Connection with Gandhiji 
Gandhiji moved on foot in ??? villages of Noakhali and Tippera districts after grave atrocities were inflicted upon the local Hindu population.

Background
• Gandhiji visited Noakhali for the first time on May 14, 1925, during his tour of Bengal. He was felicitated by local Muslims. He addressed a couple of meetings there.
• But the situation was drastically different when he went to the villages of Noakhali in 1946-1947. Gandhiji came to know about Noakhali violence and mentioned it in his speech at a prayer meeting in Delhi on October 15.
• In the prayer meeting of October 20, he said whilst he did not believe that he had any such capacity, he was anxious to go to Bengal…His heart was in Bengal
• He decided to leave for Calcutta on October 28 and from there to Noakhali even when he was 77, in poor health and it was a difficult journey. He said at a prayer meeting on October 27, ‘one had to do its duty and trust in God to make the way smooth. It was not that God necessarily and always removed hardships from one’s path, but he always enabled one to bear them.’
• When the Premier of Bengal H.S. Suharawardy made special arrangements for the journey of Gandhiji and his associates to Noakhali, Gandhiji refused to accept the facilities and wrote him that those arrangements were for the big people.
• Gandhiji left for Noakhali on November 6. In a speech en route at Goalundo, Gandhiji said he was going to Noakhali to console the victims of the riots and to wipe the tears of the oppressed.

The Peace Mission 
• Gandhiji reached Chaumuhani on November 7, 1946. He stayed there and in the nearby village Dattapara till November 14.
• In a letter to Kakasaheb Kalelkar on November 12, Gandhiji wrote ‘If this conflagration does not subside, I am certain that I shall be consumed by it…I shall be touring the surrounding villages here.’
• In the early morning of November 13, Gandhiji told members of his party, including the ladies, ‘to settle down in one affected village making himself or herself hostage for the safety and security of the Hindu minority of that village. They must be pledged to protect with their lives, if necessary, the Hindu population of that village. His decision was not binding on anyone. Those who wanted were free to go away and take up other activities.
• Gandhiji with his associates began his barefoot journey with a bamboo stick in hand from Srirampur village on January 2, 1947, and reached Chandipur, a village three miles away.
• The peace march ended on March 1 at Hemchar and Gandhiji engaged himself in a peace mission in communal violence-torn Bihar from March 5, 1947.
• As his lifelong dream of Hindu-Muslim unity was shattered, Gandhiji took this peace mission as a ‘do or die’ battle of non-violence. It tested his physical and mental strength. Surrounded by darkness all around, Gandhiji put up such a valiant effort that it remains one of the greatest and inspiring chapters of his life.

Site Address/Contact Details
Gandhi Ashram Trust
P.O, Gandhi Rd,
Joyag 3844,
Bangladesh
Phone: +880 17114 08226

Additional Details
• The Lonely Pilgrim by Manubehn Gandhi
• Relevant chapters from The Last Phase by Pyarelal
• My Days With Gandhi by Nirmal Kumar Bose