'Live and let live.' That was Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose’s message from ground zero of violence in Rishra, Hooghly.

That message came on a day the Union home ministry sought a comprehensive cause and action-taken report on the clashes from the state and set a 72-hour deadline to deliver it. The day also marked the arrest of a gun-toting Ram Navami rally participant in Howrah by the city Police from Munger in Bihar.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, while taking a dig at Governor Bose, demanded the imposition of Article 355 of the Constitution in Shibpur and Rishra police station areas and the passing of law and order maintenance responsibilities over to central paramilitary forces in these areas for a month. The demand was also made by BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar who, reportedly, made a written application to the Governor to that effect.

'Politics of polarisation'

Concerned at the recurrent violence, a section of Calcutta-based artists and intellectuals wrote an open letter calling the clashes as “reflections of prevailing politics of polarisation” and slamming “police inaction”. Signatories to the letter included filmmakers Aparna Sen and Suman Mukhopadhyay, actors Kaushik Sen and Anirban Bhattacharya and singers Srikanta Acharya and Anupam Roy.

The continuous spate of violence in Bengal over Ram Navami celebrations, first in Howrah and then in neighbouring Hooghly district, forced Governor Bose to cut short his presence at the G20 summit meeting in Darjeeling and rush back to Calcutta.

Bose headed straight to the violence-hit areas of Rishra in Hooghly following his touchdown in the city on Tuesday morning. Post noon, reached the Subhasnagar area adjacent to rail gate no 4 close to the Rishra railway station where fresh violence broke out for the second consecutive day on Monday evening.

An hour on the ground

The Governor spent over an hour on the ground taking stock of the grass roots situation and remaining witness to crude bomb marks on the road, bricks, stones and crude glass bottles strewn all over the place – tell tale signs of the rampant violence witnessed in the area from where moving trains were brick batted, railway properties destroyed, private properties ransacked and police vehicles torched. Bose was seen taking detailed account of the violence and subsequent action taken by the police from Amit Javalgi, CP Chandanagar, and a team of senior Eastern Railways and RPF officials present at the spot.

Rishra has remained on the boil following Sunday’s clashes over a Ram Navami rally and on Monday evening miscreants went on a rampage by breaking down rail gate number 4, vandalizing properties, resorting to arson and hurling crude bombs and brick batting trains leading to suspension of railway services, both local and long distance, for over four hours. The railway service disruption led to large-scale commuter inconvenience, especially for home-bound daily passengers in the Howrah-Bandel main line who remained stuck at Howrah station till over midnight.

Briefing the media after landing in Calcutta, Governor Bose said: “Strict action will be taken against wrongdoers. People of Bengal have suffered enough, no more suffering. People have the right to peaceful living and that right will certainly be established at any cost. The evil forces will be contained and destroyed. This will be the final solution to the destructive force benumbing our society. We are with the people of Bengal where there is no discrimination and difference of opinion. We are all united. Intimidation and violence in politics will be eradicated once and for all.”

Governor promises action

Later, in Rishra, Bose said: “I am here to personally assess the situation on the ground and take a call on what needs to be done next. But I will assure that solid action would be taken on part of the law enforcement agencies. We will ensure that mobocracy is rooted out and that peace is established. Criminals will be put behind bars and never ever will this be allowed to repeat. Bengal has long been at the receiving end of criminalization of politics. It’s time to end that.”

At Calcutta’s SSKM Hospital, Bose visited an under-treatment patient injured during Monday’s violence.

Comparing performances of the current Governor with his predecessors, Suvendhu Adhikari said: “Presonally, I haven’t seen Governor Bose do anything that would make me put him on the same pedestal as Gopal Krishna Gandhi or Jagdeep Dhankhar. Instead of seeking reports from the state government he should exercise his power as the Constitutional head and recommend to the Centre the imposition of Article 355 in Shibpur and Rishra police station areas. He should ask for central paramilitary forces to take control of these two areas for a month. I would be convinced that he, like his predecessors, is keen to take affirmative action to save the nationalists of the state only if he takes these steps instead of giving statements to the media.”

36 arrested so far

As per reports last received, 36 people were arrested in connection with Monday’s violence in Rishra over and above the 12 who were booked for the clashes on Sunday. Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in Serampore and Rishra indefinitely from 8 am and Internet suspension in the area extended for two more days.

Police removed a BJP dharna platform at Rishra and stopped party state president Sukanta Majumdar and MP Jyotrimoy Singh Mahato from reaching Rishra for the second day in a row. Following a protest demonstration on the old Delhi Road where he held traffic movement to ransom for over an hour, Majumdar returned to Calcutta to meet Governor Bose at Raj Bhavan. Majumdar submitted a memorandum and, as per sources in the party, also demanded Article 355 in writing.

[Article 355 of the Indian Constitution empowers the Centre to take control of state administration or parts of it, its duty to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.]

Police also thwarted a separate attempt made by BJP MP Locket Chatterjee to reach Rishra by the train route. Chatterjee boarded a local train from Bally and disembarked at Rishra station where she was intercepted by the police. The leader staged a protest on the platform before turning back.

19-year-old Salkia man held

Meanwhile, in a significant arrest, the Howrah Police picked up 19-year old Sumit Shaw, a resident of Salkia, from Munger in Bihar. Shaw was allegedly filmed brandishing a gun in hand at the Ram Navami procession in Howrah on 30 March before violence broke out in that area. Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was among the party leaders who tweeted the video alleging that the violence was instigated by the BJP. Following the arrest, the TMC tweeted multiple pictures of Shaw with BJP leaders to establish his connection with the party.

Speaking at a party workers meet in East Midnapore, Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee alleged: “BJP is resorting to bringing people from outside the state to incite violence. It is a criminal act. Under the garb of Ram Navami procession, they are asking people to carry guns and swords to incite violence. This was CPI(M)’s culture that BJP is now taking it forward.”

“The person who was dancing with a gun during the Ram Navami procession, did Lord Ram whisper in his ears to carry weapons during the procession?,” she added.