Noakhali peace mission
Also called: Noakhali · Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"
Meaning
The Noakhali peace mission was Gandhi's walking tour of Noakhali, a riot-hit district in east Bengal. It lasted from November 1946 to early 1947 (c. March 1947). Hindus there had been attacked in the communal violence that spread after Direct Action Day (16 August 1946). Gandhi went from village to village on foot. He tried to calm fear and anger and to bring the two communities back together. It was the start of what is called his "finest hour", his peace work in the last months of his life.
Example
Gandhi walked barefoot through Noakhali's villages and stayed in the homes of local people. He held prayer meetings and urged Hindus and Muslims to protect each other. Later, on 15 August 1947, he was in Calcutta on a 24-hour fast instead of celebrating freedom.
Don't confuse with
- Direct Action Day (16 August 1946): the Muslim League's call for protest that set off the Calcutta riots. The Noakhali mission was Gandhi's answer to the violence that followed.
Related concepts
- Provincial elections of 1937
- Congress ministries 1937-39
- Wardha scheme of basic education
- Congress Socialist Party
- Haripura session 1938
- Tripuri crisis 1939
- Forward Bloc
- Second World War
- Lord Linlithgow
- Resignation of Congress ministries