Turkman gate demolition and rioting

Turkman Gate incident

Part of The Emergency of 1975–1977

An image of Turkman Gate.

Date

31 May 1976; 47 years ago (31 May 1976)

Location

Turkman Gate, Old Delhi

Caused by

Political repression and police brutality

Goals

Demolition of Turkman Gate

Methods

Rioting, protests and demonstrations

Parties

Authority	Civilians
Government of India Delhi Police	Residing people

Lead figures

Sanjay Gandhi

Casualties

Death(s)

10 (Official)
9 (Police source)
400+ (Foreign press)

The Turkman gate demolition and subsequent massacre was an infamous case of political oppression and police brutality during the Emergency when, on 31 May 1976, residents of Old Delhi were killed by police while protesting a slum clearance.^[1] An official account of the number of people killed at Turkman gate is not available and a media blackout ensued in the wake of the massacre.^[2] One local guide claimed that nine of his friends were killed by the police.^[3] More than ten bulldozers razed down illegal structures and homes, and protestors were fired upon by police.^[4]

Background

During the Emergency, Indira Gandhi's government, prompted by her son Sanjay, launched the demolition drive to clear the Delhi municipality of slums, and force poor residents to leave Delhi and move to distant settlements. The residents of Turkman Gate, refused to move as they stayed there from Mughal period (this was an internal part of the walled city) and would have to commute every day paying heavy bus fares to reach the city to earn their living. They resisted the bulldozing of their houses. On 18 April 1976, the police opened fire on protesters killing several of them. The government, who had earlier imposed censorship, ordered the press not to report the massacre. The Indian public learned of the killings through foreign media outlets, such as the BBC. It was later reported that protesters were run over by bulldozers, resulting in several deaths.^[4]

Total deaths

The Shah Commission report recorded statements of police officers and one officer admitted that, at least, twenty civilians died from gunfire.^[5] Independent researchers, however, place casualties at 400 dead and over 1000 wounded.^[6]

References

Citations

^ "May 31, 1978, Forty Years Ago: Turkman Gate Report". The Indian Express. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
^ Talukdar, Sreemoy (27 June 2018). "Comparing Modi regime with Indira's Emergency is nonsense; it dilutes the horrors of Indian democracy's darkest chapter". website. Linked in. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ Raza, Danish (29 June 2015). "Tragedy at Turkman Gate: Witnesses recount horror of Emergency". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ ^a ^b John Dayal, Ajay Bose (26 June 2015). "The Khooni Kissa of Turkman Gate". The wire newspaper. The wire. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ Shah, Justice. "Shah Commission Report". archive.org. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ "Remembering the massacre at Turkman Gate: From a memoir of the Emergency". scroll.in. Retrieved 4 May 2023.

Sources

India; Fact Finding Committee: Slum Clearance, Demolitions, etc. and Firing in Turkman Gate during the Emergency (1977). Slum clearance, demolitions, etc. and firing in Turkman Gate during the emergency, June 25, 1975-March 21, 1977: report of Fact Finding Committee. New Delhi: Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. OCLC 6144260.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Wright, Theodore P. (1977). "Muslims and the 1977 Indian Elections: A Watershed?". Asian Survey. 17 (12): 1207–1220. doi:10.2307/2643422. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2643422.
Engineer, Asghar Ali (13 August 2007). "The minority votes". DNA India. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
"Rediff On The NeT: Pritish Nandy on Asha Parekh". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.