8-foot sticks and mayhem foretold

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee leads a road show in Calcutta on Wednesday to protest the destruction of the bust of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar at Vidyasagar College on Tuesday during BJP president Amit Shah's road show.

TT, 16 May 2019, Calcutta: Mamata walked around 7km from Beleghata to Shyambazar, drawing a huge crowd. Banners that read "Chhi, chhi (shame, shame)" were seen all along the route and several people sported placards with images of Vidyasagar. 

Slogans such as "Amit Shah dekhe ja (Amit Shah, come and see)" filled the air as the road show advanced. 

GUESS THE EMINENT SON MODI OMITTED 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed two rallies in Bengal on Wednesday, mentioned "eminent sons of Bengal", specifically naming Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Rishi Aurobindo and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Modi omitted Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, whose bust had been vandalised less than 24 hours earlier. "Modibabu ki ekbaro dukkhoprokash korechhen (Did Modibabu express regret even once)?" chief minister Mamata Banerjee later said. 

ON VIDEO: BRING EIGHT-FOOT STICKS 

A video message has emerged, showing a controversial BJP leader purportedly telling his supporters to create "jhamela-jhanjhat (mayhem) at any cost" during BJP president Amit Shah's Calcutta road show. The image resembling Rakesh Singh (in screenshot from the video) adds: "We need to fight the police and TMC goons with eight-foot sticks." On Wednesday, Singh acknowledged he had sent out the video message but claimed that its audio had been "doctored".

A state BJP muscleman had urged cadre over WhatsApp to create "jhamelajhanjhat (mayhem) at any cost" during BJP president Amit Shah's Calcutta road show, a video circulating on social media since Tuesday's violence purportedly shows. "All members of our Phataphati (WhatsApp) group, kal aplogon ko jhamela kharidke bhi karna hai toh karna hai (you have to create a ruckus tomorrow at any cost)," Rakesh Singh, 48, appears to say in the video, posted on Monday. 

At a rally on Wednesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee played the video, which goes on to say: "Amit Shah has a programme, a road show tomorrow. You (Phataphati group members) have to play the lead role there. We need to fight the police and TMC (Trinamul Congress) goons with eight-foot sticks." Singh purportedly adds: "All members of Phataphati know why you are in the group…. Those who fail to show up will be thrown outMamata said the 53-second video was proof that the violence during Shah's programme, during which a bust of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was smashed at Vidyasagar College, had been planned in advance. The BJP has claimed provocation by Trinamul while denying its supporters damaged the bust.

"This is a criminal conspiracy. We have all the evidence. I personally have it. Let me show you," Mamata told an Agarpara rally, placing her cellphone close to the mike and playing the video.

Singh issued a "clarification" in the afternoon, apparently under pressure from the state BJP headquarters, acknowledging he had sent out the video message but claiming that its audio had been "doctored".

"Yes, there is such a WhatsApp group; it's an organisational matter. I did put out such a video…. I was merely talking about the sticks to attach our flags to…. I was not trying to incite violence," he said. "When I show you the original video, you will see that what I had said has been doctoredTill late evening, he had not shared the promised "original" video.

Singh, a Watgunge resident, had previously been with the RJD, CPM and the Congress before joining the BJP in March. During his Congress days, he was arrested for vandalism at the Quest Mall and CMRI Hospitals, where he had allegedly attacked a police sub-inspector.

His poll affidavit, filed when he unsuccessfully contested the 2016 Assembly elections from the Calcutta Port constituency as the Congress candidate, listed 24 criminal cases against him, including three attempt-to-murder cases. The other charges ranged from rioting with deadly weapons, molestation and extortion to intimidation, assault and theft..