BJP calls for 12-hour bandh on Wednesday

ENS | Kolkata | September 23, 2018 : The BJP has called a 12-hour shutdown in the state on Wednesday to protest the killing of two men in a clash with police in North Dinajpur district.

“We have called for a 12-hour bandh on September 26 to protest against the inhumane killing of two students in Islampur by the police. When students ask for teachers, trigger-happy police fired on them, killing two. We want justice to prevail,” said Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president.

The people of Islampur and the entire state are “fed up with the misrule of TMC in Bengal” and the shutdown will be “an expression of people’s anger against the anti-people government”, BJP leader Pratap Banerjee said. “Initially, we had planned a ‘Nabanno abhiyan’ but after the fresh violence in Islampur, we decided to call a bandh,” he added.

Reacting to the bandh call, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is now in Italy, Saturday blamed RSS and BJP for the incident. “There will be no bandh. I will ask my officials to ensure there is no shutdown,” she said.

She also came out in support of providing Urdu teachers to Daribhit school in Islampur, where the clash between protesters and police claimed the lives of two men. She said the state government had provided the school with the Urdu teacher because there was a requisition from the school authority. “It’s not the decision of the government but the decision of the school committee or the school governing body.

She also alleged that the BJP was trying to create a communal disturbance in the state during Muharram. “The BJP and the RSS are responsible for the deaths in Islampur. If there is no problem when a Sanskrit or English teacher is appointed, then what is the problem over an Urdu teacher? They only think on communal lines. The BJP has been trying to create a problem in the area since September 18… They had planned to create a riot-like situation on the occasion of Muharram,” she said.

She also slammed the BJP and RSS for “doing lynching politics”. “As per police reports, they didn’t fire bullets. Who all had brought in people with faces covered? This is lynching politics (of the BJP),” she said during the interaction in Milan aired by local television channels.

“Whenever I am in Delhi or outside Kolkata, they (BJP) create a problem in the state. It is their old habit to play with people’s life. They are doing it to distract people’s attention from Rafale scam and rising fuel prices. Whichever BJP or RSS leaders are involved in this incident should be arrested and if the police are at fault, a proper probe will be initiated,” she added.

Meanwhile, the RSS has sought an apology from Education Minister Partha Chatterjee for accusing its leaders of creating the violence. “Education Minister Partha Chatterjee should explain on what basis he is making such an allegation failing which he has to extended an unconditional apology,” said Jishnu Basu, general secretary of RSS in south Bengal.

On Saturday, too, the area remained tense as villagers staged a blockade. The family members of Rajesh Sarkar and Tapan Burman, who died of bullet injuries in Islampur, have refused to perform the last rites of the deceased until a CBI probe is initiated. They have instead buried the bodies to enable the agency to exhume and re-examine them.