Murshidabad Violence Not Just a Communal Clash but 'Deeply Organised': Fact-Finding Report

Kolkata: A fact-finding mission to Murshidabad in Bengal – the scene of recent clashes that led to the death of three people – has found that the violence there was not just a communal clash or a law and order issue, but a "deeply organised, politically driven situation, where religious polarisation, state inaction, and police repression have combined to disturb years of peaceful coexistence."

On April 18 and 19, a 17-member fact-finding team comprising Feminists in Resistance (FIR), Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), Nari Chetna, Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), and Gono Songram Moncho (Murshidabad) visited several areas around the Shamsherganj block in Murshidabad.

The team, in a press release containing the highlights of the report which is yet to be released in full, recorded what it gleaned after it spoke with victims, eyewitnesses, residents of nearby areas, and representatives from the police and administration.

The beginning

The team found that on April 11 at one of the protest rallies against the Waqf Amendment Act at Ghoshpara of Dhuliyan, stones were pelted at the protesters. The rally scattered; some were injured.

"Enraged by the sudden attack," the report finds that a crowd began vandalising nearby shops, including those owned by Hindus. Tyres were set on fire and a Hindu-owned sweet shop caught fire as well. Police, who were minutes away at the Shamsherganj police station, did not help, the report said.

An eyewitness shared that among the three houses from which the stones were pelted belonged to someone associated with a Hindutva organization, who had recently circulated a video inciting threats. The other two were owned by his followers.

The sweet shop owner told the team that despite reporting the vandalism, the police did nothing. The next day, he and his staff were slapped by BSF personnel when they allegedly tried to shut their shop. Since the shutter remained open, the shop was looted again on the second day, the team reported.

Masked individuals

On the same day, a peaceful protest at Dak Bungalow More ended in violence when masked individuals attacked ‘Srihari Hindu Hotel’ and set it on fire. They also tried to attack another sweet shop, but Muslim shopkeepers in the area stopped them and protected the Hindu-owned shop, the report notes.

A key finding of the team is that the failure of the administration to control violence on April 11 fuelled the spread of rumours, breaking the long-standing peaceful coexistence between communities and sowing mistrust.

In Hausnagar, the report says, "masked individuals dressed as police and BSF personnel raided homes in Muslim localities, picking up young men aged 17–30 without any warrants or explanations. "Local residents claimed these 'police' carried knives, daggers, and hammers." Most of them were beaten severely in custody. The total number of detainments from a single area was around 274.

More violence took place in the following days. On April 12, the report says a Muslim shop was burned in Shiv Mandir Bazaar. Attacks also occurred in Betbona and Jafrabad, and masked individuals went on a rampage. Police did not respond. Some who were interviewed by the team even accused the local councilor of inciting the violence.

Many fled across the river to Malda to save themselves, the report finds.

Another key point highlighted in the report is that even though the attackers were masked and the survivors were unsure of their identities, FIRs filed at the police station labeled them as "Muslim terrorists." Victims claimed the attackers carried bombs and swords.

Similar attacks occurred in Jafrabad, where father and son, Hargobindo Das and Chandan Das, were hacked to death. Residents are quoted by the team as saying that while the violence lasted 3-4 hours, it took five hours for the police to arrive – despite the scene being only eight minutes away from the station.

Here, too, masked men executed targeted attacks. The report stresses on the lack of connection between the Waqf protests and the attacks.

In Sajur More under Suti police station, the report says that there was a roadblock on the National Highway-12 due to a Waqf protest and Eijaj Ahmed, a resident of Kasimnagar was killed as police fired. Bengal police has not spoken on this yet.

In Tarbagan, there were clashes and a 12-year-old boy and two others were severely injured by gunfire, the report finds.

Organisation and resistance

The report notes how the violence smacked of systematic orchestration.

"The attacks were all targeted. Houses and shops, whether Hindu or Muslim, were set to fire neatly such that while one burnt to pieces, the neighbouring buildings showed no trace of it. The fake BSF raids targeted only Muslim villages, while the attack and arson happened only in two Hindu areas. Interestingly, areas with a mixed population remained peaceful."

When trying to visit a government relief camp at Parlalpur High School in Baishnabnagar of Malda, the team were stopped at the main gate by police and BSF personnel and were unable to speak to the people in the camp.

The team also found that while it was working, there were phonecalls being made to relay whatever was being discussed to some outsiders. Often people claiming to be Panchayat officebearers stopped us to ask the team if they had permissions. They were often photographed and videographed. In Jafrabad, some claiming to be part of a Hindutva organisation, threatened them.

The report highlights the complete absence of law enforcement in key places. Misinformation and rumours played a huge role in intensifying religious polarisation, too, it found.

The report finds that the real victims here are ordinary people – Hindus and Muslims alike, who have lost homes, livelihoods, peace, and trust.

Questions

It questions the fact that we do not know who organised these attacks and why police and administration were "deliberately inactive."

Further questions linger, the report says:

• Why did victims from Betbona and Jafrabad have to be rescued by boat by the people from Parlalpur?
• Why was the factfinding team prevented from visiting the Parlalpur relief camp?
• Who are these fake BSF personnel raising hell in Muslim neighbourhoods?
• Why are police kidnapping Muslim youth without arrest warrants or memo?

The team has demanded immediate and independent judicial investigation into all incidents since April 11. The state government, it said, must take the responsibility to immediately begin the peace process in the affected areas and restore normalcy.

It called for the immediate and unconditional release of all illegally detained persons and action against officials involved in illegal arrests.

Affected families must be compensated immediately and those rendered homeless must be immediately rehabilitated, the report says. It also calls for disciplinary action against police and BSF personnel involved in brutality and negligence.

In addition to accepting complaints of firing victims, the report says that the state must take responsibility for administrative failure to prevent communal tension and immediately begin an inquiry against all officers on duty on those days.

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