Bijon Setu massacre: Difference between revisions

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<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:Anand Margis procession - 30th April, 2005.JPG|thumb|right|A rally of Anand Margis at Calcutta held on 30 April 2005 to commemorate the Bijon Setu massacre of 1982]] -->
 
The '''Bijon Setu massacre''' ({{lang-bn|বিজন সেতু হত্যাকাণ্ড}}) or Ananda Margi Monks killing was the killing and burning of 16 [[sadhu]]s and a sadhvi belonging to [[Ananda Marga]] at [[Bijon Setu]], near [[Ballygunge]], [[Calcutta|Kolkata]] in [[West Bengal]], [[India]], on 30 April 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made. After repeated calls for a formal judicial investigation, a single-member judicial commission was set up to investigate the killings in 2012.
The '''Bijon Setu massacre''' ({{langx|bn|বিজন সেতু হত্যাকাণ্ড}}) refers to the killing of 16 [[sadhu|''sadhus'']] and a ''sadhvi'' of the [[Ananda Marga]], at [[Bijon Setu]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]], on 30 April 1982. The killings remain unresolved, with no convictions, and continue to be the subject of political controversy.
 
== Background ==
[[Ananda Marga]], is an ultra-right wing socio-religious organization. Critics have alleged the cult-like organization maintained paramilitary tendencies and political aspirations, while supporters describe it as a socio-spiritual movement engaged in education and welfare. The organization engaged in public processions carrying skulls and swords, and were also reported to charge police officers with swords.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-12-11 |title=Explained: Ananda Marga, a controversial road |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/explained-ananda-magra-a-controversial-road/ |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Amritsar PLUS |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050526/aplus.htm#1 |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=www.tribuneindia.com}}</ref>
 
The organisation had earlier been linked both by state authorities and international authorities to incidents of violence and conspiracy, including assassination of Railway Minister [[Lalit Narayan Mishra|L.N. Mishra]] in 1975,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Former Union Minister LN Mishra Gets Justice 39 Years After His Murder |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-union-minister-ln-mishra-gets-justice-39-years-after-his-murder-710239 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250616061106/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-union-minister-ln-mishra-gets-justice-39-years-after-his-murder-710239 |archive-date=2025-06-16 |access-date=2026-03-17 |work=www.ndtv.com |language=en}}</ref> the [[Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing|Sidney Hilton Hotel bombing]] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hilton Hotel Bombing - 09/12/1991 - NSW Parliament |url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19911209005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923190535/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19911209005 |archive-date=2009-09-23 |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=www.parliament.nsw.gov.au}}</ref>
 
Residents of [[Ballygunge]] and [[Kasba, Kolkata|Kasba]] reported that, in the weeks preceding the incident, rumours related to child abduction had been widely circulating in the area.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Calcutta police arrested 106 people in their investigation of... - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/05/02/Calcutta-police-arrested-106-people-in-their-investigation-of/9130389160000/ |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>


==Incident==
==Incident==
On the morning of 30 April 1982, 17 [[Ananda Marga]] [[Sannyasa|renunciates]] (16 monks and one nun) were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational conference at the organization's headquarters in [[Tiljala]], [[Kolkata]]. They were beaten to death and then set on fire simultaneously at three different locations. It was reported that the killings took place in broad daylight and were witnessed by thousands of people, as they were performed in public.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=2 May 1997|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=17 March 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312070007/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|archivedate=12 March 2010}}</ref>
On 30 April 1982, members of Ananda Marga were travelling to an educational conference in [[Tiljala]] when they were stopped at three points at Bondel Gate, [[Bijon Setu]] and [[Ballygunge Junction railway station|Ballygunge railway station]] in Kolkata. They were forcibly removed from vehicles, assaulted by crowds, and set on fire. It was reported that the murders took place in broad daylight and were witnessed by many people.<ref name="Basu">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|title=Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre|last=Namboodiri|first=Udayan|date=2 May 1997|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=17 March 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312070007/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970502/12250433.html|archivedate=12 March 2010}}</ref>


