The SIT report prepared by a three-member committee, set up by the Calcutta High Court, to probe into the Murshidabad anti-Hindu violence, which had taken place under the garb of being ‘anti-Waqf Amendment Act’ protests, highlights the reality of the violence and showcases how there were ‘serious lapses’ by local authorities in West Bengal.
Noting that the main attack took place on April 11, the report also mentions how the ‘local police were completely inactive and absent.’ The report further alleges how in the town of Dhulian, a local councilor played a key role in orchestrating the violence there. The report reads how a victim testified that assailants looted her gold jewellery and even furniture, and in Dhulian, a victims’ home was set on fire and to make sure that the fire could not be extinguished, the assailants even cut the water connection off, further, the miscreants burnt all the clothes in the house with kerosene oil, and the women of the house had no clothes to cover their bodies.
In the report, some of the victims from Betbona have been identified as Manoj Roy, Akash Mondal, Bikash Mondal, Nikhil Mondal, Chitta Roy, Bablu Mondal, Nibarun Mondal, Shampa Mandal, Bhabananda Ghosh, Basudeb Mondal, Ram Mondal, Arjun Mondal, and Latika Mondal.
Regarding the killings of the father-son duo Harogobindo Das and Chandan Das in Shamsherganj, the report mentions how the culprits broke down the main door of their house and forcibly took the 40-year-old son and the 74-year-old father out, and hit them brutally with an axe on their backs. The report adds, ‘A man was waiting there until they died.’ These murders, as per Chandan’s mother’s testimony, were committed by their Muslim neighbours.
Further, at Betbona, a live bomb was found near the house of Pratima Mondal, and in another case, victims Fulchand Mondal and Palash Mondal stated how a tractor from their house was looted, and a toto van, a motorcycle, and a bicycle were set on fire. Their house was damaged to the extent of it being inhabitable now, and they, along with their family members, had to escape from their house to save their lives as the assailants tried to slit their throats using knives.
Along with these cases of violence, arson, loot, and murders at people’s homes, the report also talks about how as per victims’ statements, shops were vandalised and burnt down, and essential documents were destroyed.
The panel, comprising Joginder Singh (Registrar, Law, NHRC), Satya Arnab Ghosal (Member Secretary, WBLSA), and Saugata Chakraborty (Registrar, WBJS)—submitted its report to the Calcutta high court last week.
