Unabated Killings in West Bengal

Kolkata: IN a gruesome incident, Kartick Mondal, a member of Katwa zonal committee of CPI(M) was brutally killed by TMC goons in his village. Mondal (64) was an extraordinary human being -- retired teacher, a singer and song writer, organiser of Adivasi Lokshilpi Sangha, the organisation of the folk artists and a leader of the peasant movement. He was very close to people.

On the night of 6th October, Mondal returned to his village in Katwa after attending a meeting of the cultural organisation. In a pre-meditated attack, the armed goons were waiting in a bush near Mondal’s house and attacked him savagely. Mondal was killed on the spot. As the villagers rushed in hearing shouts, the assailants fled from the spot.

Police was informed but did not bother to reach the spot for two long hours, though the nearest police outpost was only 4 km away. When the police reached the spot, the villagers demanded that they carry out a house-to-house search as they suspected that the killers were not still able to run away. But the police refused to do so. Even the request to bring sniffer dogs was also denied. Angered, the villagers refused to hand over the body to police till midnight. It was clear that there was complicity between the ruling party murderers and the police.

Thousands of people paid tributes to Kartick Mondal in his last rites the next day. Villagers came out in numbers all along the 25 km road from the Katwa town to the village. People were literally crying . The village women brought flowers from their own home to lay at Mondal’s body. Katwa-2 block observed a spontaneous bandh to protest the murder. The police, who refused to arrest the killers, used force to break the bandh. Seventeen CPI(M) activists were arrested.

A terror regime has been let loose in the district of Burdwan. One after another murder of CPI(M) leaders has taken place in the last 28 months, that included district secretariat member, district committee members and zonal committee members.

SCHOOL CANDIDATE’S BROTHER KILLED

Bedbaria, a village at Chapra, Nadia resembled the state of democracy in West Bengal on the afternoon of 06th October. As 60 villagers were evicted from their residence, 10 houses were set on fire after being robbed and Ashadul Seikh (42 years) got brutally killed for the ‘grave mistake’ his brother has committed by participating in the elections of a school guardians’ management committee as a candidate of the progressive democratic guardians.

On the same day when the chief minister was busy in inaugurations of high-budget festive makeshifts (Puja pandals) in the glare of lights and glitters in Kolkata, the residents of Chapra witnessed a spine chilling episode of terror or whatever the CM and her disciples term as ‘democracy’ that has been practiced day by day for the 28 months in this state by them. Bedbaria Higher Secondary School’s Guardians’ Management Committee elections were scheduled to be held on this day and filling up of candidature was done prior to that as per practice. Ashadul Seikh’s brother, Ramjan Sheikh, was one of the candidates despite threats from Trinamool Congress not to contest.

Just after the elections were over, an armed gang attacked the house of Ramjan, who was not present in the house. His brother Asadul was attacked with sharp weapons and was killed on the spot. Theirs and 10 other houses were set on fire, and got burned to the ashes. Ramjan’s daughter and two nieces were burnt and hospitalised. 60 villagers had to flee from the village.

The ordeal did not end there. TMC barred Asadul’s body to be brought to village burial ground and the burial had to be done some 20 km away.  Despite clear allegation and FIR from Asadul’s wife, the police did not arrest any assailants. Instead, Ramjan Sheikh was arrested due to the pressure from the ruling party.

AGRI WORKER BEATEN TO DEATH BY POLICE

Over to police, directly. The TMC was eager to win control over a School Management Committee at Indapur, Bankura.  The ruling party leaders threatened the villagers not to oppose them.  The agricultural workers of Boga village disagreed to let the ruling party have a clean sweep in the election, so they protested. The consequent result was merciless attack on the village, this time directly led by the police.  They unleashed massive lathicharge on the village labourers, entered in poor peoples’ homes, ransacked and unleashed a reign of terror. Binod Bauri (55 years), an agricultural worker, was beaten to death by the police.  When the villagers went to the police station to lodge a FIR, the police refused to take the complaint saying that Binod died in a heart-attack. The police then rushed to the village with the body of the dead agricultural workers and forced the relatives of the dead to burn the body without post mortem. Bauri had numerous injuries and wounds on his body. The village was practically surrounded by police and villagers were forced to remain silent. However, CPI(M) leaders went to the villages and visited the homes of the poor people. The villagers described the incidents to them.

VETERAN CPI(M) LEADER KILLED

On 8th October, veteran CPI(M) leader Bharat Mondal was murdered in Kultali village in South 24 Parganas district. He was returning after attending a Party meeting, riding on a motorbike of another Party leader. On the way, they were both attacked by TMC activists. They threw bombs and then fired. Bharat Mondal was attacked by sharp weapons too. He was killed on the spot and Samsuddin Sardar was seriously injured.

Mondal was instrumental in organising the villagers in Kundakhali Godabar where Left Front won the panchayat in the recent elections. Mondal was the key eye-witness in the murder of CPI(M) leader Icha Gayen, who was murdered in August, 2012.  Thousands of people gathered in the night in the village and blocked roads. They also refused to hand over the body to police. Police faced huge protest from the people. A 12-hour bandh was observed in Kultali in protest of the murder.