Explained: Direct Action Day, Noakhali riots at the heart of The Bengal Files

India Today

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At a press conference in Delhi on August 18, director Vivek Agnihotri defended his film 'The Bengal Files' against criticism. When asked if the film had distorted history to create a political narrative, the filmmaker said he had spent two years researching the subject and was presenting what he described as the untold story of Bengal's history. He referred to Direct Action Day - the Great Calcutta Killings of 1946, and the Noakhali riot as examples of what he called a Hindu genocide.advertisement"Kya genocide nahi hua tha Direct Action Day par? Kya Noakhali riots genocide nahi tha [Wasn't there genocide on Direct Action Day? Weren't the Noakhali riots genocide?]," he said.Direct Action DayIn 1906, while India was under British rule, the All-India Muslim League (AIML) was founded in Dacca (present-day Dhaka) to safeguard Muslim interests. By 1946, as the British prepared to leave, the party called for "Direct Action" to demand a separate Muslim homeland. How did they try to achieve it? With widespread communal riots, strikes and shutdowns.
On August 16, 1946, violence broke out in Calcutta (now Kolkata), resulting in large-scale clashes between Hindus and Muslims. The riots, which spread to other parts of India, are remembered as a turning point in the country's history and contributed to the partition of Bengal into Hindu-majority West Bengal and Muslim-majority East Bengal (now Bangladesh).Speaking to the media, Agnihotri argued that Bengal would not have been divided if the riots had not taken place. He also questioned the government's alleged inaction at the time."My film shows Direct Action Day - the black day, the Noakhali riots, which led to a part of Bengal being taken away from us to create Bangladesh. If that had not happened, Bangaldesh would have been a part of India, and lakhs would not have been killed," he said.Noakhali riotsTwo months after Direct Action Day, violence erupted in Noakhali, a district now in Bangladesh - the same series of events that Agnihotri has referred to as the Hindu genocide. Hindu families were attacked, women were assaulted, homes were looted, and people were abducted by mobs. The first incidents were reported during Lakshmi Puja on October 10, 1946, and the violence continued for days, with little immediate administrative response.Mahatma Gandhi, then leading India's independence movement, spent four months in Noakhali, travelling the entire area in an attempt to restore peace and communal harmony, as the Indian National Congress slowly accepted the idea of having a divided Bengal. Cinema and debateThere are multiple historical interpretations of what triggered the riots in Noakhali. 'The Bengal Files' engages with some of these narratives - both widely accepted accounts and more contested theories.advertisement'The film features that part of our partition history that should be told to the world," Agnihotri said, urging the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to host a special screening instead of opposing it.Kolkata's history has not been told in Hindi cinema in a larger-than-life way so far. As 'The Bengal Files' approaches release, it has sparked debate over how partition history is represented in popular culture, and how cinema shapes the way these memories are understood today.It hits the screens on September 5.- EndsMust Watch