Courtesy: Debal Dev Basu and Kuldeep Kumar Bhatt:
THE MASSACRE OF HINDU SAINTS AND SEERS ON THE AUSPICIOUS DAY OF GOPAL ASHTAMI ON THE 7TH NOVEMBER, 1966, BY THE IRON LADY OF INDIA, INDIRA GANDHI, THE THEN PM OF INDIA:
It was on the 7th of November, 1966, the day of the Gopal Ashtami that a massacre of Hindu saints and seers was carried out in Delhi. There was a massive Hindu genocide carried out by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi (alias Maimuna Begum), THE IRON LADY OF INDIA, on this auspicious day of Gopashtami 57 years ago in Delhi. While the secular Government report said that only 375 were killed but in actuality, 5000 Hindus were brutally massacred by the spraying of bullets by the trigger happy Delhi Police and the bodies were removed from the site and buried in some unknown places.
In the year, 1966, on this auspicious day of Gopal Ashtami, (7th November, 1966), the Hindu organizations were carrying out an agitation to demand a ban on the slaughter of cows in India as was enshrined in the Article 48 of the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution of India. The agitation culminated into a massive demonstration outside the Parliament (Sansad Bhawan) in New Delhi on the 7th of November 1966. As per the Hindu almanac (panchang), the day was Kartik Shukla Ashtami of Vikram Samvat known as Gopal Ashtami, among practicing Hindus.
In the election year of 1966, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, was finding it very difficult to ensure her victory in the general elections. So she visited the famous Hindu saint Swami Karpatri and Acharya Vinoba Bhave to ask for their blessings. Both gave her their blessings on a single condition that if she wins and becomes the Prime Minister once again, she will immediately ban cow slaughter all over the country. At that time, an average of 15,000 cows were being killed each day all over India. Indira Gandhi promised that she would do so if she won the elections. After Indira Gandhi won, Acharya Vinoba Bhave reminded her of the promise made before the elections. Indira Gandhi said, she needed some time to adjust to her responsibilities after which she would fulfill her promise. But she refused to accept the demand for a ban on cow slaughter. The Goraksha Samiti gave a memorandum and ultimatum to her that she was not ready to hear the people striving for a complete ban of cow slaughter. A 48 hour curfew was ordered and all meetings were banned. So on the 7th of November 1966, that was the auspicious day of Gopal Ashtami, Swami Karpatri Maharaj organized a protest with a massive agitation rally, which started from the Arya Samaj temple at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, under the banner of Goraksha Maha Abhiyan Samiti. An unified mass comprising of all Hindu sects like Sanatani, Arya Samaj, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Naths and Nirankaris marched towards the Parliament of India (Samsad Bhawan) led by the prominent and most revered Hindu saints, the Shankaracharyas of Jagannath Puri Govardhan Math and the Dwarka Jyotishpeeth, the seven Peethadhishes of the Vallabh Sampraday, Ramanuja Sampraday Peethadhipati, Ramananda Sampraday Peethadhipati, the Mahant of Gorakhpeeth, the saints, President and Secretary of Arya Samaj and the Granthis of various Sikh shrines. A small number of muslims also participated in the rally. 10 lac people including twenty thousand women participated in the rally. The rally reached near the Parliament and the Parliament session was on. The mob entered the Parliament campus and Delhi saw the first agitation of Hindus to ban cow slaughter in India. At the climax, when the agitating Hindus were entering the Parliament, scaling the walls and gates instead of succumbing to their justified demand, Indira Gandhi ordered open fire on the peaceful rally and many innocent Hindus were killed in the Police firing. The police threw tear gas shells and then started firing ruthlessly on the unarmed masses causing a massive homicide by Indira Gandhi. 5000 people were killed in the greatest Hindu genocide by Indira Gandhi and the secular Congress on a single day of Gopal Ashtami on the 7th of November, 1966. The dead bodies were cleared from the roads and dumped and put on fire at unknown places. The martyrs sacrificed their lives for the cause of cow protection.
The sacrifice of the large number of Goubhakts on the 7th of November, 1966 is still not succeeded by a legislation to ban cow slaughter in India.
Indira Gandhi washed off her hands by putting all the blame on the then Home Minister, Gulzari Lal Nanda, who was forced to resign taking responsibility for the administrative failure to maintain law and order.
The Shankaracharya of Govardhan Math Puri, Shri Niranjan Dev Tirtha, Swami Hariharananda widely known as Karpatri Maharaj and Mahatma Ramchandra Veer went on observing a fast unto death for the brutal massacre of the Hindu saints and devotees in Delhi. Mahatma Ramchandra Veer observed the longest 166 day fast. The next Home Minister Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan (YB Chavan), a puppet of Indira Gandhi from the 14th of November 1966 to the 27th of June 1970, went to the fasting saints and promised to bring an anti-cow slaughter bill in the next session of the Parliament and the Hindu saints ended their fasting. But the anti Hindu Congress as usual never kept their promise.
Indira Gandhi was killed by exactly similar brutal firing by her bodyguards in the year, 1984. The day she was killed was also the day of Gopashtami on the 31st of October, 1984.
Today, 20th November, 2023, is also Gopal Ashtami
Originally written by: Debal Dev Basu
Published by: Kuldeep Kumar Bhatt

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