Evening star., 1946-08-19
Calcutta Deaths
Pass2,000 as
Riots Subside
Bodies Piled High
In Streets; Hunger
Adds to Suffering
BY the Associoted Press

CALCUTTA, Aug. 19.-Moslem.
and Hindus killed each Other
at a slackened pace today in this
CHASTITY city's streets, which ir
four days have been strewn with
1000 to 5000 corpses.
The situation was the quietest
since Friday when the rival fac.
tions started the worst riots in Cal.
cuttas turbulent history. quarrelins
over differences regarding the Brit.
ish proffer of independence.
Sporadic shooting continued. Eerit
cries rang through the street
Bodies were piled here and there
many of them dead four days anc
being devoured by vultures. Sev-
eral thousands lay wounded.
The food situation became worse
and stores . .emained closed.
Stories of Horror Told.
Lootings was rife. Police blotters
were filled with accounts of women
sadistlcally assaulted, mutilated
then butchered or burned with their
victim was removed to a hospital
In critical condition.
Fifty boats, owned mostly by
Hindus, were burned on the river
Troops with tanks strove to restore
order. In one trouble spot. police
during the night fired into crowd
killing at least three. Two fac
tories were burned; hundreds OF
homes went up in flames.
Hindu and Moslem leaders tried
to regain control of the mobs. They
met yesterday and hostilities ceased
for few hours but soon erupted
again.
When dawn broke, the situation
apparently was in better control
but sporadic shootings and clashes
continued and more reports OF
killings reached authorities.
Disposal squads were extending
their routes in picking up bodies in
areas where the combined might OF
troops and police had restored
order, generally on the main streets
Starving See Food Rot.
The hungrier and poorer Indians
could see fruit, vegetables and eggs
rotting on railroad platforms and
in barred stores.
A Moslem League Inauguration of
q direct action campaign against
the British independence program
caused many of the stores to close
in a strike; the others closed when
rioting made commerce untenable.
Many of the poor now have been
without food for days.
Some looting continued. Two
shops on Strand road along the
water front were broken into.
Moslem League leaders were ex-
pected to attempt again today to
restore peace. The Moslem League
which asserts itself as spokesman
for India's 100000 Moslems. dis
liked the British independence
plan because the strongly Hindu
Congress party, far the largest po-
litical organization in India. gained
wide control Moslem League de-
mands for Pakistan, or partition
of India between Hindu and Mos
lem areas, were rejected in the in
dependence scheme.
Throngs Seek Safety.
Evacuees from every section OF
Calcutta, a city of 1.250000. con-
tinued their frightened tricks to
rescue stations. police headquarters
and precinct stations. The refugees
were so crowded that hundreds had
to sleep in Railways.
Police reports showed hundreds
of men. women and children were
butchered or burned to death in the
bustee (tenement) areas.
Along Harrison road, one of the
centers of the fighting, three car
loads of bodies were parked in the
middle of the street while others lay
partly covered with water from open
hydrants which flooded the thor
oughfare. At one point Is bodies
were counted within a distance Of
80 yards
These bodies pose a serious health