The Wilmington morning star., 1946-09-06
Wilmington Girl Tells
OfHindus-Moslem Riots

4AeS 49, NAS AAAo
fed on. On Saturday the Sikhs
(about $4,000 strong warlike In
dian from Sikkam who usually ply
the taxis here they have a
monopoly Joined the fray. They
went sailing through the streets,
in the taxis loaded to the gun
wales, with guns poking out from
the sides. They were tht only ones
with real arms. They had their
long sabres and guns the 9TH
ers were armed mostly with lathis
and stones. A band Of Muslims
seized one Of the British ammuni-
ton stores down on Chowringhee
and looted all the arms. Going
home from work on Saturday we
counted eleven fires that could be
seen down the alley ways Of the
native quarters, but we saw no
violence. On Camac street all was
calm and serene, even sleepier
than a Sunday, and no one was
on the streets, no cars moved, and
it seemed a deserted village.
Saturday afternoon, we made an
incursion down onto the fringes OF
one Of the Muslin quarters. The
fight was purely between the In
dians, and the Europeans went un-
molested and unnoticed; there was
absolutely no anti-white feeling al
all throughout, so we were per
fectly safe. Down at the foot OF
Park street, near. the old Euro
peans cemetery I think I wrote
you about once, we saw four carts
all piled up into a heap burning
/. the shops were Quilted and
empty, and a Red Cross ambu-
lance was piling casualties into
the truck on stretchers. The PEG.
pie stood around in the streets
talking the thing over, and com
pairing stories, 1 suppose. A Mus.
linn church was burning further
down the road, and ragged Hindu
bands of fifty or more were being
led by the police into evacuation
quarters up near the police sta
ton. Another band of twenty OF
so, also under police escort, were
looters that had been rounded up
From the buildings in the neigh.
borhood Muslin flags, the greer
flag with the white star and cres
cent, were bravely flying. I'm fol-
the Muslims.
Our bearers sister (he's a Mus
linn tool vas living down in on,
of the worst spots, a place callet
Bowanapore, where all the Muslin
were reported to have been slaugh
tered, and on Saturday night h
came into us and asked US how
he could get his sister out. W
obviously couldn't answer that one
He couldn't 60 down TO get he
because the Hiadus were in con
troll. and he'd be killed, so Their,
was nothing he could do but wait
and every morning and ever,
night he'd go out trying to fin
out some word of her, and the,
finally last night, he found her ii
the police station where She.
been evacuated to along with som,
othe- Muslin women in the quar-
ter. We were very glad, becaus,
he's been faithful throughout i
all, as have all our servants, whit
walked many miles to get to work
even when it was unsafe.
Saturday night we climbed VI
onto our roof, which is entered
by a more Or less secret stairwel
which opens into my bathroom
and had a look around. W. coule
see nothing but clouds Of smoke
circuling the town, and could heal
the high wailing or shouting of thu
bands IS they went about theil
distractions, but it never got very
close.
Things are easing now, and mos
of the violence is over, I think :.
the main threat now is famine ane
pestilence bodies lie in the
street fifty to a block, and religi.
GUS prejudices prevent the people
from removing them, so the streets
are strewn with bodies in an ad.
vanced state of decomposition, and
the garbage, unemptied for days
is piled high. And of course many
Of the people are displaced and
homeless. AID the food situation
is w~orsening fast. The famine
was being held off rather precarl-
ously up to this time, with In
st-ictest rationing Of rice, sugar.