Recently, in a Cabinet reshuffle, Arjun Ram Meghwal was made the Union and Justice Minister. He said the law and order situation in West Bengal is “not good at all”.
While on an official visit to the state’s capital Kolkata on May 22, reporters asked him about recent incidents in West Bengal, including the blast at Egra in Purba Medinipur district, which claimed 12 lives. Multiple incidences of violence and arson were reported in the state, such as the Birbhum blast, the murder of a BJP worker in Moyna and Ram Navami violence.
In response to that, Meghwal commented on the ongoing situation, “I feel that the law and order situation in West Bengal is not good at all. But I will survey that first and then will be able to speak (more) on that”.
A few days back, on May 16, a blast occurred in a firecracker factory at Egra in Purba Medinipur. This blast claimed nine lives, and police arrested two people and detained four others for allegedly operating an illegal firecracker factory. A senior police official said the two people were arrested on the charge of storing gunpowder illegally. As per the doctors, four people were injured in the blast and are in critical condition.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose strongly denounced the incident and offered prayers for the souls of the deceased, “It’s a very unfortunate incident. This should not have happened. Everyone has to work together to bring peace in the state”.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari reached Khadikul village and interacted with the locals. He also demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the blast.
When the Union Law Minister was visiting the state’s capital on May 22, a blast occurred at Trinamool Congress panchayat member Sheikh Shafiq’s house. The investigation is still going on, and the initial reports suggested that ‘country-made bombs’ kept in the house caused this explosion.
This month, on May 1, Bijaykrishna Bhunia, booth president of BJP at Moyna, was reportedly abducted in front of his wife. The locals found the body after a few hours late at night.
The Opposition leader from BJP, Suvendu Adhikari, commented on the death of the party worker. He said, “Today is the second anniversary of the post-poll violence that started in the state in 2021 on May 2 after TMC came to power. The killing of BJP leader Bijay Krishna Bhunia is a gift to the state’s people to mark this anniversary”.
The BJP MLA of Moyna, Ashok Dinda, alleges that the police support the culprits, “It was around 5 pm. Our booth president Bijoy Babu was returning home with his family when they were attacked midway by one Monoranjan Hazra and TMC-backed goons. Initially, they targeted his son, but he managed to escape. Then they showed Bijoy a gun and picked him up. After some time, his body was found”. He added, “We will approach the high court. TMC-backed goons hurled bombs in the area, and police were supporting them”.
In a seminar titled ‘The Breakdown of Law and Order in West Bengal’ in May, Vishva Hindu Parishad’s International Working President and senior advocate, Alok Kumar, said, “The whole country knows that after the victory of Trinamool Congress in the elections in West Bengal, there was a large-scale violence. Hundreds of Hindus were killed, and women were raped. During the period, the administration was collaborating with criminals. Instead of punishing the criminals, they harassed the victims”.
He also spoke about the Ram Navami that happened in April, “Violence takes place in West Bengal every year on the occasion of Ram Navami and other Hindu festivals. This year also violence took place, in which innocent Hindus were tortured. On the occasion of Ram Navami, the attack was carried out under a well-planned conspiracy, and an investigation found that a large number of stones, glass bottles, petrol bombs, bottles filled with acid and iron rods were collected on the roofs of the houses of Muslims”.
Alok Kumar pointed out the state government’s failure: “If the police was not aware of all the activities, then it was a big failure of the Mamata Banerjee Government. The responsibility of Government is to protect the people and not to harass them”.
During the ‘India’s Heritage: From Kashmir to Bengal’ seminar in March, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri commented on the law and order situation in the state and said that one could not roam freely. He said many parts of West Bengal “have turned into Mini Kashmir”.
Vivek Agnihotri tweeted on April 20 that the book signing event venue of his book Urban Naxals had been changed in West Bengal. He was apparently told that because the previous location was in a “Muslim area”, and it had to be relocated.
This change in the location of the director’s book signing event occurred after the Quest Mall made headlines on social media. According to reports, local Muslims stormed the mall demanding free food and gifts. This incident occurred on April 16.
