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17 injured in train blast in West Bengal

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kolkata-blast

Kolkata: Seventeen people were injured in a low intensity bomb blast on a passenger train in West Bengal on Tuesday, railway sources said.

Seven of the injured have been hospitalised after the explosion, which took place at 3.55 a.m. on the Sealdah-Krishnagar local of Eastern Railway between Titagarh and Barrackpore station.

A railway spokesman told IANS the low intensity bomb blast took place following an altercation and scuffle between anti-social who had boarded the train.

Two trains were cancelled as train movement was hit following the incident.

(IANS)

11 killed in West Bengal firecracker factory blast

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Police said all the victims were staff members of the factory where the blast occurred shortly before 10 pm last night.

Firecracker Factory

Midnapore: At least 11 people were killed and four others injured in an explosion in a firecracker factory at Pingla in West Midnapore district, the police said on Thursday.

“So far 11 bodies were recovered. Four others were injured and hospitalised,” district Superintendent of Police Bharati Ghosh told PTI.

On the reason behind the blast, she said, “We are looking into it. Probably something went wrong during manufacturing of crackers.”

Police said all the victims were staff members of the firecracker factory where the blast occurred shortly before 10 pm last night. The fire has been put out.

(PTI)

Nun rape case: Four suspects detained in Ludhiana

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Nuns demonstrate against gang rape, church attack in Nadia of West Bengal on 15 March 2015 (Photo - IANS)

Nuns demonstrate against gang rape, church attack in Nadia of West Bengal on 15 March 2015 (Photo – IANS)

Chandigarh: Four Bangladeshi nationals were detained in Ludhiana in connection with the gang rape of an elderly nun in West Bengal’s Ranaghat town last month.

DCP Navin Singla told the media here Wednesday that four Bangladeshi nationals were detained from Ludhiana’s Motinagar area.

Punjab Police additional DGP Dinkar Gupta said that the suspects were being questioned.

The suspects were detained following their photographs being made available to police authorities in various states.

The 72-year-old victim, a sister superior in a convent school in Ranaghat town, was gang raped by the accused who had entered the school premises to commit dacoity on March 14.

(IANS)

Nandigram: Perfect example of disempowering empowered Women

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by Nisha Biswas

Nandigram-Women

Nandigram, a rural area with two community development blocks in Haldia subdivision of Purba Medinipur, is not known as such but is the name of historic resistance – struggle and the win of its people against the forcible acquisition of 10,000 acre land by the West Bengal government for proposed Chemical hub between 2007 to 2010. Since then Nandigram is inspiration for many agrarian and anti- land acquisition struggles. It was mainly due to Nandigram that the then UPA government was compelled to change SEZ and Land Acquisition Acts. The movement took the steam out of the more than three decades CPI(M) rule and TMC won the state assembly election in 2011 with unprecedented majority.

Women of Nandigram played a key role in its resistance movement. They were in the forefront. Supriya Jana lost her precious life in indiscriminate firing by police. As many as 17 women were raped, many were molested and around a hundred were injured. Women like, twice gang raped Radha Rani Ari, Tapasi Das whose thigh was almost sawed and had uterus hit when police opened fire on unarmed women and children and who still lives in perpetual pain, Swarnmoyee Das whole left elbow was so badly injured that it still remains badly injured, elderly Narmda Shee became the face of the Nandigram movement.

Their courage, energy and never dying attitude inspired many. It was the time to dream, time to hope, time to empower, time to live and time to die. They went all over the country to tell their tales. The then opposition party chief Ms Mamata Banerjee supported them and shrewdly snatched the credit. People of Nandigram in general and women in particular thought that she would bring the change that they had dared to dream. Riding on the waves of Singur and Nandigram movements she snatched power from CPI(M) and became Chief Minister of West Bengal on May 20, 2011.

A seven-member team of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression, West Bengal (WSS, WB) visited Nandigram 4days ahead of observation of “Martyr’s Day”, observed on 14th March of each year to commemorate the historic struggle of Nandigram against land acquisition, this year.

What the team saw was terrible saddening and disturbing. That these women who were once the powerful leaders are today not only distressed but are also disempowered.

Now, they are nowhere in the leadership of Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), formed at the time of struggle. They are not even invited for BUPC meetings or on March 14 to observe Martyr’s Day. The leadership of BUPC did not know what happened to the cases that they filed against police and ruling party goons. On the other hand, in December 2013 CBI has instituted case against more than 30 men and women, including women who were severely injured/ raped for inciting violence and attacking the police and the CBI’s request for permission to initiate criminal proceeding against some police officials is still lying with the state government. The women, who not only suffered rape, bullet wounds and state terror but had remained in the fore front of the heroic struggle against forcible land acquisition, and were subsequently instrumental in unseating Left Front from power, have today been completely edged out of the political space.

