The fascist TMC regime in West Bengal directed the state police to enforce prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CrPC) to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from holding pro-CAA rallies.
According to reports, cases have been registered against BJP leaders for holding the rallies at various parts of the state. There were reports that BJP workers were brutally thrashed by TMC goons in various parts of West Bengal as the party’s Abhinandan Yatra drew scores of people across the state.
On January 12, BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu and the party’s Cooch Behar district unit president Malati Rava Ray were stopped on their way to the district’s Sitalkuchi, where Abhinandan Yatra was scheduled.
“We were told by the administration that restrictions under Section 144 had been imposed in anticipation of unrest. We went ahead and held a meeting where we were stopped. We will move the Calcutta high court against this tactics of the government. The TMC cannot muffle us. They are scared of the BJP and possibly hallucinate that our presence will lead to some kind of war,” Basu told the Hindustan Times.
On Monday, while preparations were on for another Abhinandan Yatra in the Malgalpur area of adjacent South Dinajpur district, Basu and Bengal BJP Yuva Morcha (youth front) president Debjit Sarkar were stopped by police and told that people were not allowed to assemble as Section 144 was in force.
“A huge crowd had already assembled. The administration passed the order after we arrived. Nobody said a word since morning when a dais was set up, chairs were laid and microphones installed,” said Basu. The police registered a case against Basu and Sarkar for holding a meeting at another location close to the district administration’s office.
Interestingly, when anti-CAA riots rocked the state with widespread violence and arson last month, the state government and police remained silent spectators.
