Newsflicks's video: West Bengal s history of political violence

Communal clashes in West Bengal reinforce the fact that the state has a history of violence. Between 1955 and 2005 the state recorded over 8,500 deaths in politics-related violence, the most in India. Was that a surprise? Not for those who watched the freedom struggle unfold in the state. In the early years of 1900 Bengal revolutionaries killed at least 500 Britishers and the British, in turn, killed or convicted nearly 186 revolutionaries . The Chittagong armoury raid of the 1930s led to the death of over 80 troops and 12 revolutionaries. 1940s saw the beginning of Hindu-Muslim riots in which thousands were killed and another thousands injured or displaced. It was then followed by the Tebhaga movement - a militant campaign, initiated in Bengal by communists in 1946-1950s in which about 1,200 political activists were killed and 20,000 families displaced. The Naxalbari movement (1968-71) continued the cycle of violence. Bengal under Left rule saw over 28,000 political murders, according to some estimates. Singur and Nandigram agitations added to the toll. See story: http://www.newsflicks.com/story/bloodied-bengal