Bangla Bandh: A day after the ‘Nabanna Abhijan' or march to the state secretariat, demanding the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee turned violent, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a 12-hour bandh in the state from 6 am to 6 pm on Wednesday (August 28) to protest against the police action against protesters who were stopped from marching to Nabanna.
Students of the Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj marched towards the secretariat, demanding justice for the postgraduate trainee medical student who was brutally raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.
Here Are The Top Points On Bengal Bandh:
- The BJP has announced a 12-hour general strike following a heavy-handed police crackdown on protesters attempting to reach the state secretariat, known as ‘Nabanna’.
- The police used lathi charges, water cannons, and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators on Tuesday, escalating tensions and prompting the BJP to call for widespread disruption as a form of protest against the authorities' actions.
- Earlier in the day, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul reviewed the 12-hour 'Bengal Bandh' called by the party against the state government.
"They are going around with a disgusting attitude. They have all become spineless. Police have invalidated the orders of the Supreme Court... They used water canons mixed with chemicals on the protestors... They are unable to provide safety to women of the state and when women protest, they use force to disperse them. We will continue to protest,” Paul told news agency ANI.
- Amid BJP’s 12-hour shutdown in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on X that she dedicated the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad Foundation Day to the 31-year-old trainee postgraduate medical student who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital.
- “Our heartfelt condolences to the family of the sister who was brutally tortured to death and seeking speedy justice, as well as to all the women of all ages across India who have been subjected to such inhumane acts,” she wrote on X.
- Hitting out at CM Banerjee, JP Nadda said, “The images of police highhandedness from Kolkata have angered every person who values democratic principles. In Didi's West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it's a crime to speak for women's safety.”
- Nadda also accused the Kolkata Police of repressing people's voices for justice and said the Bengal CM has chosen to maintain silence in the face of the ghastly crime against a woman and the way her parents were misled.