The Chauri Chaura Incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) in British India. The police there fired upon a large group of protesters participating in the Non-cooperation movement. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, which killed all of its occupants. The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen. Mahatma Gandhi halted the Non-Cooperation Movement on the national level on 12 February 1922 as a direct result of the incident. In spite of Gandhi's decision, 19 arrested demonstrators were sentenced to death and 14 to life imprisonment by the British colonial authorities.
Background
From 1920 onwards, Indians, led by Mahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwide non-cooperation movement. Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as Satyagraha, protests were organised by the Indian National Congress to challenge oppressive government regulatory measures such as the Rowlatt Act, with the ultimate goal of attaining Swaraj (home rule).
The incident
Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in the non-cooperation movement led by a retired soldier of the British Indian Army named Bhagwan Ahir, protested against high food prices and liquor sales at Gauri Bazaar. The demonstrators were beaten back by the local Daroga (inspector) Gupteshwar Singh and other police officers. Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at the Chauri Chaura police station. In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the Bazaar.
On 4 February, approximately 2,000 to 2,500 protesters assembled and began marching towards the market lane at Chauri Chaura. They had gathered to picket the Gauri Bazaar Liquor Shop. Armed police were dispatched to control the situation while the protesters marched towards the Bazaar, shouting anti-British slogans. In an attempt to frighten and disperse the crowd, Gupteshwar Singh ordered his 15 local police officers to fire warning shots into the air. This only agitated the crowd who began to throw stones at the police.
With the situation getting out of control, the Sub-inspector Prithvi Pal ordered the police to open fire on the advancing crowd, killing three and wounding several others. Reports vary on the reason for the police retreat, with some suggesting that the constables ran out of ammunition while others claimed that the crowd's unexpectedly assertive reaction to the gunfire was the cause. In the ensuing chaos, the heavily outnumbered police fell back to the shelter of the police chowki while the angry mob advanced. Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set the chowki ablaze, killing all of the policemen trapped inside, including Inspector Gupteshwar Singh.
The following are the names of the senior officers, constables and chaukidars (government watchmen) who were killed in the incident:
Inspector (Daroga) Gupteshwar Singh
Sub-Inspector Prithvi Pal
Constable Bashir Khan
Constable Kapil Dev Singh
Constable Visheshwar Ram Yadav
Constable Mohammad Ali
Constable Hasan Khan
Constable Gadabaksh Khan
Constable Jama Khan
Constable Manglu Chaubey
Constable Rambali Pandey
Constable Kapil Dev
Constable Indrasan Singh
Constable Ramlakhan Singh
Constable Mardana Khan
Constable Jagdev Singh
Constable Jaigai Singh
Chaukidar Lakhai Singh
Chaukidar Wazir
Chaukidar Ghisai Ram
Chaukidar Jathai Ram
Chaukidar Katwaru Ram
One of the constables, named Raghuvir Singh, was found to be alive, a few months after the incident. He had been declared dead in the report registered thereafter. He was later produced in the court as the sole witness to the incident.
Most victims were burned to death, although several appear to have been killed by the crowd at the entrance to the chowki and their bodies thrown back into the fire. The death count is reported in the literature as either 22 or 23 policemen by different accounts, possibly because of including or excluding the reported death of Raghuvir Singh.
Aftermath
In response to the killing of the police, the British colonial authorities declared martial law in and around Chauri Chaura. Several raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested.