An anti-war rally was attacked here on Wednesday, and in two other earlier incidents a Kashmiri was beaten up and a group of traders heckled, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to claim that political parties are spreading rumours to exploit post-Pulwama tensions and create chaos in the State.
The rally by civil rights organisation, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) against war mongering and communal incitement, was attacked by a group of men, who accused APDR of being a sympathiser of terrorists.
The APDR had held the rally in central Kolkata to protest against alleged efforts to communally polarise society by using the February 14 Pulwama attack. The activists were carrying placards and shouting slogans demanding peace between nations. The placards included ones with a quotation of the wife of CRPF jawan Bablu Santra, who died in the Pulwama attack. Mr. Santra’s wife, Mita Santra, a teacher, had said that “war is not a solution, [but] only makes many mothers lose their sons.”
Despite a huge presence of police personnel, about a dozen men carrying the national flag, entered the rally and started shouting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai.” A fist-fight broke out between the civil rights activists and the intruders, who identified themselves “as anti-Pakistanis loyal to the country.” Before the commotion could spread, the police intervened and removed the youths from the spot. An APDR member alleged that it is “an attempt to create chaos in a peaceful rally for minor publicity.”
Beaten up
Shawl trader Javed Ahmed Khan, who hails from Kashmir, was attacked at Taherpur in Nadia district in Monday. The video of the shawl seller being attacked by a mob in West Bengal went viral on social media on Wednesday. In the video, which is a little shorter than two minutes, the youth is seen bleeding while several people can be heard shouting at him. While Mr. Khan has not lodged any police complaint, the district police said they are trying to identify the culprits who were not seen in the video. However they could be heard abusing Mr. Khan, who was rescued by the police.
Superintendent of Police [SP] of Nadia told The Hindu, “The person in the video [Mr. Khan] is absolutely safe. A case has been lodged and one person has been arrested.”
Earlier, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tweeted that he contacted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the video.
“Having seen the video doing the rounds on social media of a young Kashmiri man being beaten up I’ve been in touch with @derekobrienmp & @MamataOfficial regarding the matter. The culprits have been identified & the strongest possible action has been assured,” Mr. Abdullah tweeted later.
Heckled
In the other incident in Kolkata, a group of shawl traders from Kashmir were targeted in Behala in the southern parts of the city. Locals said a mob heckled some of them late on Sunday evening. However, the incident surfaced on Wednesday.
Prior to this there was report of a doctor from Kashmir being targeted in the city. Soon after talking to Mr. Abdullah, Ms. Banerjee posted on the micro blogging site that political parties are provoking hate.
“One section of political parties/groups along with people holding constitutional positions indulging in rumour mongering, spreading hatred with dangerous statements. Even journalists not spared. This is shameless politics,” she tweeted.
Meanwhile in parts of north Bengal, many mosque committees organised rallies to condemn the terror attack in Kashmir. They shouted slogans like “Pakistan Murdabad” and distributed leaflets demanding stern action against the neighbouring country.
On Tuesday night Jama Masjid of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district took out a rally to maintain peace and to offer prayers to the CRPF personnel killed in last week’s attack.
