West Bengal: BJP team barred from entering violence hit Dhulagarh

BJP parliamentary delegation comprising of  MP's Jagdambika Pal and Satyapal Singh along with state president Dilip Ghosh were stopped at Ekabbarapur Road, about a kilometre away from the area that witnessed communal flare-up earlier in December following a Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi procession.

A central delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was barred from entering violence hit Dhulagarh town in Howrah district today by the West Bengal state administration.

The BJP parliamentary delegation comprising of  MPs Jagdambika Pal, Satyapal Singh and state president Dilip Ghosh were stopped at Ekabbarapur Road, about a kilometre away from the area that witnessed communal flare-up earlier in December following a Eid-e-Milad-Un-Nabi procession.

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. 
   
   BJP delegation reached Dhulagarh today afternoon, but were resisted from entering the trouble-torn area by the district administration citing prohibitory orders.


2. 
   
   Agitating BJP workers broke the first barricade but were stopped at the second by a huge police contingent deployed in the area.


3. 
   
   BJP supporters sat on a dharna at the spot chanting slogans against chief minister Mamata Banerjee and blocked National Highway-6 for an hour.


4. 
   
   "Why are we not being allowed to go inside and enquire about the facts on the ground?" asked, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal.


5. 
   
   "Is this democracy? People who are responsible for the violence have not been taken into custody and now Mamata's government is playing appeasement politics. This is a state sponsored violence. No security has been given to the people whose houses and shops were looted in front of the police," Pal added.


6. 
   
   About 18 kilometres from Kolkata, Dhulagarh in Howrah district witnessed violence after several houses and shops were vandalised and set on fire by a rampaging mob on December 12.


7. 
   
   Since then the area has been simmering with a large contingent of police and Rapid Action Force being deployed.


8. 
   
   No casualties were reported in the violence but prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CRPC have been in place since then to bring situation under control.


9. 
   
   Blaming the state government for the flare-up, BJP MP Satyapal Singh said,"The procession should not have been allowed to pass through the market area. It had never been allowed earlier. It is a complete breakdown of law and order machinery in Bengal. We want to find out why the violence started and why the government could not prevent this on time".


10. 
    
    "First, when they knew that on December 12 there was going to be a procession, why was it allowed to pass through the marketplace.It appears the state government is promoting communal riots. This is not the first time now, ever since Mamata Banerjee came to power, she has taken all decisions to compliment her policy of appeasement", the former Mumbai police commissioner alleged.


11. 
    
    On Wednesday, the state government had removed superintendent of police (Howrah Rural) Sabyasachi Raman Mishra for failing to normalise the situation on the ground at Dhulagarh.


12. 
    
    In fact, Director-General of Police Surajit Kar Purkayastha was also summoned by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to enquire about the law and order situation in Howrah district after the incident.