Attack on HIndu Processions by Islamists is not a new Phenomenon

Special Historical Feature | The 1946 Ahmedabad Rath Yatra Riots

Article at a Glance

• The Ahmedabad Jagannath Rath Yatra of 1 July 1946 came under attack during a period of intense communal tension.

• Stone pelting reportedly escalated into widespread riots across the city.

• Police firing, military deployment, and curfew were imposed to restore order.

• Mahatma Gandhi criticised reliance on police and military while advocating non-retaliation.

• The incident occurred just weeks before the Direct Action Day violence in Calcutta.

Timeline of Events

Key Players

Person	Role
Mahatma Gandhi	National leader
Morarji Desai	Home Minister, Bombay Presidency
B.G. Kher	Premier of Bombay Presidency
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi	Freedom fighter referenced by Gandhi

Political Background: India in 1946

This was the period when the Pakistan Movement was at its acme. Results for the Central Legislature and the Provincial Assemblies had come by the last days of March 1946. Overwhelming Muslim vote for the Muslim League shaped India’s political trajectory decisively. The Cabinet Mission sent to India by the British government reached Delhi at the same time to negotiate the peaceful transfer of power. The Mission left India on June 29, 1946. The decision arrived at by parleys between the Mission, the Congress, and Muslim League leaders, created more problems than it solved. While these talks were going on, the Muslim League was busy sharpening its weapons to attain the purpose of securing a large Pakistan encompassing Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, British Baluchistan, Bengal and Assam.

The resolve to create Pakistan that included the whole of Punjab, the whole of Bengal and Assam had charged the Muslims with ambition. The Jagannath Rath Yatra of July 1, 1946, presented an occasion for the Muslims to demonstrate their nuisance power in bold relief. Differences between Muslims and Hindus were the Raison d’être for the demand for Pakistan.

Historical Context 

India in the Mid-1946 era

• Demand for a separate Pakistan intensifies

• Muslim League wins overwhelming Muslim support

• Cabinet Mission negotiations underway

• Political uncertainty across British India

• Communal tensions rising

The Ahmedabad Jagannath Rath Yatra Attack

A news item in the Indian Daily Mail of Singapore in its July 3 edition informed that 23 persons had been killed and 160 were injured in the communal riots which broke out at Ahmedabad on July 1, when the police opened fire many times. The news apprised that disturbances followed a procession taken out by the Hindus. The procession was stoned by Muslims, and soon trouble spread to the whole city, and as a result, many localities presented an appearance of hostile military camps. “Hindus and Muslims staged pitched battles with stones and brick bats, and later started looting and burning shops. Only the strict enforcement of the curfew order from 9.pm brought quiet to the city. The authorities have taken measures to prevent a recrudescence of the trouble: the military have been called out and a section 144 order issued to prevent meetings and processions. The police fired on mobs, troops were called out, and public assemblies were banned.”

News of July 2 appeared in the July 4 edition of this paper. It was captioned “What Matters if Few Lakhs Are Killed”. It informed “Rioting continued in Ahmedabad yesterday (July 2) when casualties reached 33 killed and more than 250 injured. Over 400 arrests were made.

“Mahatma Gandhi referred to the riots in his prayer meeting on July 2 night and said it was a shame they had to take police and military help to prevent them from flying at each other’s throats. If one side ceased to retaliate, the riots could not go on.

“What did it matter if even a few lakhs were killed in the right manner out of 40 crores of Indians? If they could learn the lesson of dying without killing, India would become a virtual Eden, the image of the kingdom of heaven on earth.” – Mahatma Gandhi

How the Violence Escalated

The incident happened during the Ahmedabad Jagannath Rath Yatra. It had long been India’s second-largest rath yatra after that of Puri, held annually. A 14-km procession is taken from the four centuries old Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur, covering areas like Jamalpur Chakla, Khadia, Kalupur Circle, and Saraspur and back to the Jagannath Temple by evening. The event is marked by caparisoned elephants, akhadas displaying martial arts, the bhajan mandalis and a massive public feast in Saraspur. This Rath Yatra passes through predominantly Muslim areas such as Khadia, Kalupur and Dariapur.

In the said procession, a Muslim Gymnast, Sikandar, criticised a Hindu, Chitranjan Chintamani, who was demonstrating his skill of weight lifting, in the procession. The criticism turned into a fracas between the two and then into a physical fight at about 12.30. The police brought the situation under control for the time being. When the procession passed by a restaurant near the railway station, soda water bottles were thrown at the procession by persons who were hidden in that restaurant. The police forcibly broke open the door of the restaurant and arrested several Muslims. This infuriated them.

Widespread arson, stone-throwing, and stabbing across the Muslim-dominated Shaher Kotda police station area happened, which extended into Khadia near the Muslim-dominated Jamalpur.

Vasantrao Hegishte and Rajabali Lakhani, two local youths, were killed while trying to bring about peace during communal riots in Ahmedabad.