Women like Tapasi Das and Swarnmoyee, who needed prolonged treatment and support for the disability caused by bullet injuries were left to fend for them selves. None of the women was awarded or given any job in recognition of their contribution to the movement. In rare cases men of the family are given some temporary job with Metro Rail, but women were just forgotten. Tapasi Das, who lives in continuous pain and is bed ridden for most of the time, is not provided any medical or emotional support. Local MP gives her Rs 1500.00 per month, out of which the courier pockets a hundred rupees, is not sufficient for her travelling to doctor’s chamber. Her family finances do not permit to consult a specialist.

A grand hospital built in the memory of martyrs and to take care of medical needs of the locality, is a picture of grim dereliction and waste. Main gates remained locked and the watchman’s assertion of doctor visiting once or twice a month remains questionable.

Radha Rani Ari, who travelled all over the country with Ms. Banerjee to narrate the barbaric sexual atrocities inflicted on her, recalls how in the run-up of assembly election she was much sought after by the present ruling party. Now that the TMC party of Ms Banerjee is firmly in power, she has been carelessly abandoned. She says “My body was like a property that would get votes” and that now very often she contemplates suicide. Angur Das, who was raped along with her two daughters, one married with two kids and the other unmarried at that time, is today a grim picture of neglect. She remembers the promise that marrying her daughter was party’s responsibility. Her all the three sons work in UP in a carpet factory. Elder daughter Kabita was not allowed to return to her marital home after this incident. Younger daughter Ganga’s well – being hangs on the thin thread of payment/nonpayment of hefty dowry agreed. Only three out of sixteen raped have received compensation of Rs 2.00 lakh.

Brute force of male domination has silenced women. All the rape accused, like Badal Garu, Kalia Garu, Rabin Das, etc., have retuned to their homes after spending years of exile to escape public wrath. Rumor is their rehabilitation has taken place after negotiation with BUPC (male) leadership. Garu clan lives in radha Rani’s area and is next-door neighbors of Angur Das. It makes women further insecure and adds to the reasons of their depression. These men are devoid of any remorse, and with the support of BUPC to whose leadership they had paid hefty fine, causes fear in these women. On confrontation, BUPC leaders tell them, “What is your problem?” They are not ready to understand that their problem is not only justice is not done; they are being humiliated every day. Even neighbours are now pointing fingers at the rape survivors.

Being the battleground that changed the political scenario of West Bengal and have caused major policy changes, Nandigram remains the very picture of neglect. Roads are the same picture of rejection, agriculture still remains single crop, ponds are not renovated and canals are yet to be dug, causing men-folk to migrate in search of work. Even MNREGA work is erratic.

Nandigram today is a sad picture of rejection. Women, who were the integral part of the movement and were at the forefront of the anti-acquistion stir that eventually catapulted the Trinamool Congress into power in West Bengal are now confined to their homes and are subjected to all kind of oppression.

Nisha Biswas is an activist based in Kolkata.

 

Trinamool win Bongaon LS seat, state ruling parties triumph in bypolls

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Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (File/PTI)

Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (File/PTI)

Kolkata/Chennai/Hyderabad/Panaji/Itanagar/Mumbai: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress retained the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat, while the BJP bagged two assembly constituencies in bypolls covering six states that saw the triumph of the states’ ruling parties and a poor show on the part of the Congress.

Apart from Bongaon, six assembly constituencies had gone to the hustings Feb 13. In the vote count, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two, and the Trinamool, AIADMK, Telugu Desam and Congress triumphed in one assembly seat each.

Days after failing to open its account in the Delhi assembly polls, the Congress saw its candidates forfeit their deposit in both the Bongaon parliamentary and Krishnaganj assembly seats in West Bengal, was unable to open its account in Andhra Pradesh legislature, and bit the dust in Maharashtra and Goa.

All the seats including the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency went to the parties which were in power in the respective states.

In West Bengal, the embattled Trinamool got relief by emphatically retaining both the parliamentary and the assembly seats.

In Bongaon, Trinamool candidate Mamatabala trounced her nearest rival Communist Party of India-Marxist nominee and former state minister Debesh Das by over 2.11 lakh votes.

The Bongaon bypolls, necessitated by the death of Trinamool MP Kapil Krishna Thakur, assumed extra significance for the ruling party after state minister and Kapil Krishna’s brother Manjul Krishna quit his post and joined BJP in the lead up to the election.

The BJP, which has been gaining ground in the state, finished second at Krishnaganj, pushing the CPI-M to the third spot. In Bongaon, the CPI-M narrowly succeeded in retaining the second position after a close battle with the BJP.

The Congress candidates lost their deposits and came fourth in both the seats.

In Nadia district’s Krishnaganj, Trinamool candidate Satyajit Biswas won by over 37,000 votes against his nearest rival Manabendra Roy of the BJP.

The Trinamool vote share dropped two percent compared to last year’s Lok Sabha polls, while the BJP’s vote almost doubled.

The twin electoral success boosted the Trinamool, which is also battling internal strife with one-time second-in-command and general secretary Mukul Roy distancing himself from the party.

Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the twin victories as a “miracle”.

In the Maharashtra, BJP candidate Tushar Rathod, son of Govind Rathod, whose death last October necessitated the bye-election, won the Mukhed Assembly seat by defeating his nearest Congress rival Hanumantrao Patil Betmogrekar by 47,248 votes.

The BJP also tasted success in Goa, where Sidharth Kunkolienkar won the Panaji bypoll, defeating his nearest rival Surendra Furtado from the Congress by 5,368 votes.

The bypoll was held after the elevation of sitting legislator and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar to the union cabinet last November.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) retained the Tirupati seat.

Riding on the sympathy wave, M. Suguna of the ruling party won the by-poll caused by the death of her husband M. Venkatramna, defeating Congress nominee R. Sreedevi by over 1.16 lakh votes.

All other candidates including Sreedevi of Congress lost their deposit.

The Congress had no representation in the assembly. It drew a blank in general elections held in May last year as people vent their ire on the party for bifurcating the state.

The Congress’ consolation win came from the north eastern state of Arunachal, where its nominee Nyamar Karbak defeated his nearest BJP rival Bai Gadi by a margin of 119 votes in a five-cornered contest from Liromoba constituency.

Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK retained the Srirangam assembly constituency with a huge 96,000 plus margin margin over archrival DMK.

AIADMK candidate S.Valarmathi polled 151,561 votes while DMK’s N.Anand secured 55,045.

The assembly seat was earlier held by former chief minister J.Jayalalithaa and the bye-election was necessitated following her disqualification after her conviction in a corruption case and sentence of four years in jail.

In a statement issued in Chennai, Jayalalithaa thanked the voters of Srirangam for electing her party’s candidate.

(IANS)

Bengal woman tied naked to tree, beaten; opposition slams Mamata

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woman-tied-beatenKolkata: A woman in West Bengal Monday alleged that she was tied naked to a tree, beaten and branded over allegations of stealing. A couple were arrested but got bail which prompted the opposition to accuse the Mamata Banerjee government of “patronising criminals”.

Police Monday arrested a man and his wife for the incident that occurred Sunday in Kultoli in Baruipur subdivision of South 24 Parganas district. However, both the accused were granted bail by a court.

“I was accused of stealing and a gang lead by Sanjib Maiti tied me naked to a tree and beat me with sticks. They also branded me with hot metal,” said the woman who later filed a police complaint.

Baruipur sub-divisional police officer Deepak Sarkar said Maiti and his wife were arrested, but granted bail by a court.

While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) alleged the involvement of Trinamool Congress activists, the Congress and the BJP slammed the state administration over the accused getting bail.

“After tying her naked to a tree, they subjected her to indescribable atrocities. She was subjected to this brutality only just because she is a CPI-M supporter. Trinamool goons have been attacking our people for long. We demand the arrests of all the perpetrators,” former minister and CPI-M leader Kanti Ganguly said after visiting the woman.

However, Trinamool’s Kultoli block president Gopal Majhi denied the allegations.

“The entire thing has been staged by the CPI-M and their leader (Ganguly) is trying to frame us and malign the Trinamool,” he said.

Actress-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly, who recently joined Bharatiya Janata Party, slammed Chief Minister Banerjee for the rise in crimes against women in the state.

“When the chief minister herself described rape as a ‘petty matter’, then such crimes are bound to happen. It’s a shame that a state headed by a woman CM has been hitting the headlines for crime against woman,” said the actress, who gained cult popularity for playing Draupadi in the television series “Mahabharat”.

Former state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya too attacked the administration for pressing lighter charges against the two accused.

