Kolkata: Heavy stone-pelting took place at Howrah’s Shibpur for the second consecutive day Friday, triggering a full-blown confrontation between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Ram Navami violence.
In a related development, the BJP’s West Bengal unit moved the Calcutta High Court seeking an NIA (National Investigation Agency) probe into the clashes. The matter is likely to be heard on Monday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah dialled West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and took stock of the law and order situation in Howrah. A report was sought from the Raj Bhavan with regards to the violence at the earliest. Shah also spoke with BJP’s West Bengal chief Sukanta Majumdar.
Bose later discussed the Howrah violence with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “Close on the heels of this, the home secretary called on the governor and assured compliance. Governor called for a compliance report,” the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.
The chain of violence began Thursday when a Ram Navami procession turned violent in the evening. A mob had burned vehicles, pelted stones and damaged shops following which Section 144 of the CRPC was imposed by the administration.
Despite additional forces and Rapid Action Force on ground, mobs were seen targeting police and media personnel Friday. Police conducted a route march to instill confidence among the people. Shops remained closed on GT Road, which saw violence a day before.
The Howrah City Police arrested at least 38 miscreants for the Ram Navami clashes while more were being identified through CCTV cameras and social media videos. At least six police persons were injured on duty.
As tension prevailed on the ground, the top brass of the BJP and the TMC clashed on social media over the turn of events in the last two days.
BJP’s I-T cell head Amit Malviya took to Twitter and claimed the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had the requisite permission to lead a procession in Howrah.
VHP had all the permissions for taking out the Ramanavami Shobha Yatra from BE College to Ramkrishnapur Ghat. They were on the approved route. Mamata Banerjee lied when she said the route had been changed. She prejudiced the investigation and law enforcement agencies. Shameful… pic.twitter.com/3dhzZHuH19
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 31, 2023
In a series of tweets, the BJP communications chief blamed the chief minister, who holds the portfolio of home department, for the situation in Howrah.
Addressing a news conference, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed that permission was not given to carry out a procession.
“A letter seeking permission was submitted on March 24, a response from Howrah Police was sent on March 28. They (VHP) were asked to submit previous year’s permission copy, exact number of participants, route of rally and exact time of starting and ending the rally. They didn’t submit any reply. Without permission and administrative approval, the rally was illegal. The government will take action,” he said, citing a letter from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, South Division, Howrah.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is monitoring the situation, said action would be initiated if there was any lapse on the part of the police. “Nobody stopped their procession, but they do not have the right to march with swords. How did they get this audacity?” she asserted.
BJP’s Bengal chief Sukanta Majumdar wrote to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking deployment of central forces and an NIA probe.
“After the loss of a minority-dominated Sagardighi Assembly seat, which came as a shocker to the ruling party, we believe that a conspiracy was hatched using Ram Navami to only get back the minority votes by indulging in communal politics. It is my request to order an impartial inquiry involving Central agencies like NIA to actually nab the culprits,” reads the letter accessed by ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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