==Initial press reports and reactions==
== Press coverage ==
''The Statesman Weekly'', the leading Calcutta newspaper at the time, reported a week after the incident that "Seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were done to death on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta in the suspicion that they were child-lifters."<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1>{{citation
A week after the incident, ''The Statesman Weekly'', a leading Calcutta newspaper in 1982, reported that "seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were killed on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta on the suspicion that they were child-lifters".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1>{{citation
| newspaper=The Statesman Weekly
| newspaper=The Statesman Weekly
| pages=1, 7
| pages=1, 7
Line 15: Line 22:
| title=?
| title=?
| via=cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3&ndash;4.
| via=cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3&ndash;4.
}}</ref> The reporting did not include any compassion for the victims or their families, a tone that prefigured the reaction of both government and the media. Similar unsympathetic reporting appeared in the 5 May edition of the ''Statesman'' as well as contemporaneous editions of ''Sunday'' and ''[[India Today]]''.  The Minister of State for Home Affairs was quoted to the effect that the police reaction could have been improved but then went on to reassure members of Parliament that "the Government was watching the activities of the Marg [Ananda Marga members]".<ref name=TheStatesmanWeekly1 /> In his study on the incident, historian [[Narasingha Sil]] concluded the government's overall attitude was that the Ananda Marga members had "got themselves killed because they were so sinfully invidious".<ref name=Sil1988>{{citation
}}</ref>
 
The story sent out by [[United Press International]] added that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation
| author=United Press International
| publisher=United Press International
| work=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]
| date=1 May 1982
| title=Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12
| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19820501&id=MJ4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3688,26026
| access-date=7 October 2016
| archive-date=6 May 2021
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506115540/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19820501&id=MJ4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3688,26026
| url-status=live
}}</ref>
 
As part of its initial coverage, ''The Statesman Weekly'' reported the state's chief minister's suspicions that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power before the upcoming election.<ref name="Sil1988">{{citation
| last=Sil
| last=Sil
| first=Narasingha
| first=Narasingha
Line 24: Line 46:
| year=1988
| year=1988
}}
}}
</ref>{{rp|4}} The wire story sent out by [[United Press International]] added the detail that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".<ref name=UPI>{{citation
</ref>{{rp|4}} Ananda Marga blamed the attack on the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] (CPI(M)).<ref name="Crovetto">{{citation |last=Crovetto |first=Helen |title=Violence and New Religious Movements |title-link=Violence and New Religious Movements |pages=249&ndash;274 |year=2011 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |chapter=Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |isbn=978-0-19-973561-7 |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar)}}</ref>{{rp|257}} While this accusation was repeated for many years,<ref name=HinduismToday1989>{{cite news
| author=United Press International
| url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=621
| author-link=United Press International
| publisher=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]
| date=1 May 1982
| title=Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12
| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19820501&id=MJ4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3688,26026
}}</ref>
 
==Explanations==
As part of its initial coverage, ''The Statesman Weekly'' reported the state's Chief Minister's suspicions that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power prior to the upcoming election.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|4}}  Ananda Marga blamed the attack on the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].
<ref name=Crovetto>{{citation
| chapter=Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force
| last=Crovetto
| first=Helen
| title=Violence and New Religious Movements
| editor-last=Lewis
| editor-first=James R.
| editor-link = James R. Lewis (scholar)
| year=2011
| publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]| isbn=9780199735631
| pages=249&ndash;274
}}</ref>{{rp|257}} While this accusation was repeated for many years,<ref name=HinduismToday1989>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=621
| accessdate=17 February 2013
| accessdate=17 February 2013
| newspaper=[[Hinduism Today]]
| newspaper=[[Hinduism Today]]
| date=May 1989
| date=May 1989
| title=Controversial Movement Survives Years of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever
| title=Controversial Movement Survives Years of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever
}}</ref><ref name=IBN2011>{{citation
| archive-date=23 March 2013
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323034713/http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=621
| url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name=IBN2011>{{cite web
| publisher=PTI
| publisher=PTI
| title=CPI-M's allegation against us baseless, malicious: AMPS
| title=CPI-M's allegation against us baseless, malicious: AMPS
Line 61: Line 64:
| archive-date=11 April 2013
| archive-date=11 April 2013
| accessdate=17 February 2013
| accessdate=17 February 2013
}}</ref>
}}</ref> recent Ananda Marga scholarship{{When|date=May 2023}} assumes the mob was motivated by unfounded allegations of child kidnapping.<ref name=Inayatullah>{{cite book
recent Ananda Marga scholarship now assumes the mob was motivated by unfounded allegations of child kidnapping.<ref name=Inayatullah>{{cite book
| last=Inayatullah
| last=Inayatullah
| first=Sohail
| first=Sohail
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}}</ref>{{rp|20}}
}}</ref>{{rp|20}}