“Not a single day passes when attacks on women are not taking place. Instead of taking strict action, the administration is actually encouraging criminals by either not taking any action or by pressing lighter charges,” said Bhattacharya.

The incident comes days after a woman in Birbhum district was tortured and nettle leaves rubbed into her private parts allegedly by a police team to extract information about her nephew – a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader wanted for his alleged involvement in a political clash.

A National Commission for Women team, headed by chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Saturday recorded the Birbhum woman’s statement and assured of taking action in the matter.

(IANS)

‘Burdwan blast part of BJP's devious gameplan drafted by RSS’

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derek-o-brien

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress has called national security adviser Ajit Doval a known RSS sympathizer and revealed that the Burdwan blast was a part of a “devious” master gameplan of the BJP that was “conceived, drafted and approved by RSS”.

“The NSA is a known RSS sympathizer, these plans are hatched at RSS headquarters,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien said on Sunday reacting to Arun Jaitley’s comment on Mamata Banerjee.

Calling it a part of a larger BJP gameplan, the TMC leader said they will come out with more facts in the next 48 hours.

Making a pointed reply to finance minister’s comment stating that Mamata’s action in Burdwan blasts probe was “neither responsible nor nationalistic”, the TMC leader said, “Jaitley ji do what you want but TMC doesn’t need lessons on nationalistic ideas.”

Questioning BJP’s funding, Derek O’Brien asked, “Where did BJP raise their money for LS polls, where is the party getting their big money?”

“Why don’t they (BJP) provide transparent accounts?” he said adding, “If nation knows how much black money is spent by BJP, they will become a blacklisted party.”

Trinamool Congress leadership has said it will raise the issue of black money on the floor of Parliament and seek support of like-minded parties on this issue.

Earlier, Arun Jaitley expressed disappointment over Mamata’s reaction to Saradha scam and Burdwan blasts. “Some individuals connected with the TMC have been involved in making easy money from the Ponzi schemes. The schemes have looted small investors. As a new political Party, it was incumbent on any responsible leader to purge the Party of such leaders. It is regrettable that Mamta Didi instead of doing that has chosen identify herself with the cause of these leaders,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Referring to the Burdwan blasts probe, Jaitley wrote, “The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has arrested several people who have engineered the blast. They are enemies of the State. The West Bengal Police or the other intelligence agencies have no substantive material to establish that the blast was stagemanaged? If there is no such material, why has Didi chosen to allege that the blast was stagemanaged? Such allegations clearly help the actual culprits. This is neither responsible nor nationalistic.”

Burdwan blast – act of criminal gang: Mushawarat fact finding report

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A rally organised by Muslims in Burdwan on October 20 against maligning of religious institutions in the wake of the blast in the town.

A rally organised by Muslims in Burdwan on October 20 against maligning of religious institutions in the wake of the blast in the town.

Kolkata: The Burdwan blast was merely a case of criminals fabricating simple crude bombs and selling them to politicians and criminals but the BJP-led central government has employed it for its own political agenda to polarise voters on communal lines ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016, a fact finding report by All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat has said.

The occasion has also been used to revive the BJP’s old propaganda about madrasas, fact finding team speakers told a press conference here yesterday, as published by the Milli Gazette website.

Two persons that police claim to be terrorists were killed, while a third was injured in what was termed as ‘accidental’ explosion on October 2 in a rented house at Khagragarh on the outskirts of Burdwan.

While announcing the preliminary report of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat West Bengal fact-finding delegation – it visited Burdwan on 24 October – the report said the criminals were outsiders who rented an accommodation in a locality of Burdwan and were exposed only as a result of the blast.

The press conference was addresses among others by the AIMMM president Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, who said, “We have no faith in the NIA investigations because it is a puppet of the Modi regime, which thrives on communal polarisation. The Mamata government has failed to withstand central meddling due to its current problems due to Saradha Group financial scandal.”

Following is the text of the fact-finding report:

Burdwan is a district of West Bengal state situated at a distance of around 150 kms from Kolkata. A bomb blast took place here in a mohalla called Khagragarh at 11 am on 2 October, 2014. A Police team which rushed to the place, found three persons seriously injured. Two women with their children escaped unhurt because they were in an adjacent room. Shakeel Ghazi, one of the three, was blown into pieces, while Sobhan Mondal, alias Swapan Mondal, and Abdul Hakeem were profusely bleeding. Mondal succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital but Abdul Hakeem survived. Razia, Ghazi’s wife and Ameena Bibi, Abdul Hakeem’s wife, were taken into custody. Chemicals and explosive materials were found in the room. It seems the persons living in the house were using it to manufacture crude bombs under the guise of running a burqa factory.

