Ever since the results for the Legislative Assembly elections came out on 2nd May and Trinamool Congress (TMC) was declared the winner with a clear majority, there have been numerous reportings of violence, loot, and plunder throughout the state.
These reports are being condemned throughout the country, primarily because of the horrifying visuals that are being circulated across various social media platforms related to them. The acts are being largely classified as TMC's "victory violence" possibly because 9 out of the 14 official deaths reported are those of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, or so are the claims.
What's disheartening is that old and unrelated videos are being passed off as visuals of the recent political violence, thereby, instigating further online dismissals and disapprovals. What this essentially means is that fake news, incitement of communal violence, and online hate speech have been on full display in the state - all of them being criminal offenses under the Indian Penal Code.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday ordered an in-house fact-finding team to investigate the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal on Monday. The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of media reports regarding the death of some people in the violence, a day after the West Bengal Assembly elections results were declared. The agency said it considered it a “fit case of an alleged violation of Right to Life of the innocent citizens” and asked its DIG (Investigation) to set up a team of officers to conduct an on-the-spot probe. The team was asked to submit its report at the earliest, preferably within two weeks.
There is rampant mudslinging going on in the state regarding responsibility and accountability for the violence. There were repeated demands of imposition of the President’s rule in the state by BJP leaders and a central team was sent to West Bengal to look into the same.
Mamata Banerjee, who took oath as the Chief Minister for the third consecutive time, lashed out saying, “the law and order were not under her control” and it has just been “24 hours since she took the oath.”
She accused the BJP of trying to avenge their loss by politicizing the issue and question the party President JP Nadda’s visit to the state.
The ADG (Law and order) of Police Jawed Shamim said, "I need some time to gauge the entire situation before I can comment on it." Even Banerjee had indicated that she was not happy with the inefficiency of the police in different areas of the state. This essentially points to the faults in the civilian authority's mechanism of performing their duties efficiently.
A concerning nuance of the situation is that certain BJP leaders are trying to introduce a communal angle to the violence, claiming that there were targeted attacks against Hindus. The BJP's West Bengal General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, on the other hand, shared a video on Twitter, specifically mentioning that "Muslim" goons of the TMC were beating up BJP workers in Nandigram. Other leaders of TMC have called news of violence in the state a "massive disinformation campaign" by the BJP to divert attention from their loss.
Whatever be the case, we are yet to receive a credible proof and the reasoning behind the violence for the true perpetrators are yet to be caught. People of Bengal continue to live in fear.
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