Narasingha Sil discusses at length the state of the reputation of Ananda Marga in the years and months leading up to the massacre.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|15}} Sil describes how members of Ananda Marga had engaged in many acts of violence (including murders of members leaving the group); media coverage and government response made the group out to be far more violent than it actually was. Sil then describes how the term "child-lifter" (''chheledhara'') is a particularly loathsome label in Bengal and draws the parallel to how women accused of witchcraft were treated in the West.<ref name=Sil1988 />{{rp|15}} Sil reports how three people were beaten to death by a mob after being suspected of child kidnapping even though no report of any such kidnappings had been made to the police.{{refn|group="Note"|On 25 August 2010 a woman in Chittagong was lynched by a mob after a similar accusation. The news report indicated that this was an ongoing problem.<ref>{{citation|title=Another woman falls prey to kidnap hoax in Ctg |publisher=BanglaNews24.com |url=http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=d40e0a2a2f466a90ee2630fc925e7af9&nttl=201205184238 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407183923/http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=d40e0a2a2f466a90ee2630fc925e7af9&nttl=201205184238 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 April 2013 |date=25 August 2010 }}</ref>}}
==Investigation and aftermath==
Initial reports said that more than 106 people were arrested in the first week after the incident.<ref name=":0" /> On 4th May, [[Jyoti Basu]], [[List of chief ministers of West Bengal|Chief Minister]] of West Bengal at the time formed the Deb Commission to investigate the murders. But the Ananda Margis rejected the state enquiry commission and demanded Central Govt to form an enquiry commission. The Central govt rejected this demand.<ref name=EBBS>{{Cite web|url=https://biswabanglasangbad.com/2021/04/30/anandmarg-monks-demand-new-government-to-punish-culprits-in-bijan-setu/|title=নতুন সরকারের কাছে বিজন সেতু নারকীয় হত্যাকাণ্ডে দোষীদের শাস্তির দাবি আনন্দমার্গ সন্ন্যাসীদের|date=30 April 2021|access-date=21 June 2023|archive-date=18 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418094642/https://biswabanglasangbad.com/2021/04/30/anandmarg-monks-demand-new-government-to-punish-culprits-in-bijan-setu/|url-status=live}}</ref>  


Historian Helen Crovetto further develops this line of thought, noting that the social services provided by the Ananda Marga may have made them more vulnerable to such an accusation.<ref name=Crovetto />{{rp|257}}
The [[National Human Rights Commission]] took up the investigation in 1996, but did not make much progress.<ref name="TheStatesman2012">{{cite web|title=Judicial probe into killings of Margis|work=The Statesman|date=7 March 2012|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413213631/http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 April 2013}}</ref> On 30 April 1999, the Ananda Marga Pracharaka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe led by a working Supreme Court judge into the killing of Ananda Margis.<ref name="IndianExpress1999">{{citation|work=The Indian Express|title=Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought|date=1 May 1999|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117100058/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html|archivedate=17 January 2008}}</ref><ref name="EBBS" /> On 30 April 2004, Ananda Marga held the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the need to acquire a court order for permission.<ref name="Telegraph2004">{{cite web|title=Police nod for Marga rally|work=The Telegraph|date=28 April 2004|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040428/asp/calcutta/story_3181577.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203125059/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040428/asp/calcutta/story_3181577.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 February 2013|access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> The group continues to block the bridge and surrounding areas on 30 April every year with a procession.<ref name="Indianexpress2015">{{citation|title=Procession for 'slain' Ananda Margis today|work=The Indian Express|date=1 May 2015|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/procession-for-slain-ananda-margis-today/|access-date=1 May 2015|archive-date=3 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503033432/http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/procession-for-slain-ananda-margis-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>


