Gandhi and AnarchySankaran Nair, C. (Chettur), Sir
History
Gandhi and Anarchy
Sankaran Nair, C. (Chettur), Sir
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948 -- Political and social views; India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
From early morning on Saturday a large number of volunteers were noticed
arriving at Chauri Chaura and collecting on the Gorakhpur side of the
railway station. They then proceeded towards the Bhapa Bazar, and formed
a procession. They said that they were going to picket the bazar, and
they proceeded towards the bazar through the police station grounds,
although this was not their direct route. The procession consisted
roughly of 3,000 people, and was headed by four or five volunteers in
khaddar uniform. Some of them had swaraj flags in their hands. After the
main body of the procession had gone on, there were a few stragglers
with whom the police, it is alleged, had some interchange of remarks. It
is also stated that one or two of the stragglers were hustled by some of
the chowkidars.
The Mob breaks Loose
It is impossible to say exactly what happened next but at any rate the
stragglers shouted out and main procession came back and started
throwing kanker at the Police. For some time the attack was confined to
vicious kanker throwing, in which thousands of volunteers were engaged.
The sub-inspector, finding that the affair was taking a more serious
turn, asked the rioters to desist, but they would not take any heed, and
attacked the police with lathies. The sub-inspector, in order to
frighten the mob, fired a few shots in the air. This infuriated the mob,
who made a rush towards the thana with lathies and spears. A few
policemen were knocked down, and the remainder of the police went inside
the thana buildings for protection. One or two policemen must have fired
on the mob in earnest, as some of the rioters had received gunshot
wounds, but whether the firing took place before the rush or after it is
not known yet. By this time several of the policemen had been killed
outside the police buildings, and one party fetched oil and straw and
set fire to the thana at various points. This drove the entire police
force out of the buildings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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