12-hour Bengal bandh call to aid pledge, BJP lets its mask fall

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief adviser to the chief minister, held a news conference at Nabanna in the evening and said the shutdown call was “illegal as per high court orders”

The Howrah Bridge wears a deserted look on Tuesday morning after being barricaded from both sides to thwart the march to Nabanna. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Snehamoy Chakraborty, TT, Calcutta, 28.08.24 :  State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar has called for a 12-hour Bengal bandh on Wednesday to protest the alleged police brutality on “peaceful protesters” during Tuesday’s march to Nabanna.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has pledged legal and medical help to those arrested or injured during the programme, held to demand chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation over the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital.

But these announcements from the top two leaders of the Bengal BJP were not the only indicators that the march to the state secretariat, which its organisers had touted as a non-political, student-led movement, had a definite saffron imprint.

Several BJP leaders led scores of protesters from their district bastions to Calcutta to join in the march although each gave a private reason for their participation.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief adviser to the chief minister, held a news conference at Nabanna in the evening and said the shutdown call was “illegal as per high court orders”.

Protesters near the barricades on Tuesday.  : Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Majumdar told a news conference at the party’s state headquarters: “The BJP calls for a 12-hour Bengal bandh between 6am and 6pm to protest the brutal attacks and assaults on the Chhatra Samaj.”

“We urge the common people across party lines to participate in the general strike to protest the barbarity against the peaceful protesters.”

Majumdar announced a helpline number to provide legal and medical aid to those injured or arrested during the march. He later sat on dharna near the Lalbazar police headquarters along with party supporters, demanding the unconditional release of the protesters arrested during the march.

Trinamul seized on the BJP’s words and actions to claim vindication for its allegation that the saffron camp had masterminded the march while using the Chhatra Samaj — which seemed to have suddenly sprouted into existence — as a façade.

“In the name of students, a group of non-students and mischief-makers attempted to create anarchy.... We have been saying this from the beginning,” Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

“They wanted to provoke the police, but the police were not provoked and handled the situation wisely.”

The protest programme’s saffron connection had already become clear by Monday when one of the three “Facebook friends” who had called for the Nabanna march conceded his RSS loyalties at a news conference.

A second member of the trio, facing questions from the media, ended up admitting that he had been associated with Trinamool in his college days but later joined the BJP.

Although the organisers had argued their association with the BJP-RSS did not necessarily prove that the programme was saffron-tinted — a line echoed by Majumdar — reports said several BJP leaders were spotted at various railway stations, escorting protesters to Calcutta, early on Tuesday morning.

Madhusudan Bag and Biswanath Karak, BJP MLAs from the Hooghly constituencies of Arambagh and Goghat, respectively, took local trains to Calcutta from Arambagh railway station, accompanied by armies of protesters.

Hooghly district BJP leader Rajib Nag was seen leading another group of protesters that headed to Calcutta from Hooghly railway station.

Questioned by reporters, Bag said he had joined the march in his capacity as a schoolteacher. Some other BJP leaders said they were participating in their individual capacity.

“Our local leaders from various districts like Hooghly, Howrah, East Midnapore, Birbhum and North and South 24-Parganas brought people to Calcutta for the rally,” a BJP source acknowledged.

Majumdar, however, denied any BJP involvement in organising the march or bringing in protesters.

The BJP’s plan to use the march to build a larger movement against Mamata was reflected in Adhikari’s renewed call for the chief minister’s resignation and the imposition of President’s rule in the state.

“A total of 133 people were injured in today’s peaceful protests, including 17 women. Eleven people were admitted to a private hospital, and 82 received primary treatment,” the Nandigram MLA said.

The Bengal BJP has several programmes lined up for the next few days, including an indefinite dharna at Esplanade for which it has approached the high court for permission.

“If the court gives permission tomorrow (Wednesday), we shall start the dharna from August 29 (Thursday),” a party source said.

The BJP’s Mahila Morcha plans to lock the office of the state women’s commission on Friday.

On September 4, the party’s rank and file will gherao the offices of district magistrates across Bengal. On September 6, the party will block roads for two hours from noon at each of the state’s 341 blocks.