==Investigations and memorials==
Ananda Marga were also involved in the [[Purulia arms drop case|Purulia Arms Drop Case]], in a conspiracy to overthrow the Left Front govt of West Bengal in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rajgarhia |first=Mahak |title=Purulia arms drop case resurfaces with new set of revelations |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-purulia-arms-drop-case-resurfaces-with-new-set-of-revelations-1993644 |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref>
[[Jyoti Basu]] was the Chief Minister of the Left Front Government in Bengal when this incident took place. At that time, Jyoti Basu's police was accused of inaction. Faced with pressure, Mr. Basu formed the Deb Commission. But Ananda Margis had no faith on that Commission because, along with [[Kanti Ganguly]], other prominent CPM leaders were accused in this incident.<ref name=EBBS>https://biswabanglasangbad.com/2021/04/30/anandmarg-monks-demand-new-government-to-punish-culprits-in-bijan-setu/</ref> The [[National Human Rights Commission]] took up the investigation of the case in 1996 but did not make much headway, allegedly due to interference from the state government at the time.<ref name=TheStatesman2012>{{citation
| title=Judicial probe into killings of Margis
| publisher=The Statesman
| date=7 March 2012
| url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8
| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413213631/http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402481&catid=42&show=archive&year=2012&month=3&day=8
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=13 April 2013
}}</ref> On 30 April 1999 the Ananda Marga Pracharaka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe, led by a working Supreme Court judge, into the mass killing of Ananda Margis.<ref name=IndianExpress1999>{{citation|work=Indian Express |title=Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought |date=1 May 1999 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117100058/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990501/ige01007.html |archivedate=17 January 2008 }}</ref><ref name=EBBS /> On 30 April 2004, Ananda Marga was able to hold the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the necessity of first acquiring a court order forcing the police to allow the rally to occur.<ref name=Telegraph2004>{{citation
| title=Police nod for Marga rally
| publisher=The Telegraph
| date=28 April 2004
| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040428/asp/calcutta/story_3181577.asp
| accessdate=17 February 2013
}}</ref> The group continues to block the bridge and nearby areas on 30 April every year holding a procession.<ref name=Indianexpress2015>{{citation
| title= Procession for 'slain' Ananda Margis today
| work=Indian Express
| date=1 May 2015
| url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/procession-for-slain-ananda-margis-today/
}}</ref> They observe this day as 'Save Humanity Day'. After the Trinamool Congress came to power, Amitabh Lala Commission of Inquiry, a single-member judicial commission under the supervision of Amitabh Lala, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court was empaneled in March 2012 to investigate the killings, after repeated appeals for a formal judicial inquiry. The Commission appointed by the West Bengal Government has already completed its investigation. It is also heard that the report has been submitted.<ref name="TheStatesman2012"/><ref name=EBBS /> According to Commission sources, some documents allegedly show that important CPM leaders of the Kasba-Jadavpur area met at Colony Bazar in Picnic Garden on February 6, 1982, to discuss the Ananda Margis, whose headquarters was then coming up at what was at the time a difficult-to-access location in Tiljala. Those reportedly present at the meeting were Kanti Ganguly, minister in the last Left Front cabinet; Sachin Sen, former CPM MLA, now dead; Nirmal Haldar, local CPM leader; Amal Majumdar, former councillor of ward no 108 (Tiljala-Kasba); and [[Somnath Chatterjee]], then MP from Jadavpur and subsequently Speaker of Lok Sabha. The Ananda Margis earned the wrath of the Communists because they were ideologically opposed to them, and the CPM of the early 80s was deeply suspicious of their activities. The first attack on the Margis occurred in 1967 at its Purulia Global Headquarters where five of them were murdered allegedly by the cadres of CPI(M). Only two years later, the Coochbehar congregation of the Ananda Marga was attacked. The CPM always believed political ambitions and agenda lay underneath the spiritual-religious cover of the Marga. Even after the Bijon Setu Massacre of 1982, in April 1990, five members of the Ananda Marga were allegedly murdered by CPI(M) cadres in Purulia. Regarding the heinous murders of 1982, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had infamously said, “What can be done? Such things do happen”. No justice was ever done on the matter during the decades of CPI(M) rule in Bengal, nor has any been done yet.<ref>https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-corpses-of-a-1982-killing-are-stirring-again/</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |author=OpIndia.com |user=OpIndia_com |number=1254402350061465603 |date=26 April 2020 |title=The Bijon Setu Massacre: When 16 monks and a nun of Ananda Marga were lynched to death and burnt alive in broad daylight in Kolkata https://t.co/VsNradir0c?amp=1 |access-date=13 June 2021}}</ref><ref>https://www.facebook.com/UnStupidIndia/posts/116108640206677</ref>