Government Response

The B.G.Kher government acted decisively. They warned the rioters that “lawlessness can never be tolerated”. State officials made it clear that the full force of the Government would be put in motion to stop bloodshed and did not hesitate to deploy the military to restore order.

Home Minister Morarji Desai managed the 1946 Jagannath Rath Yatra riot in Ahmedabad by deploying the military and imposing a curfew when the local police lost control of the situation. The incident sparked a stern response and a critical letter from Mahatma Gandhi, who questioned the heavy-handed state tactics.

Mahatma Gandhi’s Response

Mahatma Gandhi asked Morarji Desai, the then Minister of Home and Revenue of the Bombay Presidency, in a letter from Pune, “They (police) must have anticipated a skirmish. Why did the police not take precautionary measures?” Gandhi also questioned Morarji’s decision to use the military. In this letter to Morarji, he wrote, “Does not the police now belong to the people? Why did they not seek the people’s co-operation beforehand? Our real defence force ought to be the people. Why call the military for such tasks? The state too may not rule with the help of the military”. Gandhiji went on to say that if the immediate withdrawal of the military was not possible, they should be used for policing, but without using rifles. Only bayonets could be used, and that too sparingly. Gandhi ended the letter asking Desai to do only what he felt was right and that “A word is enough for the wise.”

This was Gandhiji’s conviction that true bravery is laying down one’s life peacefully rather than dying after taking someone else’s life. He repeatedly returned to this theme throughout his life.

Gandhiji’s utterance during prayer meeting on July 2 1946, needs reflection “Mathatma Gandhi said that the outbreak of communal riots in Ahmedabad had pained him deeply and he had told Mr. Morarji Desai, Bombay’s Home Minister, who had come to see him before he departed for Ahmedabad, that he (Mr. Desai) must go to meet the flames under the sole protection of God, not that of the police and military. If need be, he must perish in the flames in the attempt to quell them as the late Mr Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi had done.…. If enough young men like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Vasantrao and Rajab Ali came out, riots could be banished forever….In Ahmedabad, Gandhiji, the pride of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, where he had rendered yeoman’s service to the Municipality, Hindus and Muslims had always lived together in peace. But of late, they seemed to be dehumanised…If one of the communities gives up the madness, the conflict will cease immediately….All the deaths in Ahmedabad were not the result of firing. Many were the results of stabbing and the like. It was a shame that they had to call for the help of the police and the military to prevent them from flying at each other’s throats…. By seeking the help of the police and the army, we become their slaves. If we want to have true independence, we should stop relying on them and rely solely on God, and learn how to die. That is all we have to do. Many people know how to die after killing others, but we have to die without killing anyone…. If one side ceased to retaliate, the riots could not go on. What did it matter if even a few lakhs were killed in the right manner out of the 40 crores of Indians? If they could learn the lesson of dying without killing, India, which was celebrated in legendary history as Karmabhoomi—the land of duty—would become a virtual Eden, the image of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” (Speech at Poona prayer meeting, July 2, The Hindu, 4-7-1946, and Harijanbandhu)

During his address at a prayer meeting at Poona on July 3, Gandhiji said, “Shri Morarji Desai had invited the representatives of the Muslims, Hindus and others to a joint conference at Ahmedabad and had told them he was prepared to withdraw the police and military if they so desired. But the latter, he heard, had unanimously replied that they were not prepared to take the risk. The result was that the police and the military were there. The authorities had imposed curfew for day and night for three days. Therefore, as a result, disturbances had been arrested, the peace that was seen today in Ahmedabad was the peace of the grave.” (vol 84. P. 408)

Historical Reflections

When Gandhiji said, “What matter if a few lakhs are killed in the right manner”, by right manner, he meant without retaliation. How callous it was of him to say, “What matter if a few lakhs are killed?” When Gandhiji said, “If one side ceased to retaliate”, certainly, Hindus were supposed not to retaliate, as stoning and soda water bottle throwing during the Rath Yatra had been perpetrated by the Muslims. One can conclude the reason why Hindus were not agreeable to the withdrawal of police and military. Gandhiji’s complaint, that “of late, they (Hindus and Muslims) seemed to be dehumanised,” is an acceptance of his failure of a lifelong mission to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity by Muslim appeasement.

The Calcutta holocaust happened only a month and a half after the incident of July 1. How was Morarji’s stance to contain the riot different from that taken by Suhrawardy, who planned and executed the ghastly pogrom during Direct Action Day?

About the Author

Dr. Mahavir Prasad Jain is a well-known Indian historian, author, and educationist recognised for his extensive academic career and writings on Indian history.

FAQs Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 – When did the Ahmedabad Rath Yatra riots occur?

A1 – 1 July 1946.

Q2 – What triggered the violence?

A2 – According to the article, a dispute during the procession escalated into stone pelting and wider communal violence.

Q3 – Who restored order?

A3 – Police, followed by military deployment and curfew under the Bombay Presidency government.

Q4 – What was Mahatma Gandhi’s position?

A4 – He advocated non-retaliation and questioned reliance on the police and the military while urging peaceful methods.