Malda: Post violence, cops of Kaliachak police station transferred

Earlier on Sunday, a massive protest rally against Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari for his alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammed had turned violent in Malda, leading to arson and gunfire in which two persons reportedly sustained bullet injuries. The protesters set on fire about two dozen vehicles and attacked the Kaliachak police station.

Following the incident, the district administration has called an all-party meeting on January 9 in the area. “An all-party meeting will be held at the Vigyan Manch auditorium. Representatives of our party, Congress and CPM are expected to attend it along with several religious leaders,” said Moazzem Hossain, Trinamool Congress president of Malda.

Meanwhile, accusing the Trinamool and BJP of supplementing each other in politics, CPM on Thursday said that the current dispensation has failed to curb communal incidents in the state.

“The recent Kaliachak incident has shown that the state government has completely failed to control communal incidents and overtones. During our regime, West Bengal was known as a pilgrimage of secularism. But now, under TMC rule, everything has changed,” Leader of Opposition and CPM state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said.

Lashing out at the administration for “complete lawlessness” in the state, he added: “The Kaliachak incident itself proves complete lawlessness in the state. The law and order mechanism has completely broken down. The state government didn’t take any concrete steps to avert the situation.”

He alleged that police administration was harassing common people to cover up the incident. The VHP, too, accused the state government of not taking any action against those behind the Malda violence, for which it blamed local Trinamool leaders.

Claiming that a ‘Jan Andolan’ will be launched to force the administration to act against the culprits, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said: “Due to its appeasement policy, the West Bengal government is not taking action and is unable to accept the challenge posed by jihadis. It is a serious issue for the entire country. The Malda incident is a challenge for the country.”