The BJP has called for a 12-hour bandh across the state on 28 August and its state head led a protest march to Lalbazar police headquarters.
Published Aug 27, 2024 | 10:31 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 28, 2024 | 9:39 AM
Protest over Kolkata doctor's rape and muder (X)
The high-octane ‘apolitical’ protest march to the West Bengal state secretariat on the afternoon of Tuesday, 27 August, convened by Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj, demanding chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation in the backdrop of a trainee doctor’s rape and murder in a state-run hospital in Kolkata took front seat in Bengal politics, over the issue of alleged police ‘high handedness’ using water cannons and teas gas shells.
The BJP, the principal opposition in the state, has called for a 12-hour bandh across the state on 28 August and its state head led a protest march to Lalbazar police headquarters.
The saffron camp did not miss the opportunity to use Bengali sentiment as its political tool. State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, “It is two non-Bengali police officers Vineet Goyal (Police Commissioner) and Rajeev Kumar (DGP) who ordered to rain batons on Bengali protesters.” Majumdar also staged a sit-in-demonstration in front of the police headquarters.
The Left Front, Bengal’s erstwhile ruler, raised its voice against the RG Kar Medical College incident but its students’ arm SFI and youth wing DYFI did not participate in today’s protest march after it came to know that RSS activists and supporters of BJP’s student-arm ABVP would be in the crowd.
The call for the protest march was circulated on social media platforms over the past week and the state police made heavy preparedness considering the response to the march. Hours before the protesters were scheduled to hit the streets in Kolkata and Howrah on the other side of the Hooghly River, where the state secretariat Nabanna is located, additional DGP (south Bengal) Supratim Sarkar urged the people of Bengal not to “fall into the rally trap in the guise of protests.”
“The case is being probed by the CBI and we are also waiting for justice. But in the name of organising the protest, a group of hooligans will try to create unrest. We urge the students and people not to fall into this trap,” said Sarkar on 17 August.
He, however, displayed a video footage showing one of the conveners of the protest march entering a five-star hotel in Kolkata. “He went there to meet someone with political influence. We are not disclosing the name of the influential person as the purpose of the meeting is under investigation,” said Sarkar.
Shortly after, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, claimed that the Tuesday rally was nothing other than a conspiracy. He also showed two video clips in which, two people were seen saying “nothing will change if there is no casualty in the clash between protesters and the police during the protest march.”
Describing the rally as a BJP’s conspiracy to do politics involving dead bodies, Ghosh said, “They don’t want justice for the victim, they wanted dead bodies in today’s rally. But their intention proved futile because of the restraint shown by the police.”
In the afternoon, rally participants started walking towards the barricades put up by police on thoroughfares in Kolkata and Howrah, which leads to the state secretariat. As the protesters crashed the barricades, men in uniform started using force. First, they resorted to lathi charge and soon, started using tear-gas shells and engaged water-canons. The protesters dispersed but two police motorcycles were set ablaze and 15 men in uniform sustained injuries in stone pelting.
As the news of police action spread, the BJP stepped in. Party’s state president Sukanta Majumdar led a rally and staged a sit-in-demonstration in front of the police headquarters. He announced the party’s decision to call for a 12-hour bandh across the state on 28 August. He also said the party would move court on Wednesday seeking permission for an indefinite protest, till the demands – justice for the deceased trainee doctor and resignation of the chief minister – are met.
The BJP announced medical camp for the protesters who received injuries during alleged police highhandedness. TMC leaders are expecting a strong message from chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the dais of the annual meeting of the party’s students’ wing scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
The CPI(M) did not participate in the protest march as the party feet that the event was nothing other than a well-designed political move of the BJP to mislead the people who have become vocal against the malfunctioning of the state administration. “The rally was scripted to strengthen the politics of polarization in Bengal. People’s protest will continue and Left Front will be beside them,” said CPI(M)’s state secretary Mohammad Salim. He also warned the people of the state about BJP’s call for 12-hour bandh. “They BJP may try to create a division among the protesters by calling this bandh,” he said.
(Edited by Neena)
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