In a heart-wrenching account of the violence that gripped West Bengal’s Murshidabad, the wife of a man who died in the clashes recalled the horrific attack on her family. The woman also lost her son in the riots.
Speaking to the news agency ANI, the widow recounted the harrowing moments that tore her family apart. “First, they pelted stones at us, then broke the windows and doors with a blunt weapon,” she said.
“Then they destroyed our kitchen and attacked us without warning. My husband and son were killed. I never even saw their faces, they were masked,” she added.
Another victim, Pradipta Pal, said that his shop, which was the sole source of the family’s income, was vandalised in the violence that day by a mob of 150-200 people.
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“On April 12, at around 9 am, some people vandalised my shop. We chased them away. After that, around 150-200 people came. They looted and set it on fire the third time. Our main door was very strong, which is why we survived,” Pal told ANI. He further said that the villagers saved him and his family.
Pal also alleged that they tried to call the police many times on the day of the violence, but they never showed up.
Murshidabad violence
Violence erupted in the Dhulian area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad on April 11 during ongoing protests over the Waqf Amendment Act, where three people were killed and several were injured.
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So far, over 150 people have been arrested, and adequate police forces have been deployed in Samserganj, Dhuliyan, and other affected areas.
Days later, supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in Bhangar, South 24 Parganas, torching police vehicles and injuring several.
‘Call for riots was given from loudspeakers of Masjid’: BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar
West Bengal BJP President and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday met DGP Rajeev Kumar at Bhawani Bhawan in West Bengal with the victims of Murshidabad violence and claimed that the “call for riots was given from the loudspeaker of the Masjid.”
“According to the victims, the call for riots was given from the loudspeaker of the Masjid,” the Union Minister said after the meeting.
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The Union Minister further claimed that people in the violence-affected areas of Murshidabad and Shamshergan have migrated to Malda and are living in refugee camps.
“After the riots in Murshidabad’s Shamsherganj, people migrated to Malda and are living in refugee camps. 11 people from there have come here to express their pain and suffering before the people of the state,” Majumdar told ANI.