After this incident, Rahul Sinha, President of BJP West Bengal, used the media to issue a series of explosive statements to disseminate fear among Muslims and accuse them of indulging in terrorism. Small incidents started taking place in various parts of the state and an attempt was made to burn a madrasa student alive. He was hospitalized and is still fighting for his life.

Under this situation, a team of leaders of Muslim organisations and others visited Khagragarh and Samulia village on 24 October, 2014, met officers of the administration, spoke to the people of the area and inspected the Samulia madrasa. The delegation also met with the secretary of a madrasa located near the Khagragarh building where the explosion took place. The delegation included representatives of the West Bengal unit of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Milli Ittehad Parishad, Jamaat–e-Islami Hind West Bengal, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Students Islamic Organsation of India (SIO), Welfare Party of India, Markazi Jamiat Ahle-Hadees and All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The delegation also included Mr. Monisha Sen of Welfare Party of India and Mr. Sukhnandan Singh Alluwalia, a Sikh leader. The delegation was led by the General Secretary of AIMMM West Bengal, Mr. Abdul Aziz. A number of mediapersons also accompanied the delegation.

When this delegation entered the Khagragarh mohalla, it found that NIA Chief Mr. Sharad Kumar too was visiting it to inspect the place of the explosion. The delegation tried to meet him but police officers forcefully intervened and did not allow the delegation to meet the NIA Chief, while mediapersons accompanying the delegation were allowed to meet Mr. Kumar though he refused to talk to team.

The delegation met Mr. Muhammad Ali Biswas, Secretary and Maulana Shaikh Abdur Rahman, principal of a madrasa located near the place. A number of senior residents of the mohalla also joined in. They confirmed that an explosion did take place but the way BJP, RSS and some media sections are twisting, it is condemnable as it has nothing to do with reality. This effort to implicate all Muslims is equally condemnable as are those who were fabricating bombs. These people want to make the whole Muslims of India responsible for the criminal activity indulged in by around five individuals, which is contrary to the requirements of justice and humanity.

Women of the mohalla told the delegation that media people have turned their life into hell. They enter their houses with a request to drink water, then speak to them about strange things seeking information about the explosion while the fact is that no one here knows who were the men and women involved in the bomb-making because these people were not locals and had only rented an accommodation here. Local people thought they were traders but it came out only after the explosion that they were criminals. It is unacceptable that BJP leaders and mediapersons want to punish the mohalla people for a crime committed by strangers.

The delegation also met the SP of Burdwan district Mr Mirza for about 30 minutes trying to understand the incident and connected issues. The delegation also visited Samulia village, situated at a distance of around 30 kms from Burdwan. A madrasa here is the target of the police here. The kutcha madrasa building speaks volumes about its plight. The delegation met a numbers of the residents of the village. They all expressed their bewilderment at what is being said. They told the delegation that young girls between the age of 8-10 years studied here. They were from outside the village. Village girls, they said, studied in two village mosques.

Nothing untoward or suspicious was seen in this madrasa. This was an elementary education madrasa which should be described as a ‘maktab’ instead. Elementary books were taught here. Villagers showed the delegation two ponds which was dried by the police. A handle of an umbrella was found at the bottom of one of the ponds. Police people said this may be the butt of a gun. Police also found two air-guns while searching the madrasa. Nothing else objectionable was found here. Yet a police team is camping here. Three youths of the village, who work in Kerela, were not given tickets at the railway station counter when they said they belonged to Simulia village. Those youths had come here to spend the Eid with their parents. Village people are finding it difficult to find work. Marriage proposals of boys and girls of the village are being spurned. Villagers are terrified and have no one to help them. They sought the advice of the delegation about what to do to face the situation.

The delegation, after carefully studying the matter and speaking to many responsible people in the area, reached the following conclusions:

  1. The bomb-making activity in the Khagragarh house was going on for some months but it was not unknown to the local police and politicians because in the same building a political party had opened its temporary office during the last parliamentary elections. Political workers and policemen liberally frequented the place.
  2. The bomb-makers had opened a bomb-making unit which supplied bombs to politicians and extortionist criminals. Criminals and politicians patronised these bomb-makers. They enjoyed the backing of some influential power with far-reaching access.
  3. A section of the biased and communal media is trying to debase Muslims.
  4. There is suspicion that BJP too was in cahoots with the bomb-makers because the BJP is trying to control the districts of Birbhum, Burdwan and Nadia etc. competing with Trinamool Congress. The BJP is feeling ecstatic after the Loksabha and by-election results. It is said that the BJP is eyeing the 2016 assembly elections, therefore it is feared that such incidents will be repeated in the run-up to the elections and communal riots will take place in various parts of the state.
  5. The current West Bengal Government is weak and discredited as a result of the Saradha Scam. To influence people or to control areas by dislodging others, such dirty tricks will be played ahead of the 2016 elections.

