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West Bengal post-poll violence: Child rights body, NHRC raise concerns; BJP to stage sit-in today
The sit-in is being organised on a day when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is set to take oath as the chief minister of West Bengal after securing a third term in the assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janta Party leaders will stage a sit-in in West Bengal on Wednesday against the alleged violence by ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers in which at least 11 people from various political parties have been killed. The state government has not confirmed the figure.
The sit-in is being organised on a day when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is set to take oath as the chief minister of West Bengal after securing a third term in the assembly elections.
BJP's national president JP Nadda is also in the state to participate in the sit-in. He arrived in West Bengal on Tuesday and met the families of those who died in the violence which started after the results of the assembly election were announced on May 2.
On Sunday, the Election commission counted votes for the assembly elections the TMC came out winning 213 of the 292 assembly seats and secured a third straight term in office.
The violence
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Asansol was allegedly vandalised by the TMC workers on Monday. In Kolkata as well, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of BJP, alleged that 15-20 party goons of incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee attacked its office. It also claimed that the 'goons' engaged in an altercation with the activists and assaulted them. The party office was also vandalised.
Party officials also claimed a BJP office in Hooghly district was set on fire and the shops of its supporters were torched in many areas. According to multiple reports, at least 11 people have been killed in the violence so far.
Mounting pressure on TMC
Following the violence, the pressure has mounted on TMC with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar. Various other leaders as well have condemned the violence and called on Banerjee to take strict action against the perpetrators.
On Tuesday, Banerjee held an emergency meeting with top state officials. and directed to them to increase surveillance in areas identified as sensitive to violence. "The CM is very worried about the situation and directed officers to take necessary steps to restore the law and order at the places from where reports of violence and clashes have come," news agency PTI reported an official as saying.
On Tuesday, National Commission for Women (NCW) said it has taken a suo motu cognisance of videos purportedly showing women being beaten up in West Bengal's Nandigram, a key assembly seat and a hotbed of West Bengal politics. "Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to Director General of Police, West Bengal, to take immediate action and arrest the accused persons without any delay," the NCW said in a statement.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also took cognisance of the violence and ordered an investigation fact-finding team to conduct a spot inquiry and submit a report at the earliest, preferably within two weeks. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also wrote to the chief secretary of West Bengal and raised concerns over post-poll violence saying that it has received complaints claiming that many children have been recruited to participate in the incidents.
