Bharat’s history has been centred around Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nehru is often hailed as the ‘architect of modern India’ but his image has been kept clean by the Congress by reportedly erasing official records of Nehru’s dark deeds. One of Nehru’s dark deeds that have now made its way to public discourse is the firing of 400 Hindu farmers in Bihar at Nehru’s behest.

Congress tampering with history?

On November 5, 1946, a tragic incident occurred in Nagarnausa village near Patna in Bihar, where the military opened fire, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of around 400 Hindu farmers. During this time, Jawaharlal Nehru held the position of the head of the interim government and happened to be present in Bihar. Due to his presence, there have been suggestions that the firing could have been ordered by Nehru himself.

This belief was reinforced by the existence of numerous letters written by Nehru on the matter. These letters, along with other evidence, were initially published in the book “Hey Ram.” They were also included in Volume 1 of Series 2 of the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, which was first published in 1984. Subsequent editions, including the 1989 reprint, also contained these letters.

However, a concerning development occurred in 2003 when these letters mysteriously disappeared from the publication and the website of the Nehru Memorial Fund. This alteration of historical records raises serious concerns about the manipulation of Bharat’s history.

Nehru’s Letter to Padmaja Naidu

One of the missing letters, dated November 5, 1946, was addressed to Nehru’s close friend Padmaja Naidu, daughter of India’s nightingale Sarojini Naidu. In this letter, Nehru expressed an unexpected sense of relief upon learning about the firing incident. He even shockingly remarked that he considered the death toll of around 400 farmers to be a minor consequence given the farmers’ recent violent activities.

This specific letter, which once occupied page 65 of Volume 1 of Series 2 (1989), has been conspicuously removed from subsequent editions. The tampering with historical records raises questions about the motives behind such actions and the individuals or groups responsible for this revisionist approach.

This situation brings into focus the Nehru Memorial Fund’s leadership and decision-making. It prompts questions about whether these actions were influenced by the Gandhi family or other political forces. This incident also highlights the broader concern of possible intellectual conspiracy and historical manipulation, raising the need to scrutinize the accuracy and integrity of historical documents beyond this particular case.

The Patna Files

Journalist Prakhar Shrivastava detailed the event and the subsequent covering up in his podcast titled The Patna Files: 400 Hindus Were Shot At The Behest Of Nehru? 

Nagarnausa village is located 40 kilometres away from Patna. Here, Hindus were brutally gunned down by the army on the instructions of Nehru who was then the head of the interim government. It must be recalled that in August 1946 and in October 1946 Hindu genocides took place in Calcutta and Noakhali respectively at the behest of the Muslim League.

The anti-Hindu conspiracy that began in Calcutta and Noakhali reached Bihar where Muslim League leaders distributed pamphlets calling for genocide of Hindus. Additionally, weapons were collected and hoarded in Muslim-majority areas. On 25 October 1946, the day after Deepawali, there were riots in many districts of Bihar. Muslim League seized the opportunity to divert attention from Noakhali to the Bihar riots.

“At the time of the riots, Bihar was under Congress rule with Srikishan Sinha as the Chief Minister (CM). The riots also provided an opportunity for Jawaharlal Nehru who wanted to showcase to the world that he and his party Congress would never stray from the path of ‘secularism’. He reached Bihar on 3 November 1946 to control the riots. He undertook a whirlwind tour of the riots-affected areas. He reassured Muslims while giving an earful (scolding) to Hindus”, says Shrivastava.

Nehru, who was then the interim PM, is even said to have threatened airstrikes on his own fellow citizens only to showcase his ‘secularism’ to the world. His speech at a public meeting in Bihar’s Gaya where he issued the threat is mentioned in the book Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru (Page 69 Vol 1 Series 2).

Subsequently, the events that unfolded in Nagarnausa village were the first of its kind in Bharat’s history. The army stationed in Bihar was encouraged by these words of the interim PM. A troop of the Madras Regiment opened fire on the Hindu crowd that had gathered in Nagarnausa on 5 November 1946. Around 400 Hindus were believed to have died in the firing. According to the army, they were forced to open fire because the crowd had become unruly and uncontrollable.

The firing and death of Hindus led to anger among the people of the entire state. Some sources claimed that close to a thousand Hindus were killed whereas Nehru put the number of dead at around 50-60 Hindus. Biharis also alleged that the firing was done at the best of Nehru but the latter denied the same.

Even though the interim PM put the number of dead at 50-60, in his letter to Padmaja Naidu he admits that 400 people were shot and he was greatly relieved to hear about the incident. “Nehru was relieved to hear about the death of 400 Indians. Isn’t it food for thought that Nehru had become as heartless as the British?”, highlights Prakhar Srivastava.

“Hindu peasant mobs have behaved in a manner that is the extreme of brutality and inhumanity. How many have been done to death by them, I do not yet know, but it must be a vast number…For a few days, they had it their own way, with few checks or hindrances. And so when the news came that they have been stopped at last in one place and that 400 of them had died, I felt that the balance had been very slightly righted“, Nehru wrote in his letter to Naidu.

Although Nehru had been denying ordering the firing and the number of dead to be 400 in various forums, he had admitted the same in his letter to Sardar Patel says Shrivastava. However, Biharis were not ready to accept the interim PM’s denial and the latter did all in his power to create a clean image of himself that was spoiled after the Nagarnausa firing.

Nehru wrote a letter to then Bihar CM Srikishan Sinha on 19 November 1946 stating, “I have received numerous letters saying Bihar government had ordered the firing at my behest. A lot has been written in the newspapers too. I think you should issue a statement on my Bihar visit and the firing incident. I was told that the number of dead would not be more than 250. This number is not huge. As far as my visit is concerned, you say that I was visiting Bihar on your invitation and I did not interfere in your work or decisions in any manner. There is no connection between me and the firing incident whatsoever”.

Despite his admission in the letter dated 19 November just 6 days later on 25 November at a Congress session in Meerut, Nehru claimed that 50-60 people died at Nagarnausa. Prakhar Shrivastava highlights that Nehru’s close friend, Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar has written about the Nagarnausa firing on page number 17 in his book Lokdev Nehru.

“Nehru visited Bihar in 1946 during the communal riots and was getting work done by the army under his watch. When the news of Nagarnausa’s firing reached Patna, it created anger among the citizens. When Nehru reached Senate Hall in the evening to deliver a lecture to the youths, the boys tore his kurta and threw away his cap”, wrote Dinkar.

Two things are clear from Dinkar’s book that the army was working under the instructions of Nehru and that several Hindus were killed in the Nagarnausa firing. He says that during his entire Bihar tour, wherever he went Nehru would scold, insult, and threaten Hindus. It appeared that Nehru did not want to listen to Hindus. Furthermore, when any Hindu tried to present his woes Nehru would become enraged.

A similar tale is narrated by Balshastri Hardas in his book What I Saw in Bihar. The book which was published in 1947 narrates the eyewitness accounts of the Bihar riots. “When a Hindu youth once questioned Nehru, the latter went on to assault him. The scared youth jumped into the river with Nehru in pursuit who also jumped into the river. The thousands of Hindus and police officials gathered on the riverbank looked on at the funny incident with anger and insult”, writes Hardas.

“The interim PM of a country jumped into the river to assault a common man for raising some questions. Isn’t this a matter of shame?”, questions Prakhar. He further adds that the citizens of Bihar were angry with Nehru also because he had come to Bihar to save Muslims but did not visit Noakhali to save Hindus who were being subjected to much worse atrocities at the hands of Muslims.