Tension soared in West Bengal as Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march on Wednesday over the rape and murder of a little girl in Baruipur, Kolkata, while the local people marched on from the city to demand justice for the minor victim and also made calls for the state political administration to take some responsibility for it.
The rally, which was packed with students and youth from the party and their supporters, was a prime place of political conflict and the TMC chief did not just blame the BJP, but the administration too. "And no BJP workers, who beat our workers, instead,” she said. The former Chief Minister’s comments come at a time of great political pressure and widespread public anger following the discovery of the young girl’s body in a Baruipur pond.
The situation in the state has been affected by a series of shocking incidents including a mob lynching of an innocent man and the murder of the prime suspect Pravash Mondal in a midnight police encounter during a crime reconstruction operation. Banerjee and other TMC leaders have accused the state police and the present administration, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, of acting so aggressively.
The TMC told us that in the time before the rally there was a large police presence in her Kalighat residence and police put up huge security around Banerjee’s residential area and a police force around her Kalighat house at night to prevent her from coming to Baruipur to meet the family of the murdered girl. The Calcutta High Court allowed the TMC to proceed with the demonstration. Banerjee said that her party would fight for accountability and that the state administration's job is to keep law and order and not allow political workers to suppress democratic peaceful protest.