==Notes==
After the [[All India Trinamool Congress|Trinamool Congress]] came to power, the Amitabh Lala Commission of Inquiry, a single-member judicial commission under the supervision of Amitabh Lala, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court, was formed in March 2012 to investigate the killings after repeated appeals for a formal judicial inquiry.<ref name="TheStatesman2012" /><ref name="EBBS" /> The Commission has not submitted any report till date.
{{Reflist|group="Note"}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==Further reading==
*[http://canvaspix.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/bijonsetu1982/ A documentary about the 30 April 1982 massacre]
*https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1222059/love-baba
*[http://www.ananda-marga.org/?p=12 30 April 1982, A Pathetic Chapter of History Written in Blood of the 17 Monks and Nuns of Ananda Marga] ananda-marga.org (link from the official website of Ananda Marga)
*https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/27/The-FBI-is-investigating-a-worldwide-cult-that-runs/9754399268800/
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/13829121@N06/sets/72157604255490575/ Photos of Ananda Margi processions in Calcutta marking the anniversary of the massacre]
*https://scroll.in/article/713727/danish-documentary-revisits-the-unsolved-mystery-of-the-1995-purulia-arms-drop
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110519005412/http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/nr.2008.12.1.26 Ananda Marga and the Use of Force by Helen Crovetto] An in-depth research of Ananda Marga activities and the Bijon massacre. (limited access)
 
{{coord missing|West Bengal}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Coord missing|West Bengal}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bijon Setu Killings}}
[[Category:1980s in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1982]]
[[Category:1982 murders in India]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1982]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murders in India]]
[[Category:1982 crimes in India]]
[[Category:April 1982 in India]]
[[Category:Crime in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Crime in Kolkata]]
[[Category:History of West Bengal (1947–present)]]
[[Category:Deaths by beating]]
[[Category:History of Kolkata]]
[[Category:Arson deaths]]
[[Category:Massacres in India]]
[[Category:Massacres of Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:April 1982 events in Asia]]
[[Category:1980s murders in India]]
[[Category:1982 murders in Asia]]
[[Category:Lynching deaths in India]]
[[Category:Lynching deaths in India]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1982]]
[[Category:Massacres in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Massacres in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Massacres of Bengali Hindus in India]]
[[Category:People executed by burning]]
[[Category:People murdered in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Anti-Hindu violence in India]]
[[Category:Arson in India]]
[[Category:Arson in 1982]]
[[Category:1980s fires in Asia]]

Latest revision as of 15:22, 21 March 2026


The Bijon Setu massacre (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) refers to the killing of 16 sadhus and a sadhvi of the Ananda Marga, at Bijon Setu, West Bengal, India, on 30 April 1982. The killings remain unresolved, with no convictions, and continue to be the subject of political controversy.

Background[edit | edit source]

Ananda Marga, is an ultra-right wing socio-religious organization. Critics have alleged the cult-like organization maintained paramilitary tendencies and political aspirations, while supporters describe it as a socio-spiritual movement engaged in education and welfare. The organization engaged in public processions carrying skulls and swords, and were also reported to charge police officers with swords.[1][2]

The organisation had earlier been linked both by state authorities and international authorities to incidents of violence and conspiracy, including assassination of Railway Minister L.N. Mishra in 1975,[3] the Sidney Hilton Hotel bombing in 1978.[4]

Residents of Ballygunge and Kasba reported that, in the weeks preceding the incident, rumours related to child abduction had been widely circulating in the area.[5]

Incident[edit | edit source]

On 30 April 1982, members of Ananda Marga were travelling to an educational conference in Tiljala when they were stopped at three points at Bondel Gate, Bijon Setu and Ballygunge railway station in Kolkata. They were forcibly removed from vehicles, assaulted by crowds, and set on fire. It was reported that the murders took place in broad daylight and were witnessed by many people.[6]

Press coverage[edit | edit source]

A week after the incident, The Statesman Weekly, a leading Calcutta newspaper in 1982, reported that "seventeen Ananda Margis, two of them women, were killed on April 30 morning by frenzied mobs at three places in South Calcutta on the suspicion that they were child-lifters".[7]

