The Nilganj massacre, which occurred just 5 km away from Barrackpore in West Bengal, remains relatively unknown to many Indians. The incident, which took place in the dark of the night on 25 September 1945, involved a tragic mass killing that has not been part of common knowledge in free India. Approximately 2300 men lost their lives on that fateful night, a toll even higher than the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The incident was centered around the Nilganj detention camp, where Major General Captain E.R. Menon was in charge of the prisoners of war from the 26/3 Madras Regiment (INA or Azad Hind Fauz). On that night, Captain Menon ordered a roll call of the prisoners around 10 p.m., which the prisoners protested due to the late hour. In response, Menon left and sounded the alarm at the quarter guard. He then returned with a machine gun, accompanied by his entire company. The confrontation escalated as the prisoners threw stones, bamboo sticks, and bricks at them. During the chaos, it was reported that Captain Menon was either killed. Both British sources and company members had conflicting accounts of who fired first, but it is believed that they engaged in firing throughout the night. Nearby villagers attested to hearing continuous gunfire and witnessing the next morning the gruesome sight of blood-soaked bodies being removed from the detention camp and loaded onto army trucks. These bodies were then dumped into the Noyaikhal canal.
However, the official British report stated a significantly lower casualty count, indicating that only 5 men were killed and 9 were injured. Despite efforts by individuals like Tamal Sanyal, Atish Basak, Jayanta Chowdhury, Madhsudan Kanji, and Arup Ghosh to uncover the names of the fallen Azad Hind Fauz soldiers from that tragic night, their endeavors proved futile.
In the post-independence era, the Indian Government established the ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, seemingly overlooking the sacrifices made during the Nilganj massacre. This pivotal event in history has unfortunately been buried beneath the soil of the ICAR institution, fading from public memory and discourse.
Source: Jayanta Gupta, Contributor for CCRT