Kolkata: On a day when Kolkata experienced what the Trinamool Congress (TMC) called “pre-planned vandalism” orchestrated by the BJP and other political parties under the banner of ‘Nabanna Abhijan’, the ruling party in Bengal questioned how such a protest could be justified, especially since the RG Kar rape-and-murder case is currently under investigation by the CBI with court oversight. According to sources, about 5 police personnel were injured, and 6 cases have been registered in connection with the incident. Notably, the protest, claimed to be led by the RG Kar victim’s parents, saw Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, several BJP MLAs, and other saffron party leaders joining in.
TMC leaders alleged that the BJP had used the grief of the victim’s parents for political mileage, turning a solemn cause into street violence. “When the matter is sub judice and the CBI is probing, what is the point of storming Nabanna? This was nothing but an attempt to destabilise Bengal,” senior TMC leaders said, adding that the timing, on Raksha Bandhan, was chosen to cause maximum disruption. “The BJP, with help from some other political parties and outsiders, came to create unrest and damage public property. This was not a protest, but a pre-planned vandalism,” added Trinamool leaders. Incidentally, without directly naming the BJP, TMC in a post on X said that those who profit from selective outrage “consider women’s safety as just another political prop”. Reminding that the Bengal Assembly had “unanimously passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill”, the TMC said it was returned by the Narendra Modi government “raising frivolous objections.”
“One year ago today, the RG Kar tragedy shook the nation’s conscience and left an unhealable scar. The pain endured by the victim’s family still weighs heavily on us. Determined to ensure such horrors are never repeated, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill, proposing harshest punishment for rapists, swift, watertight investigations and speedy trials to deliver justice without delay,” the party said. “But when it came to protecting India’s daughters, the @narendramodi govt. chose obstruction over action, raising frivolous objections and sending the Bill back for reconsideration,” TMC said. Pointing out that “rape is a plague on society,” TMC asserted that “it demands more than lip service and token gestures.” The protest rally began around noon at Rani Rashmoni Road with protestors waving national flags and marching toward Nabanna in Howrah. Police had erected iron barricades, guard rails, and deployed large contingents of officers along the routes in Kolkata as well as Howrah. Clashes broke out at Park Street, where the protestors tried to dismantle guard rails and break through barricades. Police responded with a lathi charge, halting the march. The agitators tried to break through the barricades after ignoring police warnings not to move beyond the Rani Rashmoni Road assembly point.
LoP Adhikari, accompanied by a section of BJP MLAs, meanwhile, joined the victim’s parents at the Dorina Crossing in Esplanade in central Kolkata sans BJP’s banners, flags. The protest was organised to mark the completion of one year of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor. Meanwhile, the victim’s parents alleged manhandling by the state police and claimed attempts were made to stop them from joining the march. The mother of the RG Kar victim alleged that she was roughed up by Bengal police personnel and suffered a head injury while she was on her way to join a march to state secretariat ‘Nabanna’. However, TMC stated that she was “pushed by BJP members who were eager to show their faces on camera”. A scuffle led to her ‘shankha’ (traditional conch shell bangle) being broken, she said. Demonstrations from multiple locations trying to converge on Nabanna were thwarted by the police. The protestors in Howrah’s Santragachi climbed iron barricades to cross over. Police had closed the Vidyasagar Setu and Howrah Bridge to traffic. Reacting to chaos allegedly triggered by the BJP, senior Trinamool Congress leader Sashi Panja said: “BJP resorted to vandalism in the name of peaceful protests. Outsiders were brought in for the rally. The trouble-makers don’t understand the spirit of Raksha Bandhan. They don’t understand the spirit, culture, heritage of Bengal. They are trying to destabilise the state on the day of a festival.” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Gathering trouble mongers on a pious day of Raksha Bandhan and trying to foment trouble shows BJP has little respect for Hindus. There were not more than a few hundred protesters at the rally and they continued to provoke police who showed much restraint.” Meanwhile, the city police reportedly said they were likely to lodge a suo motu case against the BJP MLA and former cricketer Ashok Dinda for allegedly threatening and assaulting policemen during the rally.
While the victim’s parents await justice, the cases related to the incident are still being heard at the Calcutta High Court, and courts in Sealdah and Alipore. The CBI submitted its fifth status report before the Sealdah court on July 16 this year, stating that seven witnesses have been examined. Sealdah Court in July this year rejected the victim’s family’s appeal, saying the judiciary has no authority to allow a parallel investigation when the CBI is already conducting a probe. The court had also pulled up CBI for giving consent to the family’s request instead of objecting to it, observing that the CBI didn’t seem to be convinced about its findings and the report filed by its forensic experts. A former civic police volunteer Sanjay Roy, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in January this year for the rape and murder of the junior doctor. Soon after the incident occurred, the Kolkata police arrested Roy, and the case was later handed over to the CBI. The CBI also gave a clean chit to Kolkata Police for its investigation. Meanwhile, former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh on the day of ‘Nabanna Abjijan’ said that the investigation into the RG Kar rape and murder case, probed by the CBI, should be handed over to a new investigating agency.