Mamata appeals for peace, warns of ‘another round’ of violence on April 6

“Why will the processions continue for five days after Ram Navami? Do it on the day of the festival. We have never had any objection. But they cannot do rallies with guns and bombs, or without necessary permissions from the police,” Mamata Banerjee said at a public distribution programme in Khejuri in Purba Medinipur district on Monday, hours after clashes broke out in the Rishra area of Hooghly district during a Ram Navami procession in which BJP leaders were present.

Since last Thursday evening, clashes have rocked several parts of the state. Clashes first broke out in Howrah’s Shibpur area, followed by similar clashes in Uttar Dinajpur districts.

On Monday around 10 pm, two groups of people clashed near a railway gate in Rishra and pelted stones at trains, leading to disruption in train services on Howrah-Burdwan railway line. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse people. “Both local as well as express train services were stopped considering the safety of passengers,” Chief Public Relations Officer (Eastern Railway) Koushik Mitra said.

Police sources said that crude bombs were also hurled and two police vans were set on fire near the railway crossing.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister hit out at the organisers of Thursday’s Ram Navami processions in Rishra for “changing the planned route” for their Ram Navami processions. “Why did they change the route and take the unauthorised route to particularly attack one community? If they believe that they will attack others and receive relief through legal interventions, they must know that the people will reject them one day,” she said without naming the BJP.

She also warned of the possibility of more violence on April 6 – Hanuman Jayanti. “On April 6, they are planning to do another round of violence. I have asked the district magistrates and police to be alert. Not just West Bengal, they have created this scenario throughout the country,” she alleged.

Appealing for peace, the CM urged Hindus to ensure that there is no violence in the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. “During the holy month of Ramzan, they [goons] are setting fire to food carts of poor vendors and dancing with guns… I appeal to my Hindu brothers to make sure that no violence takes place against minorities during Ramzan. No one wants these cases of atrocities and violence. I tell the people of Bengal to have faith in their Didi. Give me 1% of your dedication, and I will give you 100% of my life. Didir Suraksha Kawach is people’s safety net, it will protect all citizens of Bengal,” she said.

The BJP, meanwhile, accused the chief minister of “engineering” the recent spate of violence in the state and demanded her resignation.

Addressing a press conference with three other MPs of her party, Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee sought the Centre’s intervention and demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the violence. “The incidents of violence that have taken place in West Bengal since Ram Navami are the result of a pre-planned conspiracy hatched by Mamata Banerjee to divert public attention from the issue of corruption under her government and to consolidate Muslim votes in her favour with eyes on upcoming polls,” Chatterjee alleged.

“We are demanding an NIA probe because we know they (state police) are not going to investigate the cases properly. The entire police administration is Mamata’s cadre,” she added.

While the country is progressing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal under the TMC rule is witnessing a situation like “old Kashmir” where people raise the Pakistani flag and pelt stones, she alleged.

Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar said West Bengal can be saved only by the imposition of the President’s Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution.

BJP workers also staged a protest in Kolkata against the Mamata Banerjee government over the violence in Rishira.

BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, who took part in Sunday’s Ram Navami procession in Rishra, said, “Now, Bengal has become like Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The government can’t manage law and order and they are passing the blame onto others. The situation is going out of control.”

On the chief minister’s remark that there could be a possibility of more violence on April 6, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said the TMC chief was making the statements after her party’s loss in the Sagardighi by-election, in which, he claimed, both Hindus and Muslims turned away from her party. “She is also providing a prior excuse so that if something goes wrong on April 6, she will be able to blame the BJP. This is a good ploy of Mamata Banerjee to cover up the wrongdoings of her party colleagues,” PTI quoted Rahul Sinha, as saying.

Countering the allegations, TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the BJP leaders were “provoking people”. “This is nothing but a staged drama by the BJP. The party’s state unit president, Sukanta Majumdar, has been given the task to create tension in the state… Some BJP leaders are provoking people so that the situation gets worse. We strongly condemn this kind of politics,” said Ghosh.