Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day (16 August 1946), also known as the Great Calcutta Killings , was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) in the Bengal province of British India . [1] The day also marked the start of what is known as The Week of the Long Knives . [3] [4] Direct Action Day Great Calcutta Killings Part of Partition of Bengal (1947) Dead and wounded after the ‘Direct Action Day’ which developed into pitched battles as Muslim and Hindu mobs rioted across Calcutta in 1946, the year before independence Location Calcutta , Bengal , British India Date August 1946 Target Bengali Muslims Attack type Massacre , Forced conversion , Arson , Abduction and Rape Deaths 4,000 [1] [2] Perpetrators Council Muslim League Motive Ethnic Cleansing of Bengal...