A research scholar in a Delhi archive is reading newspaper files from 1942 to 1947. She marks reports of a nationwide movement against British rule, of an upsurge in the spring of 1946 that won wide public support, and of strikes by workers and peasants in different regions. She tries to see what these protests had in common. She then turns to reports on talks between the major political parties and to news of communal violence in 1946 and 1947, trying to see how the period led up to the work of the Constituent Assembly.
Which event reported in the scholar's files began a year of almost continuous rioting across northern and eastern India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The Great Calcutta Killings
Option (1) The Noakhali riots in eastern Bengal — Incorrect. The Noakhali riots in eastern Bengal came later in 1946, after Calcutta. They were part of the year of rioting that Calcutta started.
Option (2) The Great Calcutta Killings — Correct. The Great Calcutta Killings of August 1946 started a year of almost continuous rioting in northern and eastern India, which ended in the massacres of Partition.
Option (3) The riots in Bihar — Incorrect. The Bihar riots followed the killings in Bengal. They belong to the chain of violence that Calcutta set off.
Option (4) The riots in Rawalpindi — Incorrect. The Rawalpindi riots took place in the Punjab in 1947. They came well after the year of rioting had begun.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Tumultuous Time … |