Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP of disrupting their protest against the rape and murder of a minor girl in Baruipur.
Banerjee alleged that the police failed to discharge their duties impartially, and alleged that the policemen had become an “arm of the BJP organisation”, news agency PTI reported. The BJP did not immediately respond to Banerjee’s allegations.
Addressing a gathering at Hazra crossing in south Kolkata after the end of the protest march, Banerjee claimed that BJP supporters disrupted the march and assaulted TMC workers at several places along the route. BJP workers and TMC youth wing clashed during the protest march that started from Ballygunge Vari in south Kolkata, after which police personnel used batons to control the situation. The march was allegedly obstructed by BJP workers, who also raised ‘thief’ slogans and tried to set up human barricades along the route of the protest march, according to PTI.
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Banerjee on Wednesday also claimed that she is under constant surveillance. “I am under police surveillance as if I were under house arrest,” she said.
“The Supreme Court allowed our gathering, but the criminals stopped it.”
After the protest march, Banerjee accused the BJP of “undermining” the Supreme Court order. “The Supreme Court allowed our march, but BJP mercenaries stopped it. How can the police undermine the court’s order to allow the march? BJP mercenaries beat up our party workers. Is this democracy?” The agency quoted Banerjee as saying. Banerjee further alleged that the police “cannot provide protection to the general public” and said they were being “used to sabotage” the protest march.
On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court had allowed the holding of a march by the youth wing led by Banerjee, and overturned the police decision to reject it. However, Justice Saujata Bhattacharya directed changes in the original route of the march, saying it would now start from Ballygunge Vari, move along Hazrat Road and end at the four-point Hazrat Junction, and not Lansdowne Market. The court also asked the TMC to organize the rally between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm to avoid rush hour traffic.
The petition filed by TMC in the court claimed that Kolkata Police refused to allow the march on Monday citing inconvenience to people and the presence of hospitals and schools in the route of the protest march. Defending TMC, senior lawyer and Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee asserted that the government cannot dictate when the party should hold a rally.
(With inputs from Tanmay Chatterjee)
