Kolkata protests: Clashes erupt, Governor says beginning of end

“The protest had no party flag. It had the national flag of India. (But) They were attacked with water cannons and lathi charged left right and centre… The national flag and the national sentiment was insulted. What for? For demanding justice for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College… This is a moment of national catharsis. This is the beginning of the end. This should be the beginning of the end. This is a swan song – a goodbye to murder, goodbye to coverups… Stop this murderous game,” the Governor said.

Scuffle breaks out protesters Kolkata police and protesters. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

The rally, dubbed ‘Nabanna Abhijan’, came a day before another massive rally called by the West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum (WBJDF) is set to take place. The doctors have been protesting since a junior doctor’s body was found in a seminar hall at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. In Wednesday’s rally, they intend to push specific demands regarding ensuring the safety of women medical professionals and expediting the investigation into the doctor’s rape-murder.

The BJP has, meanwhile, announced a 12-hour bandh in the state on Wednesday to protest alleged police atrocities against protesters in Tuesday’s ‘Nabanna Abhijan’.

Police said Tuesday’s rally saw “miscreants trying to take law and order into their own hands”.

Supratim Sarkar, ADG South Bengal, said at a press conference: “Police were at the receiving end and faced assault, but did not give in to provocation. For three hours, miscreants tried to take law and order into their own hands. After requests, we eventually had to use force to disperse the mob.”

A senior Kolkata police officer said, “Usually, when political parties call a Nabanna Abhijan, we know from where and how it will come… But this time, unorganised mobs came from different directions, and in waves. So, we struggled to control the protesters. They kept coming back even after we dispersed them.”

Ahead of the Nabanna Abhijan, police in both Kolkata and Howrah had made unprecedented precautionary arrangements.

Barricades reinforced with iron rods were set up on the streets, and in a first, a cargo container was brought in and placed near Hastings – one of the approachways to Nabanna – to stop protesters from reaching the secretariat building. Rapid Action Force personnel and others in riot gear were also deployed.

At around 1 pm, after the march started from different areas in Howrah and Kolkata, where protesters waved the national flag and chanted anti-government slogans, the first clashes with police were reported.

It began at Howrah’s Santragachi area, where protesters broke one of the barricades, after which police resorted to lathi charge. As the situation deteriorated, police also lobbed teargas shells and used water cannons.

Protesters headed to Santragachi railway station and pelted stones at police, leading to clashes in the railway station area and the Kona Expressway.

Similar clashes, leading to lathi charge and the use of teargas shells and water cannons, were also seen at Foreshore Road in Howrah, and near the iconic Howrah Bridge. In Kolkata, such incidents were reported from near Hastings, on the approach way to Vidyasagar Setu (popularly known as Second Hooghly Bridge), and near the Fort William Army base.

The Chhatra Samaj, which called the rally, is a student organisation that cropped up in the past few days demanding West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation over the R G Kar rape-murder case.

The CPI(M) and the Congress had said it would not support the rally, citing “RSS connections” of some of the organisers. The BJP, however, said it backed the protest march.

Several BJP workers were seen taking part in the rally, including former MP Arjun Singh.

Former BJP Assembly candidate Rinku Naskar, who also took part, said, “Our party supported the march, and as a common man, I am supporting the protest of the students. Considering that the administration tried to tamper with evidence in the rape and murder, the Chief Minister should not remain in the chair for another single day.”

Another participant, a 42-year-old woman who did not want to be named, said, “I am coming from Maheshtala, in the Diamond Harbour organisation district of the BJP. We came here to demand justice in the R G Kar case and the resignation of the CM.”

Barun Gupta (40), another protester, said he did not have any political affiliation. He said he was at the protest because “we are not safe in Mamata Banerjee’s regime. Earlier, we used to say Kolkata is the safest city. But now, that is not the case.”

Raju Chatterjee (34) said he was in Delhi when the “Nirbhaya” case happened and had participated in protests, and that he had come to Tuesday’s protest alone. “But I did not know that police could attack peaceful protesters without any provocation here,” he said.

Announcing a bandh on Wednesday, BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumder said at a press conference on Tuesday: “We hereby announce a 12-hour Bangla bandh tomorrow to protest against atrocities committed on peaceful protestors during Nabanna Abhijan… Today, we saw how police lathi charged, lobbed teargas shells and used water cannons on peaceful protestors. It was a spontaneous protest rally with Indian flags. It was not a BJP rally. People from all walks of life participated.”

Wednesday will also see the West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum’s rally from Shyambazar to Dharmatala in Kolkata. On Tuesday’s rally and clashes, the protesting doctors said in a statement, “Whether political or non-political, administrative and police brutality against any protester demanding justice is an insult to the democratic system. Today’s incident is a burning example of that. If today’s police action had been seen on the night of the 14th at the R G Kar campus (a mob had attacked protesters and vandalised the emergency wing of the hospital on the night of August 14), perhaps the emergency at R G Kar would not have turned into this pile of rubble, and would not have caused extreme obstruction to patient services.”