Murshidabad Violence: Outsider Angle Emerges As Normalcy Returns Slowly Amid Uneasy Calm
Kolkata: A semblance of normalcy has returned to a large part of the Murshidabad district in West Bengal, even as tension remains palpable on the ground. Days after the brutal killings of three people in communal clashes that rocked the district, political leaders, locals, and security forces continue to grapple with an uneasy calm interrupted by sporadic violence.
In the past 24 hours, over a hundred peace meetings were organised across the region, reaching from the block level to local neighbourhoods, spearheaded by local police officers and state-appointed officers on special duties (OSDs). Authorities also established booth-level peace committees, comprising cross-community representatives, political leaders, and civil society members, tasked with identifying and defusing tensions.
Each committee is headed by locally trusted figures, including elders and respected professionals, to add credibility to the peace process.
A cautious return to normalcy was felt on Tuesday (April 15) morning as economic activities picked up across most areas. Shops began to reopen in local markets, and in Samserganj and Dhulian, bidi workers returned to previously shuttered factories as production restarted.
'Police said they wouldn't come'
On Monday (April 14), senior CPI(M) leaders, including state secretary Mohammad Salim and central committee member Meenakshi Mukherjee along with local leaders visited the bereaved family members of the victims, the first major political visit to the region since the violence broke out.
CP(M) workers Hargobinda Das (70) and his son Chandan Das (40) were hacked to death in their home on Saturday (April 12). Women in the Das family, eyewitnesses to the atrocity, broke down as they recounted police inaction,
“We called Samserganj police station repeatedly, begging for help. They said they wouldn’t come,” one woman told Salim during the latter's visit.
“People I met did not complain to me about Hindu hatred or Muslim hatred. Rather, they criticised the police’s role. They alleged that for 4-5 hours, police did not take any action. Their inaction gave the miscreants a window to create disturbances,” alleged Md Salim.
Despite a visible security presence, including security forces’ patrols, tensions escalated during the visit of the CPI(M) leaders, with shouts erupting from parts of Jafrabad. Soon after, reports emerged of stone pelting at security personnel.
“If the army itself is attacked by miscreants, imagine the fear among common people. We want peace, but how?” said Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhury.
Police's role in controlling the violence came under question from TMC and Congress leaders as well. Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahman, heckled during the clashes, criticised police inaction.
“Had the police acted from the beginning, such a horrific incident wouldn’t have happened,” claimed TMC leader Humayun Kabir.
Locals hint at involvement of outsiders
Locals described coordinated attacks by unidentified masked youths armed with iron rods, who looted shops indiscriminately – including those owned by Muslims. People from both communities have reported outsiders’ presence in the area.
A Muslim youth near a temple told the local media, “We couldn’t imagine who was behind this incident, but there was a group of young people at the front. We didn’t recognise any of them. How they managed to gather so many people and where they came from – let the police investigate that.”
“Though the attackers were Muslim, they didn’t spare Muslim-owned shops either. Their faces were covered, and many carried iron rods. It was clear that causing destruction was their motive. When local panchayat members and elders confronted them, the mob diverted in another direction,” claimed another one.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh went a step further and accused BSF personnel to be a part of the communal conspiracy. “Some BSF personnel incited outsiders who led the attacks. Locals don’t recognise them – how did they take charge of the violence?” claimed Ghosh.
Once a Congress bastion under veteran leader Adhir Chowdhury, Murshidabad, a minority-majority district grappling with chronic poverty and underdevelopment, has witnessed dramatic political upheaval in recent years.
In 2016, Suvendu Adhikari, then a TMC heavyweight orchestrated a campaign that eroded Congress’s dominance, to grab Zilla Parishad for the ruling party. Now aligned with the BJP, Adhikari has escalated rhetoric in the wake of recent violence, targeting migrant workers from the district employed in BJP-ruled states.
“We are tracking 600 migrant labourers from Murshidabad working in BJP-governed states. Using voter lists, we will identify them. Once they return to their workplace, we will ‘repair’ them. They’ll not be spared,” Adhikari declared on Monday, giving a thinly veiled threat of retribution for unrest.
Inflammatory speeches of BJP leaders
Senior BJP leaders, including Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar have been making inflammatory speeches and sharing provocative images on social media. On Sunday (April 13), West Bengal Police debunked one of Majumdar’s claims of Hindu festivals being under attack in Bengal and revealed the images were sourced from unrelated incidents in other states, including BJP-ruled ones.
Majumdar alleged that the attacks were carried out by "fanatical, fundamentalist jihadi groups" under the guise of protest.
"Initially, 200–250 families had taken shelter here. Now, due to police pressure to shut down the camp and cover up Mamata Banerjee’s failure, only 70–75 families remain. They are still living in fear," said Majumdar.
Majumdar alleged that West Bengal Siddiqullah Chowdhury has already issued a warning and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of turning Bengal into another Bangladesh.
“Protesters were attempting to erase the existence of Hindus and are even throwing petrol bombs at the BSF jawans," said Majumdar.
While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has maintained a foothold in parts of Murshidabad for decades, its influence has expanded recently. Central to this expansion is Kartik Maharaj (also known as Swami Pradiptananda), a firebrand monk and Bharat Seva Sangha leader accused of inciting communal strife. Despite his polarising agenda, Maharaj was controversially awarded the Padma Shri by the Modi government this year.
Known for urging Hindus to abandon pluralism for “aggressive Hindutva,” he has been linked to multiple riots, including clashes during Kartik Puja in 2023 where LED screens displayed anti-Muslim slurs.
Maharaj’s impending meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah has sparked alarm among locals and opposition parties, who fear that the communal fault lines may deepen before they heal.
Translated from the Bengali original and with inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.
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