Mamata suspends internet; schools, shops remain shut
The government banned internet services in West Bengal’s Basirhat region as shops and schools remained shut and paramilitary forces patrolled the streets on Wednesday where communal clashes had erupted over an “objectionable” Facebook post.
The flare-up has snowballed into a major political storm between the chief minister and the governor with Mamata Banerjee accusing Keshari Nath Tripathi of acting like a BJP block president.
The unseemly spat between the two camps continued on Wednesday with a free flow of rhetoric from ruling Trinamool Congress leaders. Party secretary general Partha Chatterjee emphasised that the governor overstepped his Constitutional role and acted like a BJP representative.
“The governor has humiliated not only the chief minister, but also the people of the state by speaking to her in the manner he did. He overstepped his limits and behaved like a BJP representative,” alleged Chatterjee on Wednesday.
“We have seen that Raj Bhavan is encouraging those who are trying to foment trouble. He cannot do that,” Chatterjee fumed.
Meanwhile, local train services were affected in the SealdahBangaon section as people squatted on the tracks at Duttapukur and Ashokenagar stations and shouted slogans. A pair of trains plied from Basirhat station in the morning, hours after which services were disrupted due to demonstration there, GRP sources said.
Residents said the Basirhat subdivision --which includes violence-hit Baduria and Swarupnagar -- was almost cut off from the rest of the district. The region is less than 20 kilometres from the Bangladesh border.
Violence had erupted between two communities at Baduria on Monday night over an alleged blasphemous Facebook post, following which a student was arrested. Muslim mobs allegedly set shops and houses on fire and burnt police vehicles to protest against the post.
Prohibitory orders were clamped but vandalism continued through Monday and Tuesday as the administration did not inform people about the arrest.
Most of the shops, markets were shut in and around Baduria, including Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia. Schools too remained off limits.