There is no end of violence in West Bengal over comments on Prophet Mohammed by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. In the latest incident in series of violent protests that started on Thursday in Howrah, a railway station and a train was attacked by a mob in the state. On the evening of Sunday, June 12th, 2022, a Islamist mob attacked the Bethuadahari railway station in the Nadia district of West Bengal and damaged a local train at the station. The violence erupted as a part of the so-called protests against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her allegedly derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
A protest march opposing the BJP leader’s remarks was called in Nadia on 12th June 2022. The protest rally turned violent from the beginning, and vandalised shops while going through the Bethuadahari market. As a result of the rioting, the national highway 34 was blocked completely for several hours. Even though police was present at the spot, they could not control the situation.
During this, a part of the mob entered the nearby Bethuadahari railway station, and started vandalising the station. After some moments the up Krishnanagar Lalgola local train arrived at the station, and the mob started pelting stones at the train. There was massive panic among the passengers due to the attack.
As a result of the attack, the train services on the Lalgola section of the line was blocked. After about an hour and a half, the train started running on the Krishnanagar-Rampur line.
Talking about the incident, Eastern Rail spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said, ‘The up train at Bethuadahari was vandalised. An enraged mob vandalised it. As a result the train services were halted.’
These are the scenes from Bethuadahari, Nadia district. Due to the incompetence of #WestBengal Govt, #Islamists are now spreading their horror among #Hindus, district by district, city by city and village by village.#WorldAgainstIslamicTerror #IndianMuslims #IslamicTerrorists pic.twitter.com/XT0QnGx7na
— Jihad Watch (@JihadWatchIN) June 12, 2022
A day before, similar violent protests were seen in Howrah and Murshidabad. On 12th June 2022, the violent protestors targeted Nadia. Protesters arranged a march. Then they entered Bethuadahari railway station and went on a rampage. The Ranaghat-Lalgola local train was vandalized at Bethuadahari station. Due to this incident, the train movement was stopped and the passengers were in trouble.
The incident that took place at around 5 pm caused significant disruption to the train movement on the Lalgola-Ranaghat line. After about one and a half hours of suspension of train services, train services resumed on at around 7 pm.
#WorldAgainstIslamicTerror #WestBengalViolence #WestBengal #HindusUnderAttackInIndia pic.twitter.com/qHcTerzXeS
— Jihad Watch (@JihadWatchIN) June 12, 2022
Several Islamist organizations took out a rally in Bethuadahari on Sunday, June 12 to protest against Nupur Sharma’s remarks. According to reports, the procession went to the Bethuadahari market. Houses and shops on the side of the road were then ransacked. As a result, National Highway 34 was completely blocked. Police from Nakashipara police station reached the spot but could not control the situation.
A section of the Islamist mob then reached Bethuadhari station. Then they started attacking the station. As soon as they reached the platform of Krishnanagar-Lalgola Local, they started pelting stones. As a result, the train was stopped. Speaking about the incident, Eastern Railway spokesperson Eklavya Chakraborty said, “The up train was vandalized at Bethuadahari. The violent mob appeared inside the station all of a sudden. As a result, the train was stopped.” The incident caused panic among the passengers.
#WestBengal: Lalgola-Ranaghat local train at #Bethuadahari railway station vandalised in #Nadia District by #Muslim mob@MamataOfficial pic.twitter.com/gdt4RIwQZh
— Nishant Azad/निशांत आज़ाद🇮🇳 (@azad_nishant) June 12, 2022
On Sunday afternoon, high drama was observed in Tamluk, Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, when police barred West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari from visiting violence-affected regions in Howrah. After a two-hour standoff, he was eventually permitted to go on the condition that he proceeds directly to Kolkata, without stopping in the violence-plagued Howrah district.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted on Saturday, “As I have said before, the public life of Howrah is being disrupted and there is an incident of unrest. There are some political parties behind this and they want to spread unrest – but these will not be tolerated and there will be strict action against all this. The BJP has sinned, will the people suffer?”
State minister and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim on Saturday claimed that there was a political motive behind the unrest. He said, “Bengal is a harmonious place. They are trying to destroy it. However, the state government will not allow this.”
