Bengalis came together on 19th June 2019 in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, in front of the British Parliament, even as it rained. They were joined by Indians from across the country. The reason? They were there to express their concerns and protest against the atrocities taking place in West Bengal. Several participants shared their views and the collective group urged the Central Govt to take cognisance of the brutalities inflicted upon common people, besides the political murders, kidnappings and ransacking of property in West Bengal. The atrocities have spread to different sections of the society like the students and more recently doctors!
Read more about this here!
I am a bit confused on what is happening in Bengal. Is Bengal really an outlier in India when it comes to political violence? Was it always like this?
States which are associated/ used to associate with political violence where states with low social capital. Haryana/Bihar/UP.
But i am hearing news from Bengal and Kerala about all these violence . Can’t get my head around all this. Specially Bengali considering almost all Bengali i have met are genteel to a fault. Its a strange world.
I read the hyperlinked article and am even more confused. I was in Bengal recently and found much of Bengal (not saying all since I did not go to every part of the state . . . but every part of the state that I visited or heard about) to be very safe.
I hear obliquely that there are some conservative Sunni areas that are not safe to visit (very much unlike what I hear about the Sufi/Irfan areas of UP, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra). But since I did not visit conservative Sunni parts of Bengal, I don’t know. Obviously many Sufi, Irfan or Shia heavy West Bengal areas are safe. Plus many if not most Bengali muslims are against the liberal, left, Congress and their allies. They vote for their own parties (that are open to allying with the BJP such as the BSP) or directly for the BJP.
In any case it appears that this protest was about violence against politicians rather than violence against any other group of people, or Islamist violence?
It is possible that one reason the BJP did well in the last election in West Bengal is that they promised law and order. I don’t know. Would have to ask friends who live in West Bengal (have many).
Mrittunjoy Majumdar Guha, can you clarify?