Birbhum killings leave Left-leaning figures ‘stunned’

Members of Bengal’s culture clan issue a statement on Wednesday condemning the carnage

The charred house where seven dead bodies were found on Tuesday morning. : File Picture

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   24.03.22  :  Members of Bengal’s culture clan who are known for their association with Left politics issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the carnage in Birbhum district.

The statement bears signature of 32 eminent figures, including filmmaker Tarun Majumdar, academic Pabitra Sarkar, film directors Anik Dutta and Kamleswar Mukherjee, thespians Chandan Sen and Debdut Ghosh and actors Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Rahul Arunoday Banerjee, Paran Bandopadhyay, Badshah Maitra, Srilekha Mitra, Jitu Kamal and Manasi Sinha.

“We are stunned by the horrific incident of mass murder at Bogtui village in Birbhum’s Rampurhat. We have no words to condemn the unimaginable lawlessness. We demand immediate arrest of the culprits and exemplary punishment for them. We condemn the political angle in this mass murder that has been reported in the mass media. This politics of genocide must stop immediately,” the statement read.

Several other members of Bengal’s intelligentsia who had opposed the Left Front government during Nandigram and Singur land movements also condemned the massacre at Bogtui.

Novelist Shirshendu Mukherjee said he had no words to condemn this incident. “What can be more heartbreaking and saddening than this?” the veteran author questioned.

“But the problem is that the culprit will probably be arrested. But that will not bring the dead back. Most important thing is to stop this tendency to kill people,” he added.

Echoing Mukherjee, thespian Manoj Mitra said it was unimaginable that such an atmosphere of fear could be created. “The administration’s role must be stronger. I don’t understand how everything changed so soon. An instance should be set before the people of West Bengal,” Mitra said.

Actor-director Aparna Sen also said if the incident was actually a retaliation against the murder of the deputy chief of the local panchayat then it has to be termed barbaric.

“I would also condemn if the investigation is delayed and finally nothing comes out of it,” she added.

Students of Presidency University and Aliah University also hit the streets on Wednesday condemning the killing.

Walking with a banner that blamed the Trinamul Congress for the Bogtui massacre, the students of Presidency University decried the ruling party for perpetrating the killings of innocent villagers.

The Left-leaning Students Against Fascism has given a call for a citizen’s march in Calcutta on Friday against the Bogtui carnage.

“To condemn the heinous massacre of innocent women and children in Bogtui we have given a call for the Friday march and hope people will join us in condemning the terror activities of the ruling party,” said SFI national general secretary Mayukh Biswas.