In an apparent protest against the naming of a halt station — christened and recently inaugurated by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee — near Lalgarh in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district, miscreants defaced the signposts late on Sunday.
While the station's name is Jangalmahal (Bhadutala) Halt, South Eastern Railway officials said the miscreants smeared tar on the term ‘Jangalmahal' on the signposts.
Had it not been named ‘Jangalmahal — a name that conjures up the image of a region known to have a Maoist presence — the incident might not have created such a stir.
A section of local residents, who had protested against the christening of the station as ‘Jangalmahal' from the very beginning, are suspected to be behind the incident.
Forest gateway: Mamata
According to railway officials, though the halt station was built in the Bhadutala area, Ms. Banerjee had wanted to name it ‘Jangalmahal' since it is the gateway to the forested lands of Lalgarh and its adjoining areas.
Building of the station, along with several other projects of running new trains, laying new rail tracks and giving employment to tribal youth, are among the various announcements made by Ms. Banerjee for bringing about development in the Jangalmahal region after she took charge of the Railway Ministry.
Representation to Mamata
Local MP Prabodh Panda and several residents of Bhadutala, however, made a representation before the Railway Minister on October 6, when the station was inaugurated, that naming the station as ‘Jangalmahal' would hurt the sentiments of the Bhadutala residents.
Ms. Banerjee took a prompt decision to name the new station ‘Jangalmahal (Bhadutala) Halt' to assuage the sentiments of both the Bhadutala residents as well as the tribal population in the Lalgarh region to whom, according to her, the station “is dedicated.”
Asked about the entire name-episode and the defacing act, Mr. Panda said that the incident “is not unnatural” as there were attempts to remove Bhadutala's name.
“Though we have no problem with the name Jangalmahal, there is no reason why Bhadutala's name was left out. The word ‘Bhadu' has a distinctive significance in tribal tradition,” he told The Hindu on Monday.
Complaint lodged
Meanwhile, the Divisional Railway Manager of Adra division, Amit Kumar Haldar, said that a complaint has been lodged with the Government Railway Police along with photographic evidence. The signposts have been restored.