Members of the fact finding delegation included: Maulana Shah Md Nooruddin, Khalid Ebadullah, Maulana Md Rafique, Monisha Sen, Maulana Md Yahya, Tahiruddin, Qamruddin Mallick, Sabir Ali, Mashihur Rahman, Kazi Massom, Abdul Aziz, Hilaluddin and Sukhnadan Alluwalia.

School girl gang raped in West Bengal

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(Photo credit: HT)

(Photo credit: HT)

Kolkata: A 17-year-old school girl was allegedly gang raped by unidentified youths in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, police said Friday.

The incident occurred Thursday evening when the class XI student was celebrating Diwali at her home in the district’s Dhalipara area, some 40 km from here.

According to the police complaint filed by the girl’s family Friday, the accused used chloroform to make her unconscious and dragged her to a desolate spot and gang raped her.

“We have registered a case of gang rape. No arrest has been made so far,” said an officer of the Deganga police station.

The girl, recuperating at Barasat State General Hospital, underwent medical examination to confirm rape.

(IANS)

Reflections on the Jadavpur protests

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Jadavpur Protest

– by Saurobijay Sarkar, Sanhati

Unprecedented is too mild an epithet to describe the Saturday rally by Kolkata students. The number is most conservatively [by the police] 80,000 and by watchers 1,10,000 and more because no one can count the real number as the end of the rally could not even come out of Nandan complex when the starting was getting fully drenched at the end point in Mayo Road where it was blocked. The torrential rain catapulted the spirit of the rally to dizzy heights. Every single participant shouted slogans – the most popular one was the one that went viral throughout India – “hok hok hok kolorob” – some say it is the direct poetic translation of “Halla bol”!

Students surged up and above- all without any specific banner and yet filled up with all RED slogans, Inquilab Zindabad, Lal salaam, Comrade , jab lal lal lal laharayega, hosh thikana mil jaiga”, were some snippets and variations of Hok Kolorob!

Why did the students of Kolkata flare up? A girl student were forcibly abducted in one of the boys hostel and molested by 10 odd students. After rescue every door of the authority was knocked and they were pushed back turned around. The VC appointed an enquiry committee, two women representatives of which actually intimidated the victim and her parents! Students had it enough, they besieged the VC. At around 2’0 clock in the night, VC called the police and they ran amok with the students. Every present girl student was molested. The male students were so brutally smashed that led 20 of them injured, two of them still languishing in the local hospital. 37 arrested including one girl.

This was the cause of flaring. First it was the Jadavpur students who rallied on the first day with 5000, on the second day 10,000 and on the final day that is on 20th crossed lakhs. They came from every college and institution possible. Those who never ever thought to join politics, walked along completely drenched with slogans and songs. The authorities [government, police and VC et al] spread all kinds of rumours, invectives, threats and dis-information! All these were washed out in that torrential rain. Students demand – resignation of VC, Pro-VC and Register and clean apology from the Commissioner or Police and the education minister! The movement will go on till they clinch victory. University has a grinding halt! – This is the anatomy of the movement!

Students of all hues came and joined. Came in the alumni, came in “outsiders” , came in students from all institutions, those who are not students walked along too! All under the leadership of the students, not one single untoward incident, not one vituperative remark to the guarding police personnel, with a wonderful management Kolkata was Occupied! The map was redrawn with the isobaric line of Kolkata joining Dhaka, Tahrir Square, Greece, Europe and Washington, Berkeley, New York- the “occupy map” has now one more entry and the contour is redrawn!

One incident- flared the entire India up! Students of IIM, IITs, IISc, JNU, DU who have bagged confirmed very high pay packet risked to walk along! Walked along those students who did not feel insecure and inferior for their non-elite mark of their institutions! Every one joined, shared and every one of them was a leader! They brought in their parents; they broke the steel-still barricade of their home-prohibitions. They found their AZADI in the rally-“Chin ke lenge AZADI” resounded the corridors of Kolkata! Kolkata was born again!

The author is a Jadavpur University alumnus.

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