Bengal school deaths: BJP calls for bandh; CM says won’t let in happen
AFTER VIOLENCE Families want CBI probe; CM alleges RSS spreading communal tension
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal has called for a 12-hour statewide strike in protest against the death of two men in alleged police firing over students of a school in Islampur, a leader said Saturday.
Rajesh Sarkar, 19, and Tapash Burman, 21, both former students of Darivit High School where the violence over appointment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers took place Thursday, died of bullet injuries, triggering war of words between leaders of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in Milan, Italy, released a statement vowing to keep the situation normal in the state, while alleging the role of BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in spreading “communal tension” in the area.
“The deaths are unfortunate. But police did not use any firearm. The gunshots were fired by goons. BJP and RSS are playing with blood. BJP has to answer for this,” she told the media there.
At a press conference in Kolkata on Saturday, BJP’s state vice president Pratap Banerjee announced the call for a strike.
“We have called for a Bengal bandh on September 26 for 12 hours to protest against the atrocities in Darivit High School in Islampur,” he said. BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh has demanded a CBI probe into the two deaths.
The chief minister vowed action against any strike. “There will be no bandh in Bengal. If anyone tries to paralyse normal life, the administration will take stern action. These are tactics to divert public attention from issues such as rising prices of fuel and the Rafale deal,” she told the media.
The chief minister also alleged, “Students cannot decide which teacher will join duty. There are places in Bengal where more than 10% people are Muslims. Islampur is one of them. That is why we wanted to appoint an Urdu teacher. But the students were not willing to let him in. But they did not say anything about the Sanskrit teacher. BJP and RSS
KOLKATA:
are clearly making a communal issue out of this. They brought goons from outside and opened fire (on the students).”
The CM had left on a 12-day trip to Germany and Italy, and is likely to return on September 28.
The RSS has supported the bandh. Its south Bengal unit general secretary Jisnu Basu sought an “unconditional apology” from state education minister Partha Chatterjee within 24 hours.
On Friday, Chatterjee had alleged the organisation was involvedinorchestratingtrouble at the school, which led to students clashing with the police.
Meanwhile, the families of the two victims have refused to cremate their bodies. They have buried the two in caskets and vowed not to cremate them until a CBI investigation is ordered for which the bodies may be required to be exhumed. “We have no faith in the police. We demand a CBI investigation. The body may have to be examined again,” Rajesh’s father Nilkamal Sarkar said. The mother, Jharna, said “the police shot (her son) dead.”
Tapash’s mother Basanti Burman said her son “was at his shop... when the bullet hit him from behind.”