Kolkata, Aug 25 (Inditop.com) Is West Bengal slipping into lawlessness? Or are the recent incidents of violence due to a change in the political climate? These were the questions doing the rounds after a local football tournament led to death, bombings and arson.
The premier Vedic Village resort on the fringes of the city at Rajarhat was partially gutted Sunday after a few thousand strong mob raided it with burning torches, bombs and iron rods.
The mob, comprising people from surrounding villages, was retaliating against the death of a 21-year-old youth who was fired upon by some “antisocial elements” incensed over their team bowing out of the tournament.
The villagers alleged that those who rained bullets on them had taken shelter in the resort, from where police Monday recovered some weapons, 22 bombs as well as bomb-making ingredients.
As is the tradition in the politically volatile state, various parties have blamed each other for the violence, which has increased after the Lok Sabha election results saw the Left Front get a drubbing with the Trinamool Congress gaining the majority of seats alongside the Congress.
“Violence on the soccer ground can lead to fisticuffs. But why should that lead to bombings and firing? The main reason lies in the proliferation of illegal arms factories.
“The ruling Left Front-backed criminals are the main beneficiaries. So the police are silent despite repeated demands on our part for seizure of those arms,” said senior Trinamool Congress leader and union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy.
However, Left Front major Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) denied the allegations.
“The Trinamool Congress controls the rural body there. It is trying to foment trouble in the area. And they have been trying to perpetrate violence in the entire state since the Lok Sabha polls,” said Rajarhat legislator and CPI-M leader Rabin Mandal.
But Sunday’s incident is not isolated. Around 100 people have died in clashes in the state since the Lok Sabha polls.
Large parts of the state — Murshidabad, Burdwan, Birbhum, Hooghly, Howrah and East Midnapore districts — have been rocked by political violence after the polls.
This prompted governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi’s comment that the state was witnessing a “veritable tandava (Lord Shiva’s dance of destruction in Hindu mythology) of political violence”.
Political scientist Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chowdhury blamed the rampant violence on the changed political scenario.
“During its 32-year rule, the Left Front has indulged in nepotism and partisanship. Their opponents had been silent all along. But the Lok Sabha polls have changed everything. The Left Front’s rivals have scented a chance to establish their dominance in battles for political turf. Some of these people now feel they are more organised and powerful,” Chowdhury told Inditop.
Real estate battles were also a cause of the violence, he added. “So far, those in power were making and unmaking land deals. Now the emerging forces are also putting their hand in the lucrative pie.”
He predicted that irrespective of the results of the 2011 assembly polls, violence would continue for the next four-five years.
