Lagatar24 Desk
Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a 12-hour strike across West Bengal tomorrow in response to the police crackdown on a protest march to the state secretariat, Nabanna, which was organized in the wake of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The march was met with strong resistance from the police, leading to clashes.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar announced the strike, stating, “We are compelled to call for a general strike as this autocratic regime is ignoring the voices of the people and the demand for justice for our deceased sister. Instead of delivering justice, Mamata Banerjee’s police are attacking the peace-loving citizens of this state, who are merely seeking a safe and secure environment for women.”
The protest, which began at College Square, saw a large group of demonstrators marching towards Nabanna, raising slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the brutal crime. As the protesters approached the state secretariat, riot police intervened, using teargas, water cannons, and batons to disperse the crowd. Some protesters were seen retaliating by throwing stones at the police.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had earlier accused the BJP of orchestrating the protest to incite violence and create unrest. In anticipation of the march, Kolkata Police turned Nabanna into a virtual fortress, deploying approximately 6,000 officers, along with drones for surveillance, and welding barricades to the ground to prevent the protesters from breaching security.
Despite the TMC’s allegations of a BJP-backed protest, the organizers have maintained that the march was planned by student organizations and citizen forums, with many participants belonging to unregistered groups. Most prominent student organizations, including those affiliated with political parties, distanced themselves from the protest.
Adding to the tension, Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, reported that four student activists involved in the protest had gone missing after midnight. “The students who were distributing food to volunteers arriving at Howrah Station suddenly disappeared. Their phones are unreachable, and we suspect they may have been detained by Mamata Banerjee’s police,” Adhikari said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In response, Bengal Police claimed that the students were arrested for planning large-scale violence during the march and were allegedly involved in a conspiracy of murder and attempted murder. The police assured that the families of the arrested students had been informed.
One of the organizers, Shubankar Halder, clarified that although he was once associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), he is no longer linked to the organization. Halder emphasized that the protest was apolitical and driven by the demand for justice.
However, the TMC has dismissed these claims, with State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya accusing the BJP and ABVP of plotting to create chaos under the guise of a student protest. “This is a BJP-ABVP ploy to incite violence. They are engaging in vulture politics,” Bhattacharya stated.
To support their accusations, the TMC released two videos alleging that the protest was part of a larger conspiracy to incite unrest. The authenticity of the videos has not been independently verified, but the TMC claims they show men discussing the need for violence to turn the tide in the BJP’s favor.
