following a trial which lasted eight months.[9]
A storm of protest erupted over the verdicts, which were characterised as "legalised murder" byIndian communist leaderM. N. Roy,[9] who called for ageneral strike of Indian workers.[10]
On 30 April 1923, theHigh Court of Allahabad pronounced the final judgements in the case, after appeals had been considered regarding the 170 convicted accused, who had been awarded death sentences:
1. Nazar Ali, 2. Bhagwan Ahir, 3. Lal Mohammad, 4. Shyamsundar, 5. Abdullah, 6. Vikram Ahir, 7. Dudhi Singh, 8. Kali Charan, 9. Lauti Kumar, 10. Mahadev Singh, 11. Meghu Tiwari, 12. Raghuvir, 13. Ramlakhan, 14. Ramroop, 15. Sahdev, 16. Rudali, 17. Mohan, 18. Sampat and 19. Sitaram.
The incident was depicted in the 2023 moviePratikar Chauri Chaura.[16]
14 ^ Narayan, Badri (14 November 2006). Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics
