West Bengal has been a hotbed of violence ever since elections began and even in the run-up to it. Things reached a peak when BJP President Amit Shah’s roadshow was attacked by goons associated with Trinamool Congress. The violence at Vidyasagar college, however, appears to have deflected attention from another serious bout of violence that has reared its ugly head in another part of Kolkata.
It was reported on the 13th of May that violence had erupted at Satgachia Assembly Constituency in Diamond Harbour since Friday last week and authorities had failed miserably in controlling it. According to reports, houses and shops of Hindus were vandalized allegedly by Trinamool goons. The violence was said to be political rather than communal.
“Several houses, shops and vehicles were ransacked during the clashes that began on Friday night and continued for three days. No casualty was reported,” a senior official at the state secretariat told PTI. “This is a political clash, not communal. We have sought a report from the district administration on this,” the IAS officer was reported to have said on Tuesday.
It is claimed that a certain Trinamool leader unleashed nearly 200 goons in the area to create trouble. Violence has also been reported in adjacent areas. When the Police, after being initially denied entry, finally managed to enter the disturbed area with Rapid Action Force, some of them were injured in the clashes that ensued.
Contrary to the claims made by the IAS officer, the violence did have a communal angle to it according to certain reports. The perpetrators of the attack were Muslims and the victims were Hindus regardless of their political affiliation.
According to a video that has gone viral on social media, Hindu families have started fleeing the area after calls were made from Mosques to kill non-Muslims.
Kashmir style announcements from mosques in WB. Hindus moving to safer places. Bagalkhali, Bishnupur, Dismond Harbour. Via FB pic.twitter.com/mXjAmDctdt
— SahaJio?? (@oldhandhyd) May 14, 2019
West Bengal has witnessed great communal violence in recent times where Hindus have been attacked by Muslims, ostensibly under the patronage of the TMC. Malda and Basirhat witnessed events where Muslims went on a rampage against Hindus while the Police failed to do anything to protect the Hindu community. The events at Diamond Harbour appear to follow the same pattern where Muslims associated with Trinamool embarked on a violence spree against Hindus regardless of the latter’s political affiliation.
Thus, despite all claims by Mamata Banerjee that she is just as Hindu as the BJP, her administration has failed time and again to provide security to Hindus while Muslim miscreants continue to enjoy her patronage.
