Journalism of Courage
West Bengal BJP’s “March to Nabanna” (state secretariat) organised by the Yuva Morcha took a violent turn on Thursday after party workers hurled bombs and bricks at the policemen in Kolkata and the adjoining Howrah district. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
The police, in return, resorted to water cannons and fired tear gas shells, besides lathicharging the workers, to disperse the crowd. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
Several BJP workers, including state vice-president Raju Banerjee, were injured in the clash. Party workers also set tyres on fire as a mark of protest. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
Leaders like Arjun Singh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Locket Chatterjee and Mukul Roy were among those present on the spot. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
With a seven-point charter of demands, including the deterioration of law and order situation, the youth wing of the party had organised a march to Nabanna from four areas today. Newly-appointed BJYM president Tejasvi Surya also joined the protest at Howrah Maidan. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
“The police are using their force to stop our workers who were organising a peaceful protest. This is the state of affairs in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal,” BJP MP Arjun Singh said. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
Citing the pandemic, the West Bengal government had denied permission to the party for any major gathering and only granted permission for peaceful and democratic rallies within “permissible parameters” of only 100 people. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
The government also announced that Nabanna will be shut for two days from October 8 “for sanitisation purpose”. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
“Party workers hurled bombs at policemen and rained bricks and stones. We had to ensure law and order is maintained,” a senior officer of Howrah Police said. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
