STORY A HOAX?

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 20 January 1938, Page 2

STORY A HOAX?

BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA

Received Januarv 19, 12.10 p.m. CALCUTTA, Jan. 18

The latest instance of the Indian Nationalist movement to remove historical British monuments, including a statue of Lord John Lawrence, who was famous in the Mutiny days, from the public squares in Lahore, is newspaper agitation for the removal of the monument commemorating the Black Hole of Calcutta tragedy of 1756, which Zepnanian Holwell, oiie of tile 23 survivors, first erected over the unfinished trench into which the bodies of the 123 dead were thrown. Mr Holwell’s memorial was removed in 1821, but Lord Curzon, at his own expense, in 1902 erected a replica in white marble on the same spot, within 20 yards of the site of the Black Hole which is still- preserved and not built upon. Lord Curzou wrote a lengthy in scription, including the names of the dead.

An extremist newspaper now revives the former allegation that the Black Hole story was a gigantic hoax and a colossal lie, rendering the monument a standing insult to the Bengalese.

The subject will shortly be raised in the Bengal Assembly.

The Black Hole of Calcutta was a dungeon at Port William. Calcutta. In it on June 20, 1756, after the surrender of the fort to Suraj-ud-Dowlah, 146 prisoners were confined. The dungeon was 22ft square, and during the night the victims suffered from lack of ventilation and fought for air at the two small windows. Tn the morning onlv 23 were alive. Lord Lawrence was a British administrator and served during the Mutiny. as LieutenantGovernor of the Punjab. He raised an army of 50,000 Sikhs and was instrumental in capturing Delhi. For his services lie was made n baronet in IPSS and pensioned. In 1864 he returned to India as Governor-General, a post lie retained for five years, being made a neer on his retirement. He died in 1879.