Statements given to police by Hindus of Noakhali:
A Statement Given by Upenchandra De Chaumohini (Noakhali) Police Station
My name is Sri Upanedrachandra De (Hindu name), my late father’s name was Girishchandra De, resident of Shivpur police station, Ramgunj Union Number 15 Khilpara Noakhali. At present I am giving you this statement: Last Sunday on October 13, 1946 about 400 to 500 Muslims suddenly descended on our house and in the neighboring village. They wanted donations of Rs. 2000 for the (Muslim) League Party. They threatened us that if we do not donate then they will burn our houses and will inflict severe torture on our women folks. They all had lethal weapons and rods in their hands. Out of fear that they will convert us, we agreed to pay Rs. 500 but wanted one more day before we pay. In the meantime, they took the an old record player, a golden ring, glasses, and some hand written legal papers from Chandrashekhar De (Peshkar, the person who performs at the beginning of a solo table recital). The criminals put on the lungi and Islamic cap on all of us and made us read the Kalima and told us that they will be back for the money. Before leaving, they took Rs. 50 from Chandrashekhar De, Rs. 15 from me and from Mohonimohan De Rs. 8 from Jadunath De Rs 2 and also took other stuff. They told us that, “You need not be scared, as you have adopted the Islamic faith.” After that days on October 15, 1946, (English calendar), these people came and changed the names of all men and women and gave them Muslim names. Then they broke the conch shell bangles in the wrist of married women and desecrated all the idols and told us that you cannot pray to any idols but have to do Namaz. They also cut the Sitala and Vastu trees in front of our door and had everyone had to give a thumb impressions. Then on October 15, 1946, some Muslims came and told my brother Jatin that you have to give an invitation in the house and for that reason have to sacrifice a cow. We gave a cow of Rs. 100 and then they told us to bring a knife and sword and said you have to cut the cow yourself. In the meantime some people came and were yelling, “Allahu Akbar”, “Long Live Muslim League” and entered our house. They came and said that, “That bastard musician (Chandrashekahr De) collected the money but did not give that money to us, we will kill him.” They went into Peshkar’s room and demanded that he had to pay Rs. 1000 immediately and marry his daughter to a Muslim resident of Abir para, Abdul Ali Miya son, Mukbool. Peshkar said to them, “At this time I have no money, if you come with us to the bank I can give you money.” But they never listened to him and they dragged him from the room and killed him by slitting his throat with a knife and then wounded his entire body. Then they dragged his corpse outside and then brought in blankets from the room, rolled Peshkar’s corpse inside the blankets, doused it with kerosene, and set it on fire, while shouting, “Allahu Kabar”. Then they looted all the stuff in the room worth and also took Rs. 8000. We were terrified and were all hiding. At nighttime my brother Sri Khagenchandra De and my nephew Sriman Sivshankar De hid in different places. As the day broke, we came out of hiding and are all here to give our statements. We know all those criminals who were involved in the looting and killing and will be able to identify them if we see them. We gave the names of those we knew. All our family members are at present confined inside the house, please take them to a safe place. Further, we should also mention that in our village, a retired Hindu cop, Satishchandra De, was murdered by the criminals. At present the Hindu residents are spending time without food or sleep.
