Violent protests erupt in Kolkata, Howrah during BJP's secretariat march
Kolkata/Howrah: Parts of Kolkata and adjoining Howrah resembled a battle zone on Thursday as BJP workers and supporters clashed with police, hurling stones and blocking roads with burning tyres, to protest a string of killings of saffron party workers.
Clashes erupted at several places during the march called by Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, to Nabanna, the state secretariat, when they tore down barricades, officials said.
Police personnel in riot gear burst teargas shells, beat up agitators and used water cannons to break up the protests which are still raging in the two cities.
Several BJP activists, including some senior leaders, were injured. It was still not known whether police personnel were also injured.
Thick plumes of smoke from discarded tyres that the protesters set on fire to block traffic blackened the sky and streets were littered with stones. Shops and other business establishments hurriedly downed their shutters during the skirmishes.
Thousands of slogan-shouting BJP workers from Kolkata and Howrah began marching towards Nabanna at around 12.30 PM.
Parts of Howrah district witnessed much of the violence where BJYM national president and Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya along with state president Soumitra Khan led a march from Howrah Maidan.
They were stopped at the Mallick Gate, prompting angry BJP supporters to attack police with stones. When the protesters tried to pull down the barricades, police burst teargas shells.
Failing to quell the rampaging crowds of BJP workers, personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF) baton-charged them, resulting in injuries to some of the protesters.
An unspecified number of agitators were detained.
Police claimed they recovered a loaded pistol from one of the protesters. It also alleged BJP workers lobbed crude bombs at police, an accusation rejected by the saffron party as false.
Police used teargas, water cannons and batons to break up the protest at Santragachi which was led by the party's state secretary Sayantan Basu.
The anti-riot police also used chemical-laced water cannons to disperse the violent protesters, officials said. During the clashes, Raju Banerjee and MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato were injured. Banerjee was shifted to a hospital.
Similar scenes were witnessed at the third protest march led by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and national vice-president Mukul Roy at Hastings-Khidderpore crossing in Kolkata.
After BJP workers fought pitched battles with police, Vijayvargiya and Roy bagan a sit-in at the Hastings crossing.
"We were holding a peaceful march but police action turned it into a violent agitation. The police and TMC goons attacked us. It's all happening because of the dictatorial attitude of Mamata Banerjee," Vijayvargiya told reporters.
Similar chaotic scenes unfolded at the bustling Burrabazar in Kolkata where BJP state president Dilip Ghosh was leading the march. BJP national secretary Arvind Menon was injured during the scuffle.
Nearly 5,000 police and RAF personnel have been deployed in the disturbed areas.
West Bengal has seen a string of political killings in the last few months, including those of BJP workers. A local BJP leader Manish Shukla was killed at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district a few days ago, triggering protests in several parts of the state. He was considered close to BJP strongman and Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh.
Shulka's killing was the immediate trigger for Thursday's protest which was called against the alleged worsening law and order situation.
The TMC government had on Wednesday declined permission for the protest march citing the Pandemic Act. It had also declared the state secretariat closed for two days from October 8 for "sanitisation"
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In farewell speech, Calcutta HC judge Chitta Ranjan Dash says he's RSS member
Kolkata, May 20: Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, who retired as a judge of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, said he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS).
Speaking at his farewell at the high court in the presence of the judges and members of the bar, Justice Dash said he was "ready to go back to the organisation" if they call him for any assistance or for any work that he was capable of doing.
"To the distaste of some persons, I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS)," he said.
Demitting office after over 14 years as a judge, Justice Dash came to the Calcutta HC from the Orissa HC on transfer.
"I owe a lot to the organisation... I am there from my childhood and throughout my youth," he said.
"I have learnt to be courageous, upright and have an equal view for others and above the sense of patriotism and commitment to the work," he said.
Justice Dash said that he had distanced himself from the organisation for about 37 years because of his work.
"I have never used my membership of the organisation for any advancement of my career because it is against its principles," he said.
Justice Dash said he treated everybody at par, be he a rich person, be he a communist, or from the BJP, Congress or TMC.
"All are equal before me, I do not hold any bias for anyone or for any political philosophy or mechanism," he said, adding that he tried to dispense justice on the principles of empathy and that "law can be bent to do justice, but justice cannot be bent to suit the law".
He said that he is "ready to go back to the organisation" if they call him for any assistance or for any work they need which he is capable of doing.
"Because I have not done anything wrong in my life, I have the courage to say I belong to the organisation, because that is also not wrong," he said.
