IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

TARAPUR MASSACRE                

17th February, 2022 History

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Context:

  • Bihar Chief Minister said February 15 would henceforth be commemorated as “Shahid Diwas” in memory of the 34 freedom fighters who were killed by police in Tarapur town of Bihar’s Munger district 90 years ago.

 

Course of events:

  •   A group of young freedom fighters planned to hoist an Indian national flag at Thana Bhavan in Tarapur.  Police were aware of the plan, and several officers were present at the spot.
  •   Gopal Singh succeeded in raising the flag at Thana Bhavan and crowd pelted the police with stones, injuring an officer of the civil administration. The police responded by opening indiscriminate fire on the crowd.

 

Trigger for protest:

  • The hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru in Lahore on March 23, 1931, sent a wave of grief and anger around the country.
  • Following the collapse of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Mahatma was arrested in early 1932.
  • The Congress was declared an illegal organisation, and Nehru, Patel, and Rajendra Prasad were also thrown in jail. A call given by the Congress leader Sardar Shardul Singh Kavishwar to raise the tricolour over government buildings resonated in Tarapur. 

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/sacrifice-34-freedom-fighters-tarapur-bihar-shahid-diwas-7777147/