 "The Bengal Files: Who was Gopal Patha at the centre of the controversial film on Calcutta killings of 1946?")
Vivek Agnihotri’s film ‘The Bengal Files’ has sparked controversy. The launch of its trailer on August 16 in Kolkata was abruptly cancelled. An FIR has been filed against Agnihotri and the director has also received a legal notice.
Agnihotri previously made ‘The Tashkent Files’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’. The film stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi. It is slated to be released on September 5.
But what happened in Kolkata in 1946? Who was Gopal Patha, one of the main characters of the film?
Let’s take a closer look:
What happened in Kolkata in 1946?
Agnihotri’s movie centres around the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings and the Noakhali riots. The riots, one of the bloodiest and darkest chapters of pre-Independence history, lasted four days. While estimates vary, it is said that around 10,000 people were killed as a result of the riots.
The riots on August 16, 1946, came about as a result of ‘Direct Action Day’ – which was called by Muhammed Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. Jinnah and the League’s goal was to pressure the British to give Muslims a separate homeland.
By this time, the relationship between Jinnah’s Muslim league and the Indian National Congress had completely broken down.
It is important to note the political context in Bengal at the time. While Bengal had a majority Muslim population, most of them are in eastern Bengal – what we know today as Bangladesh. Calcutta, meanwhile, was comprised overwhelmingly of Hindus. The state had also witnessed incidence of communal violence sporadically during the 20th Century. Bengal, particularly Dhaka, was also where the All India Muslim League was born.
Huseyn Suhrawardy, Bengali Muslim leader and Jinnah rival within the League, was the then Chief Minister of Bengal. Many lay the blame for the killings at Suhrawardy’s feet. He is said to have made a number of speeches hinting at a support for violence. He is also reportedly have said made a speech saying that the police “would be restrained.”
On August 16, 1946, things quickly spiralled out of control as mobs took to the streets of Calcutta. Looting and mass murder ran rampant. Law and order saw a complete breakdown in the city. Enter Gopal Patha.
Who was Gopal Patha?
Gopal Patha was born Gopal Chandra Mukherjee in Kolkata in 1913. Patha means ‘goat’ in Bengali – a reference to his family’s meat shop on College Street. Patha’s actions after the riots began would forever establish him as a controversial figure within Indian history.
While some describe him as a protector of Hindus at the time of the riots, others refer to him as a criminal and a gangleader who commanded between 500 and 800 men. Patha on August 18 is said to have organised the Hindu resistance against the Muslim mobs in Calcutta.
Patha himself recounted events to journalist Andrew Whitehead in 1997 thus, “It was a very critical time for the country. We thought if the whole area became Pakistan, there would be more torture and repression. So I called all my boys together and said it was time to retaliate. If you come to know that one murder has taken place, you commit 10 murders. That was the order to my boys.”
“It was basically duty,” he added. “I had to help those in distress.” The witnesses to the Calcutta killings describe gruesome scenes including bodies being piled three or four feet high on top of each other and brains and blood oozing out of them.
There is an interesting coda to the story of Patha. A year after the riots, Gandhiji visited Calcutta. The city was still in ruins from the riots. Journalists recounted how many people came with weapons including swords daggers and countrymen guns in place them at his feet. Lord Mountbatten called this the miracle of Calcutta.
However, Patha was unmoved. He refused to surrender his weapons, saying that he had defended the women and the people of his area with them. “Where was Gandhiji during the Great Calcutta killings?” he asked.
Patha’s grandson cries foul
Patha’s grandson Santanu Mukherjee has cried foul over the film. Santanu has sent Agnihotri a legal notice. He has said that his grandfather was a freedom fighter and has accused Agnihotri of using derogatory language against him and denigrating his ideology.
“My grandfather was a brave heart who took up arms to defend the Bengalis. The director has used insulting terms against him without even seeking our permission or consulting the family", Santanu said. Santanu accused Agnihotri of referring to his grandfather as a ‘butcher’ and ‘ tarnishing his legacy as a freedom fighter.’
Santanu told The Times of India that his grandfather protected Muslim families in his neighbourhood during the riots. Santanu’s sister claimed that Patha sheltered Muslim families on the terrace of his home including the kin of a rickshaw puller they called ‘Rafique Chacha’.
Santanu has also said the term Patha is misunderstood. He said that local Biharis began calling his grandfather Gopal Patha due to his bravery and that it has nothing to do with goats. Santanu claimed the film is ill-researched and will do his grandfather’s reputation ‘more harm than good’.
Agnihotri hits back
Agnihotri has responded by claiming that Shantanu “works with the TMC and he is doing what is compulsory for him”. “He was a hero. I have showed him as a hero in the film. I have taken a small bit from his interview with the BBC, and taken what he said verbatim. I am aware that the people of Bengal regard him as a hero, and that is how I have shown him,” Agnihotri said.
Mukherjee died in 2005 at age 92. In 2015, a far-right group in Kolkata held a march to commemorate the the Great Calcutta killings and celebrate the role Mukherjee played in it. The group during the march placed large billboards on vans celebrating Mukherjee as “Kolkatar Rakhakarta” (Kolkata’s protector) and prefixed the title “Hindu bir” (Hindu braveheart) ahead of his name.
With the release of ‘The Bengal Files’ imminent, the ebate on Mukherjee’s role in Indian history will likely not die down anytime soon.
With inputs from agencies
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