“This is the ghastly sight that we saw today on the streets of Kolkata”: WB Guv on ‘Nabanna Abhiyaan’

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 27 (ANI): West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose expressed his angst on the chaos that gripped the streets of Kolkata following the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest rally in the state capital on Tuesday.

Speaking to ANI, Bose said that it was a ghastly sight that they witnessed on the streets of Kolkata today.

“I would say disproportionate force and coercive power were used by the state in dealing with the situation, ignoring the Supreme Court’s pronouncements that state power shall not be unleashed against peaceful protesters. This is the ghastly sight that we saw today on the streets of Kolkata. Certainly, this cannot be appreciated in any manner,” he said.

He further stated that the “situation is far from normal” and “all players in public life feel like coming together and challenging the irresponsible behaviour of the government” over the gravity of the situation.

“CBI is the premier investigating agency of the government. I don’t want to comment on their investigation at this stage at all. People have a right to get justice. They should get justice,” he added.

He further asserted that the government “has a duty to ensure that justice is given to the people” and to “stop this murderous game.”

“Today on the streets, the government has insulted the national flag, national sentiments, the nation and the people of Bengal,” he said.

Earlier today, chaos broke out in the streets of Kolkata. Security personnel lobbed tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse protestors on the Howrah Bridge marching towards the West Bengal State Secretariat Nabanna, amidst the row over the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case.

Protestors gathered at the Howrah Bridge, climbing atop police barricades and clashed with police personnel during the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest march. They were seen breaking and dragging away the barricades that were erected in the Santragachi area, en route to the Secretariat.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the party had orchestrated the chaos.

“BJP’s idea of a ‘peaceful protest’: Pelt stones and push barricades Severely injure the police Orchestrate extreme chaos and disrupt the law and order of the state. The ‘Nabanna Abhiyan’ conspired by the BJP is nothing short of a fatal attack on Bengal,” the TMC posted on its official X handle.

The protests on Tuesday followed the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.