The Great Calcutta Killings of 16th August 1946, euphemistically called ‘Direct Action Day’, was a desperate bid by the Muslim League to achieve Pakistan, which succeeded. It was conceived by Mohammed Ali Jinnah and implemented by Husseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, then Premier of Undivided Bengal. The British Governor, Sir Frederick Burrows, was a silent but willing participant, and the Communist Party lent it wholehearted support. The casualties could not be counted, but are estimated at 15,000 dead and countless grievously injured. It shook the Congress leaders into conceding Pakistan.
About Speaker: –
Tathagata Roy, the former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya, and erstwhile president of the BJP West Bengal, grew up with stories of how theirs was an affluent family which was forced to flee their country and came to India as refugees from what is now Bangladesh. I, myself have heard similar stories on the other side of the border. Tathagata Roy began life as a civil engineer in the Indian Railways, but moved to teaching and politics. He joined the RSS in 1986, the BJP in 1990 and was the state president of the party in West Bengal 2002-2006. He served as the Governor of Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. He is an author of five books in English and Bengali on socio-political subjects and also of many articles.
