Jinnah had said on August 16, 1946 "Direct Action Day" for the purpose of winning the separate Muslim state of Pakistan %u201C We shall have India divided or we shall have India destroyed%u201D. In April 1946, the ministry in Bengal was headed by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Suhrawardy heeded Jinnah's call for "Direct Action Day" in August, and demanded a "public holiday", claiming that even the police would "take the day off". Muslims in Calcutta took that to indicate that they were free to riot. The absence of the police during the riots in Calcutta during "Direct Action Day". The Muslim League Chief Minister, Suhrawardy in his address reportedly assured the audience that the military and police had been 'restrained' in the rally. This was interpreted by the gathering as an open invitation to commit violence on the Hindus.Subsequently, there were reports of lorries (trucks) that came thundering down Harrison Road in Calcutta, carrying Muslim men armed with brickbats and bottles as weapons and attacking Hindu shops.Official estimate put the casualties at 4,000 dead and 100,000 injured.Other sources put the death toll at 6,000 most of the victims were Hindus.Once the riots began the Chief Minister, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, accompanied by his political aids, spent considerable time in the Police Control Room to shield Muslims from "police operations" while Muslims executed the riots.
