Violence erupted and chaos descended on the streets of the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata on Tuesday (August 27, 2024) during the ‘March to Nabanna’ in which protesters demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of a doctor at the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. Nabanna is the State Secretariat.
For several hours, pitched battles ensued between the police and protesters. Scores of water cannons were used to disperse the crowd that marched through different roads in Howrah and Kolkata towards the Secretariat. The police fired hundreds of tear gas shells to keep the protesters away as they tried to breach the barricades. Despite widespread violence, the police prevented protesters from reaching within 100 metres of the Secretariat.
Kolkata Nabanna March: Follow updates of August 27, 2024
Even though the march was called by an apolitical student group, the Paschimbango Chhatro Samaj, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in the State called for a 12-hour Bengal bandh on Wednesday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., for the ‘police excesses’ on the protesters.
“This bandh is to protect the people of the State from an autocratic government and restore democracy in the State,” State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said while announcing the bandh.
West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said the police action on the protesters left “the national flag, national sentiments and the nation insulted”. “What we saw on the streets of Kolkata is the worst one can expect from a democratically elected government,” he said.
No bandh: Government
The West Bengal government said all measures will be taken to ensure that normal life remains unaffected on Wednesday. “The government will not allow any bandh on Wednesday. We urge people not to participate in it,” said Alapan Bandopadhyay, the chief advisor to the Chief Minister. Urging all government employees to attend office, Mr. Bandyopadhyay said transport services will remain operational, and shops, marketplaces and other business establishments have been asked to remain open.
Four Ministers of the West Bengal government led by Chandrima Bhattacharya said that since the BJP’s plot of “getting dead bodies during the March to Nabanna” did not work as the police had exercised restraint, the party had called for a bandh so that economic activities are affected.
Tuesday’s violence started at Santragachi in Howrah when protesters tried to breach barricades. The situation turned volatile on the Howrah Bridge and at Howrah-Maidan where protesters tried to climb over barricades. The police had fixed guard rails to the ground with cement and in certain areas used containers to block the mob.
The protesters, which included a number of elderly people and women, regrouped and threw stones at the police. While many were seen with banners and posters seeking justice for the victim, some were carrying the national flag. The police resorted to baton charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
In Kolkata, violence erupted near Hastings, where the police had set up barricades preventing protesters from taking the Vidyasagar Setu, a bridge across the Hooghly river, to Nabanna. Violence spilled in areas surrounding Howrah Bridge and M. G. Road where the protesters kept regrouping after police tried to disperse them. The confrontation between the police and protesters continued till the evening.
Police fired tear gas shells outside the Lalbazar Police Headquarters after a BJP delegation led by Mr. Majumdar staged a demonstration demanding release of protesters arrested earlier in the day. There was tension in the Esplanade area in the evening as supporters of Paschimbango Chhatra Samaj held protests.
Additional Director General (South Bengal), West Bengal Police, Supratim Sarkar said the protesters went on “tandaav (rampage)” for three hours with an attempt to disrupt normal life and tried to damage public property. Mr. Sarkar said 25 persons were detained overnight and 126 persons, 103 men and 23 women, were arrested on Tuesday.
“Had we not made these preventive arrests, the situation could have been infinitely worse,” the police officer said. Mr. Sarkar said police personnel sustained injuries but exercised restraint and did not fall into the “trap” of protesters. Fifteen police personnel were injured in the violence, he said.
The Kolkata Police later in the day put out photographs of protesters who engaged in violence on its social media handles and sought help from the public in identifying the individuals.
