Sporadic incidents of clashes between two communities were reported from at least three districts of West Bengal over the past two days even as the administration maintained that the situation was “far from alarming.”
While disturbances at Chandannagar in Hooghly district and Naihati in North 24 Parganas were reported on Wednesday, prohibitory orders were issued in the industrial town of Kharagpur on Thursday. The entire town remained tense with some shops being ransacked and a few persons, including some police officers, sustaining injuries in clashes. There was a large deployment of police in the town. According to locals, the situation turned volatile on Wednesday evening at Gole Bazar area over reports of bombs being hurled at a Muharram procession.
Additional Director General of West Bengal Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma said that these were “minor incidents, which happen every year.”
“Everything is under control. Police have been deployed. Certain arrests have also been made,” Mr Sharma told The Hindu. Only a day before at Naihati, a few people sustained injuries during a Muharram procession which the locals claimed was due to the exploding of a crude bomb. In Chandannagar, shops were attacked following which Section 144 was clamped by the district administration.
The Opposition was quick to target the political establishment for failing to control the situation. “The 34 years of LF government ensured communal harmony. No tolerance was followed for [the] criminals trying to disrupt harmony. Why are you failing madam CM?” Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said on social media.
BJP state vice president Joy Prakash Majumdar, who held a press conference, blamed the restriction on the immersion of Durga idols as a reason behind the flare-up.
While disturbances at Chandannagar in Hooghly district and Naihati in North 24 Parganas were reported on Wednesday, prohibitory orders were issued in the industrial town of Kharagpur on Thursday. The entire town remained tense with some shops being ransacked and a few persons, including some police officers, sustaining injuries in clashes. There was a large deployment of police in the town. According to locals, the situation turned volatile on Wednesday evening at Gole Bazar area over reports of bombs being hurled at a Muharram procession.
Additional Director General of West Bengal Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma said that these were “minor incidents, which happen every year.”
“Everything is under control. Police have been deployed. Certain arrests have also been made,” Mr Sharma told The Hindu. Only a day before at Naihati, a few people sustained injuries during a Muharram procession which the locals claimed was due to the exploding of a crude bomb. In Chandannagar, shops were attacked following which Section 144 was clamped by the district administration.
The Opposition was quick to target the political establishment for failing to control the situation. “The 34 years of LF government ensured communal harmony. No tolerance was followed for [the] criminals trying to disrupt harmony. Why are you failing madam CM?” Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said on social media.
BJP state vice president Joy Prakash Majumdar, who held a press conference, blamed the restriction on the immersion of Durga idols as a reason behind the flare-up.