Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 13 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers on Sunday staged a protest in Kolkata, targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the recent violence in Murshidabad and the alleged corruption in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment.
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar, and other senior BJP leaders participated in the protest, which marched from College Square to Dharmatala.
Addressing the gathering, Suvendu Adhikari said, “In recent days, the state has witnessed violence worse than what we saw in 2019 during the anti-CAA protests. Hindus are being targeted and killed, shops looted, temples vandalised, and the police are mere spectators. What was the fault of Hargobind Das and his son Chandan Das, who were brutally murdered? Was it simply that they were Hindus?”
Earlier BJP MP from Purulia Jyotirmay Singh Mahato wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal, citing a deteriorating security situation and alleging targeted violence against the Hindu community.
In a letter sent this week, Mahato requested that Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, and South 24 Parganas be declared ‘disturbed areas’ under AFSPA.
“For the last many days, a ‘Jammu & Kashmir type’ situation – when Hindus were forced to migrate in the 1990s – has been created, especially in these four districts of Bengal,” Mahato said while speaking to ANI.
He added, “I have requested the Union Home Minister to implement AFSPA and hand over control to the central forces. Otherwise, what happened in Syria or is happening in Bangladesh, what happened in Jammu & Kashmir – a similar situation is unfolding here now.”
Mahato thanked Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and the Calcutta High Court for the deployment of central forces in Murshidabad, but insisted it was not enough. “This area must be declared a ‘disturbed area’,” he said.
Violence erupted recently in Murshidabad and Jangipur during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, with demonstrators clashing with police, pelting stones, and torching police vehicles.
According to West Bengal Police, three people were killed on Friday night in Murshidabad following the violent clashes linked to protests against the new Waqf law.
Following a Calcutta High Court order, the Border Security Force (BSF) has deployed five companies to support state police operations, IG South Bengal Frontier Karni Singh Shekhawat said on Saturday. (ANI)
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