Kolkata 8 January: The 24-hour Bharat Bandh called by 10 trade unions on Wednesday did not go peaceful in West Bengal and was marred by sporadic incidents of violence and arson in various parts of Bengal.
However the government offices recorded normal attendances , and the scenario in the districts turned violent as protesters took to the streets trying to make bandh a success.
The strike called by AITUC, INTUC,HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC was in support of the demands of trade unionists which are pension of Rs 6,000 for everyone, minimum support price for farmers, adequate supply of ration to people.
At Sujapur in Malda, protestors blocked a major road, set bus tyres on fire and also vandalised police vehicles when police tried to control the situation, said senior officials of the district administration. Two policemen were injured . The police lobbed tear gas shell, lathicharged and fired rubber bullets as protestors blocked the road ways.
In other districts, including Cooch Behar, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas and Barasat, the protestors blocked some roads and squatted on railway tracks, causing inconvenience to the commuters. Police found some crude bombs at a railway track in Barasat in North 24-Parganas.
In Kolkata and its adjoining areas, the bandh protestors tried to break the police barricade and stopped the cars from plying. In IT sector at Salt Lake, attendance was near normal although there was partial impact on the attendance . The state government offices recorded 95 per cent attendance as the government had already issued a circular that there will be a salary cut for a day if the staff were absent on the day of the bandh.
According to the police, 200 protesters from all over the state were arrested for instigating violence and vandalism. Out of 200 protesters 196 protesters have been released. Cases have been lodged against seven person for damaging public property . In some industrial belts of Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas, protestors took out rallies and blocked railways.
Mamata wary of Left and will not allow any Opposition space to occucpy by CPM and Congress and so she does not support bandh.
Taking a jibe at the state CPI(M), Miss Mamata Banerjee chief minister of West Bengal, said that Kerala CPI(M) is a better version of Communists than that of Bengal.
“Kerala CPM is a better version of Communists as they believe in ideology , CPM Bengal is reduced to a signboard party,” said Banerjee.
In response to Banerjee’s statement, CPI-(M) leader Md Selim said: “She (Miss Banerjee) has made a laughing stock of herself. Can we differentiate between a good terrorst and a bad terrorist?” Selim asked.
While CPI(M) claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government with the help of the police administration has tried to instigate the protestors and turned a peaceful movement into a violent one, Banerjee termed the bandh as “goondagiri” and condemned it.
Political analysts however are of the opinion that Mamata Banerjee did not leave any Opposition space free and by not allowing Left and Congress to survive she has given space to BJP. On Wednesday too, she came down heavily upon the CPM leaders and claimed that Kerala CPM is better that Bengal CPM which indicates that if any alliance happens between CPM and Congress Banerjee, will ensure that the votes will not split between them and she will not allow any triangular fight in Bengal. The fight will be with TMC and BJP and so she will keep all her options open to counter the Left parties and Congress too.
Imankalyan Lahiri , asenior political analysts and Professor of International Relations Jadavpur University said” During the Lok Sabha polls Mamata has urged the voters , mainly Muslim voters not to vote for CPM and Congress and claimed that they have turned it into signboards. On the day of the bandh too she vehemently attacked Left parties and claimed that Bengal CPM has reduced to signboard party. It indicates that Banerjee won’t allow any CPM or Congress to revive as it will divide her vote.”
“ In the name of bandh, people are being beaten up by the protestors and stones are being pelted to commuters. Even crude bombs have been found in a railway track near Barasat. We support the issue of the trade unions, but we are against the method of protest. We do not support bandh as we feel that by calling a strike it is harassment of the commuters and general public.” Banerjee added.
Md Selim said: “The Mamata Banerjee government has instigated the police to burn police vehicles at Sujapur and put blame on the protestors. It’s Banerjee’s ploy to put the blame on us, just to show that the bandh was unsuccessful. People have supported the bandh. Mamata is supporting the cause of the BJP and is trying to please the BJP and the RSS and her dichotonomy has come out in the forefront.”
Selim said that Banerjee came to power by calling bandh and destroying public property and now she is against bandh, which indicates how she changed for the sake of power.
According to Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury , Congress leader in Lok Sabha we are ready to ally with CPM in Bengal and the final decision will be taken by the party’s high command later. We have already seen that our votes have slumped down in the by-election and there is no need to further divide our vote. Both Banerjee’s and BJP politics are same . They want to polarise votes and that is why Banerjee does not want Opposition other than BJP to occupy space in Bengal.
According to BJP , there is lack of unity among CPM and Congress leaders and so it’s a distant dream that will fight the election in alliance .
Dilip Ghosh , state BJP president said “There is sheer lack of unity among CPM and Congress leaders and this will pave way for only two parties to fight in Bengal . One is BJP and the other is TMC.”
It may be mentioned that the chief minister herself clarified on Monday why her government was against the bandh even if it was called to protest the CAA.
“We support any democratic and peaceful agitation against the CAA, NRC and the NPR. We are also fighting against these things in a democratic way. But at a time when the country is passing through a major economic slowdown, a bandh would add further mess. We need to find out new ways to protest without damaging the economy,” Banerjee said at Sagar Island.