Thursday’s ado over a saffron march to Bengal State secretariat Nabanna culminated into an alleged “counter-offensive” by the Trinamool Congress Government which on Friday slapped a volley of criminal charges against senior BJP leaders holding them guilty of violating National Disaster Management Act, destroying public property and organizing unlawful assembly.
The BJP promptly hit back accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of muzzling opposition voice and converting Bengal into a police state.
FIRs were filed against senior BJP national secretary Kailash Vijaybargiya, national vice president Mukul Roy, MPs Locket Chatterjee, Arjun Singh and Rakesh Singh under the NDMA while other leaders like State BJP vice president JP Majumdar, IPS officer-turned saffron leader Bharati Ghosh and others were charged with causing unlawful assembly.
The police action was summarily challenged by the BJP leadership which not only brought out a silent march on Friday but also played to the Sikh gallery condemning “disturbing” pictures doing the rounds in the social media --- showing how a police constable was pulling at the turban of Balwinder Singh a protester and an accused who was arrested on Thursday with a gun.
“It only shows how insensitive a State Government and its police can become when they do not even think twice before hurting someone’s religious sentiments… the Sikh gentleman --- a body guard of a party leader --- who was illegally arrested with a gun which had a license repeatedly requested not to touch his turban or hair which are sacred for the Sikh community by the policemen would not listen to it… would Mamata Banerjee’s police do the same thing to some other people of a specific minority community (read Muslims),” said BJP leader Sayantan Basu.
The police sources subsequently said that Balwinder Singh who carrying the gun had a license issued in Jammu and was not valid in Bengal.
On Thursday about 25,000 agitators marched at the Nabanna from four directions to protest against “corruption, deterioration of law and order, syndicate raj, police-goon nexus and alleged irregularities in recruitment
examinations.
Things turned violent even as the protesters who were blockaded atvarious points allegedly resorted to throwing brickbats and hurling bombs. The BJP however said the bombs and bricks were pelted from roof tops by the TMC goons. The police subsequently resorted to lathi-charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Even as the police brought criminal charges against the BJP leaders Roy promptly reacted saying “the illegal slapping of the charges only proves how this Government is heavily dependent on the police … historically speaking a State which becomes a police state and a government which has to rely for its survival on the police has a limited life.”
Time had come for the Mamata Banerjee Government to go from power he added saying “the party’s legal cell would look into the legal implications of the charges that has been slapped on us illegally.”
State party president Dilip Ghosh said “the FIRs that have been filed are illegal and would be quashed any way because a political party has every right to organize protest movements in a democracy,” asking “what kind of democracy is there in Bengal where a rally by the Chief Minister is not stopped but a similar rally by the opposition is not only brutally tackled but also their leaders framed illegally.”