Political

Fact Check: Is Indira Gandhi responsible for the killing of 5000 Hindu saints in 1966’s anti-cow slaughter protests?

Written by Abdul M

A very old viral claim has resurfaced across social media. The claim was viral in 2015, 2019, and being shared now again. The viral claim in Hindi says Indira Gandhi is responsible for killing 5000 Sadhus in 1966. “क्या आप जानते है की मुसलमानों को खुश करने के लिए 7 नवंबर 1966 को इंदिरा गाँधी ने गौवध-निषेद हेतु संषद को घेरा कर रहे 5000 हिन्दू साधु संतों गोलियों से भूनवा डाला था तथा हजारों संतों पर गोली चलवा कर घायल कर दिया था. इतनी बड़े नरशंश हत्या आजाद भारत में पहले कभी नहीं हुई थी. लोगों को इतिहास में जलीय वाला बैग की कहानी पढाई जाती है लेकिन संसद भवन के समक्ष मारे गए इन हजारों संतो की कहनी लोगों को मालूम भी नहीं है.”

Translation: Do you know that in order to please the Muslims, on 7 November 1966, 5000 Hindu Sadhu saints who surrounded the India Parliament for Bill demanding ban on cow slaughter were shot that killed 5000 saints and injured thousands of saints. Never before had such a large-scale murder been committed in independent India. People read the story of the Jalianwalabagh , but people do not even know the story of these thousands of saints killed in front of the Parliament House.

Shefali Vaidya, a BJP sympathizer, and Author has claimed that thousands were killed during the protest. she tweeted, Official count was 375, unofficial figures ran into thousands.

We found a blogpost article claiming the same. The article claims “At least 5000 people were killed in that greatest Hindu killing by Indira Gandhi and Congress in a single day of Gopastami, 7th Nov 1966. The dead bodies were cleared from the roads and dumped or put in a fire in unknown places.”

Post Card has also written an article back in 2019, the article is captioned as, “Remembering the largest Hindu killing by Indira Gandhi in Goraksha Abhiyan in Delhi.”. When post-Card do not talk about the exact number of Hindu-saints who were killed in the violence, they call it Largent Hindu Killing by Indira Gandhi.

The claim is viral over social media here, here, here, here.

FactO Check:

We have received multiple requests in our Telegram channel from users to provide details on the incident that led to the killings and official death count. A keyword search has directed us to multiple articles that talked in detail about the incident. According to an article published by BBC Bangali 2017, the fake claim has gone viral ahead of Rajasthan Election in 2017. BBC article captioned “‘Hindu genocide’ viral message on social media before polls in Rajasthan, India” has a detailed explanation of the viral photo and claim.

Another article published by The Hindu  (Archive) dated 8th NOV 1966, “Anti-cow slaughter mob storms Parliament”-According to official sources, seven persons were killed and over 100 injured in violent incidents. Mr. G.L. Nanda, Home Minister, reported to the Lok Sabha on the incidents.

Another article published by News18 claimed the police shooting has killed 8 sadhus.

What happened on 7th NOV 1966?

An Article published by Scroll.in tells the complete story of what has happed on Nov 7th, 1966. Article captioned, “Looking Back: The first Parliament attack took place in 1966 – and was carried out by gau rakshaks”. A committee for cow protection, the Sarvadaliya Goraksha Mahaabhiyan Samiti, called for a mass satyagraha on November 7. The committee was headed by Prabhu Dutt Brahmachari, a freedom fighter who had joined politics.

Supported by the Jan Sangh officially as well as some Congressmen in their personal capacity, the November 7 satyagraha managed to attract a massive crowd outside the houses of Parliament, the sadhus, armed with spears and Trishul, then tried unsuccessfully to storm the complex as the Delhi police stood their ground.

There was little security to protect Parliament so the guards on duty hurriedly closed the gates. The infuriated agitators went berserk and started attacking government buildings on Parliament Street. The police had to open fire, killing eight sadhus.

Conclusion: We condemn the gruesome act and the killings of the sadhus. It is true that the police opened fire on the protesters, which led to the death of 8-10 sadhus. None of the news media reports support the claim that 5000 Hindu sadhus were killed. Some right-wing portals have exaggerated the death toll, called the incident an act of Muslim appeasement, and have been sharing it over and over. The purpose of the claim is to promote religious bigotry and hatred.

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About the author

Abdul M

Fact-Checker @Facto_News, Political Analyst, Social Media Expert

1 Comment

  • You are Muslim. You will never write truth about the incident that occured during congress regime and that too done to please muslims. Shame on this article and writer.

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