A number of historic parallels have been pointed out between the current Covid 19 epidemic in Bombay and the Bombay plague of 1896 and 1897 (the third wave of the bubonic plague epidemic) . This plague inevitably spilled over to neighbouring Pune which was soon overwhelmed by the epidemic. A Special Plague Committee chaired by Walter C Rand, an ICS officer, was appointed to take care of epidemic measures, quarantine and containment. While the committee was directed that plague measures should be implemented with sensitivity to the population, respect for women, and regard for property, the implementation was handed over to the British military which did not follow any of these injunctions. Stories from those days (reported by Gopala Krishna Gokhale, no less) speak of stripping of women, throwing of idols in devghars (corners of worship in private houses), and manhandling of men, women and children, including sick folk. Rasta Peth, an ancient locality of Pune, (still a prominent locality), was a particular target. Tales of rape by British soldiers went around.
Enraged by these stories the Chaphekar brothers (some say Chapekar, after Chape near Pune), Damodar Hari, Balakrishna Hari, Vasudeo Hari decided to avenge these atrocities by assassinating Rand, the plague commissioner of Pune. They formed a group that decided that the
Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria held at the Government House (now the Main Building of Pune University), on 22nd June 1897, was the occasion they would use, since Rand was sure to attend the celebrations. Rand and his military escort Lt. Ayers, in separate carriages, were returning from the celebrations and his nemesis was waiting on what is now called the University Road. Their look out gave a call as the carriages went by. Damodar shot the occupant the first carriage, Rand himself and Balakrishna shot the occupant of the second one, i.e. Ayerst (some accounts interchange who shot whom!). Ayerst died on the spot, Rand, a few days later on 3rd July.
Damodar and Balakrishna were arrested, though Balakrishna escaped later. Two members of the group, the Dravida brothers turned police informants, but were shot by the third brother Vasudeo near a temple locally called the Khunya (murderous) Muralidhar temple.
All three brothers were eventually caught, tried, sentenced to death and hanged. Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote articles in his newspaper Kesari, defending the brothers, and was charged with sedition due to the articles. There was an outpouring of public sentiment for the brothers, who were, and still are hailed as revolutionaries. A statue to them stands on the road, near the place where they shot Rand.
A postage stamp commemorates Damodar Chaphekar.
As of yesterday, there are Riot Police in Bhavani Peth, another old area of Pune, as well as in Sahakar Nagar. In independent India, there can be no repeat of such incidents, we trust. Administrations are now far more sensitive to people, and people are far more aware and informed about what they should follow. It is, however, instructive to note that epidemics are still the same. The Kermack and McCormick model (1927), which is an SIR model (susceptible, infected, recovered) fits the plague data (1905) and current models of Covid 19 have similar basic equations. Current day containment measures are exactly the same as the old ones, as pointed out in the link above, as the layouts of cities haven't changed. We hope the current crisis will lead to better ways of laying out cities and prevention and treatment of disease.
This blog post is by Neelima Gupte and Sumathi Rao.
Tailpiece1: The Rand assasination has contributed to one of Pune's many ghost stories. It is said that if you stand on University Road near the place where Rand was shot, you can hear horse drawn carriages go by at midnight. Our personal attempts at verification of this story have failed miserably.
Tailpiece2: The Khunya Muralidhar temple is called so, not for this murder. It has an even bloodier past. Did you think Pune was a peaceful place?
Tailpiece3: A relative of the Chaphekars has pointed out that the incidents here took place around 50 years after Pune went from Maratha rule to British rule. The anger still simmered.
