Amidst the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces to ensure law and order during Hanuman Jayanti, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on April 6 visited Ekbalpore and Posta areas in Kolkata and reviewed the security arrangement in the city.
“Let this Hanuman Jayanti be an occasion for all of us to maintain peace and harmony... We will wage peace nor war,” the Governor said. He also spoke to senior police officials and locals and said that “now there is a feeling that we are all brothers and sisters”.
“See, it is the people who made me the Governor. So I have to be with the people. My duty is with the people and I should be with the people,” he added. The Governor had earlier offered prayers at a Hanuman Temple at Lake Town in Kolkata. Earlier on April 4, the Governor had visited violence affected Rishra in Hooghly district.
Three companies of CAPF have been deployed in Kolkata and the adjoining suburbs of Hooghly and Barrackpore. Since morning, the CAPF personnel have been holding route marches in Kolkata, Hooghly and Barrackpore. In some sensitive areas, prohibitory orders have been clamped. More than 100 persons are not allowed in Hanuman Jayanti processions.
The Calcutta High Court on April 5 directed the West Bengal government to make a request for the deployment of paramilitary forces ahead of Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The court had also directed that “no person either a political personality or a leader or a common man shall make any statement in public or to the media concerning the festival to be celebrated tomorrow”.
Violence was reported at Shibpur in Howrah on March 30 and Rishra in Hooghly on April 4 after Ram Navami processions were organised in these areas. There were no reports of any violence during the Hanuman Jayanti processions during the day. Meanwhile, Hooghly Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee was prevented from visiting Bansberia in Hooghly. The MP sat on a protest after being stopped. Over the past few days, BJP leaders, including State president Sukanta Majumdar, have been prevented from visiting violence affected areas.
