West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that the BJP and Bajrang Dal were behind the Ram Navami violence in Howrah and assured that the state government will help all those whose properties have been vandalised.
“Howrah’s incident is very unfortunate. Neither Hindus nor Muslims were behind the violence in Howrah. The BJP along with Bajrang Dal and other such organisations were involved in the violence with arms,” Mamata Banerjee told ABP Ananda.
“We will help all those whose properties have been vandalised in Howrah violence,” the Chief Minister assured.
“Thirty-one people have been arrested in connection with Thursday’s violence in Howarh,” she informed.
The Chief Minister claimed that there was “laxity in a section of the administration” and stressed that strict action would be taken against those involved in the clash.
Large numbers of police forces remained deployed in the Shibpur area on Friday.
Earlier, CM Mamata claimed that the BJP had hired goons from other states to orchestrate communal riots.
“Why did they change the route [at the last moment] and take the unauthorized route to target and attack one community? If they believe they will attack others and receive relief through legal interventions, they must know that the people will reject them one day,” she said on Thursday, as per PTI.
The incident occurred when the procession was passing through the Kazipara locality, PTI reported a police officer as saying. Several vehicles were torched and shops were ransacked in the area.
More On It: 10 Hurt, 36 Arrested In Violence During Ram Navami Procession In Bengal’s Howrah, Mamata Blames BJP
Yatra Organiser Refutes Allegation Of Route Change
Speaking to ABP News, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)’s Indra Deo Dubey, the organiser of Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Howrah, refuted CM Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the route was changed.
He said, “I followed all routes. I have all the order copies with me. I have been in touch with the administration for three days and had informed them (about the plan) a month ago.”
“I had personally requested the CP (Commissioner of Police) to ensure (security) arrangements for only that 100-metre stretch.”
The VHP leader said that the procession began on time and dismissed allegations of changing the route. He said the VHP will approach the High court in the matter.
He held the administration responsible for the violence and remarked: “Police could have diverted our route if we were diverting from the approved plan.”
“The allegations are baseless and politically motivated. A political party carried out a procession in the morning there in the name of Ram Navami,” he added, mentioning that VHP had also submitted the slogan to the police that were to be raised in the procession.
“Why would we disturb our procession, we had our mothers and children taking part,” Dubey remarked.
Several shops and auto-rickshaws were ransacked during the violence and several cars, including a few police vehicles, were set ablaze.
Four fire tenders were rushed to extinguish the blaze.
Ram Navami processions were on Thursday taken out by members of the BJP and VHP in different parts of the state.
The VHP organised 1,000 large and small processions across the state on occasion, as per spokesperson Sourish Mukhopadhyay.
Chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, thousands of people participated in those processions in Howrah, Kharagpur, Barrackpore, Bhadreswar, Siliguri, and Asansol, PTI reported.
West Bengal last witnessed communal riots during the Ram Navami celebrations five years back, a year ahead of general elections.