Murshidabad Violence ‘Appears To Have Been Deliberate’: NCW Report Slams Mamata-Led Bengal Govt Over Riot

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has condemned the violence in Murshidabad, West Bengal, alleging a breakdown of governance and heightened vulnerability for women.

Vijaya Rahatkar.

Source : ANI

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday said that there is a complete breakdown of the administrative machinery and governance in Murshidabad and called the scale of trauma severe and long-lasting for the women in the area. Three people were killed in the area in the violence that took place in Shamsherganj, Suti, Dhulian, and Jangipur in Murshidabad district on April 11 and 12 during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar visited the violence-affected regions of Murshidabad. The NCW noted that many of the displaced women now face increased vulnerability and the loss of dignity in the absence of state support. The committee said that it observed a complete breakdown of the administrative machinery and governance in the Murshidabad district.

"Despite prior intelligence and visible tensions in the area, the state government failed to take preventive or responsive action and, instead, appeared to act as a mute spectator. The violence appears to have been deliberate and premeditated... The porous border with Bangladesh, combined with poor administrative vigilance, has worsened the situation, and the presence of radical religious elements in the area cannot be ruled out," the NCW said in a statement.

NCW also called the West Bengal government a mute spectator. Despite a peace appeal by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 19, she has not visited the affected areas or met with the victims, the statement said.

The commission has also alleged that the state officials were non-cooperative during the inquiry, with senior officers failing to appear at hearings and local authorities offering no meaningful assistance.

In the Malda district, relief camps are reportedly overwhelmed and under-resourced, the commission said.

The conditions in the relief camps, particularly in the Malda district, are equally dire. Victims lack basic amenities such as food, clothing, drinking water, sanitation and medical support. The State Government has failed to provide even minimum relief, leaving already traumatised families in a continued state of distress and uncertainty, the commission added.