The story sent out by United Press International added that two of the nuns who were killed were "seen carrying a child near a railway station".[8]

As part of its initial coverage, The Statesman Weekly reported the state's chief minister's suspicions that the attack had been staged to embarrass the party in power before the upcoming election.[9]:4 Ananda Marga blamed the attack on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)).[10]:257 While this accusation was repeated for many years,[11][12] recent Ananda Marga scholarship[when?] assumes the mob was motivated by unfounded allegations of child kidnapping.[13]:20

Investigation and aftermath[edit | edit source]

Initial reports said that more than 106 people were arrested in the first week after the incident.[5] On 4th May, Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister of West Bengal at the time formed the Deb Commission to investigate the murders. But the Ananda Margis rejected the state enquiry commission and demanded Central Govt to form an enquiry commission. The Central govt rejected this demand.[14]

The National Human Rights Commission took up the investigation in 1996, but did not make much progress.[15] On 30 April 1999, the Ananda Marga Pracharaka Samgha (AMPS) demanded a high-level judicial probe led by a working Supreme Court judge into the killing of Ananda Margis.[16][14] On 30 April 2004, Ananda Marga held the first rally in Calcutta commemorating the massacre without the need to acquire a court order for permission.[17] The group continues to block the bridge and surrounding areas on 30 April every year with a procession.[18]

Ananda Marga were also involved in the Purulia Arms Drop Case, in a conspiracy to overthrow the Left Front govt of West Bengal in 1995.[19]

After the Trinamool Congress came to power, the Amitabh Lala Commission of Inquiry, a single-member judicial commission under the supervision of Amitabh Lala, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court, was formed in March 2012 to investigate the killings after repeated appeals for a formal judicial inquiry.[15][14] The Commission has not submitted any report till date.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Explained: Ananda Marga, a controversial road". The Indian Express. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Amritsar PLUS". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "Former Union Minister LN Mishra Gets Justice 39 Years After His Murder". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Hilton Hotel Bombing - 09/12/1991 - NSW Parliament". www.parliament.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Calcutta police arrested 106 people in their investigation of... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Namboodiri, Udayan (2 May 1997). "Basu Govt still suppressing facts on Margi massacre". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "?", The Statesman Weekly, pp. 1, 7, 8 May 1982 – via cited in Sil (1988), pp. 3–4.
  8. ↑ United Press International (1 May 1982), "Mobs in Calcutta Burn 5 Monks Alive, Stab 12", Sarasota Herald-Tribune, United Press International, archived from the original on 6 May 2021, retrieved 7 October 2016
  9. ↑ Sil, Narasingha (1988), "The Troubled World of the Ananda Marga: An Examination", The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies, 27 (4)
  10. ↑ Crovetto, Helen (2011), "Ananda Marga, Prout, and the Use of Force", in Lewis, James R. (ed.), Violence and New Religious Movements, Oxford University Press, pp. 249–274, ISBN 978-0-19-973561-7
  11. ↑ "Controversial Movement Survives Years of Conflict, Emerges Stronger Than Ever". Hinduism Today. May 1989. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  12. ↑ "CPI-M's allegation against us baseless, malicious: AMPS". PTI. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ Inayatullah, Sohail (2002). Understanding Sarkar: The Indian Episteme Macrohistory and Transformative Knowledge. Brill. ISBN 9004121935.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "নতুন সরকারের কাছে বিজন সেতু নারকীয় হত্যাকাণ্ডে দোষীদের শাস্তির দাবি আনন্দমার্গ সন্ন্যাসীদের". 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Judicial probe into killings of Margis". The Statesman. 7 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ↑ "Proof into killings of Ananda Margis sought", The Indian Express, 1 May 1999, archived from the original on 17 January 2008
  17. ↑ "Police nod for Marga rally". The Telegraph. 28 April 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  18. ↑ "Procession for 'slain' Ananda Margis today", The Indian Express, 1 May 2015, archived from the original on 3 May 2015, retrieved 1 May 2015
  19. ↑ Rajgarhia, Mahak. "Purulia arms drop case resurfaces with new set of revelations". DNA India. Retrieved 18 March 2026.

Further reading[edit | edit source]

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