Kolkata: A fact-finding mission to Murshidabad in Bengal – the scene of recent clashes that led to the death of three people – has found that the violence there was not just a communal clash or a law and order issue, but a “deeply organised, politically driven situation, where religious polarisation, state inaction, and police repression have combined to disturb years of peaceful coexistence.”
On April 18 and 19, a 17-member fact-finding team comprising Feminists in Resistance (FIR), Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), Nari Chetna, Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), and Gono Songram Moncho (Murshidabad) visited several areas around the Shamsherganj block in Murshidabad.
The team, in a press release containing the highlights of the report which is yet to be released in full, recorded what it gleaned after it spoke with victims, eyewitnesses, residents of nearby areas, and representatives from the police and administration.
The beginning
The team found that on April 11 at one of the protest rallies against the Waqf Amendment Act at Ghoshpara of Dhuliyan, stones were pelted at the protesters. The rally scattered; some were injured.
“Enraged by the sudden attack,” the report finds that a crowd began vandalising nearby shops, including those owned by Hindus. Tyres were set on fire and a Hindu-owned sweet shop caught fire as well. Police, who were minutes away at the Shamsherganj police station, did not help, the report said.
An eyewitness shared that among the three houses from which the stones were pelted belonged to someone associated with a Hindutva organization, who had recently circulated a video inciting threats. The other two were owned by his followers.
The sweet shop owner told the team that despite reporting the vandalism, the police did nothing. The next day, he and his staff were slapped by BSF personnel when they allegedly tried to shut their shop. Since the shutter remained open, the shop was looted again on the second day, the team reported.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.