West Bengal governor silent on injured policemen and attack on Raj Bhavan

The 'students’ march' to Nabanna to demand the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, 27 August, did not succeed. The protestors failed to reach anywhere near the secretariat on the other side of the Hooghly river, in Howrah.

The number of protestors — many, if not most, of whom seemed to be either middle-aged political workers or unemployed youth — was also far below what was anticipated.

While no protestor is believed to have sustained any serious injury, Kolkata Police released photographs of several police officers with blood streaming down their faces, and claimed that around 35 police personnel sustained injuries.

West Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose had warned the state government against using excessive force against peaceful protestors. At the end of the day, he was quoted by the media as condemning the 'police brutality' against the 'students'.

The governor, however, maintained a studied silence on the vandalism and violence that marked the day and on the injuries sustained by police personnel.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra called out the governor’s partisan approach and posted, 'How can the Bengal Governor say police used disproportionate force? Is this partisan talk acceptable from him? Yet India Today TV claims he said it. Not one or twice but repeatedly at bottom of TV screen.'

It was left to TV News18 Bangla to show visuals of protestors raining brickbats at the Raj Bhavan. While their target apparently were the policemen deployed inside the Raj Bhavan, spectators amused themselves with wondering whether the protestors had mistaken the Raj Bhavan for Nabanna, the state secretariat. A few wondered whether the governor would call on the injured policemen in a show of support and solidarity.

Kolkata Police, meanwhile, released photographs of some of the protestors throwing stones at the police and called upon people to identify them.

Even as the police appear to have exercised considerable restraint during the day, the uniformed men bore the brunt of the violence, especially the unarmed traffic policemen.

Several video clips appeared on social media showing protestors assaulting policemen.

Moitra sarcastically posted, 'If WB was a BJP ruled state all the goons disguised as students who brutally attacked police today & ransacked hospital on 14 August would have had their homes bulldozed by now.'

She also questioned the credentials of the ‘student protestors’ and claimed an 'MBA in history', a '23-year old in Class XI' and a 'B.Tech in Bengali' were among the participants.

Another protestor grilled on a Bengali news channel conceded that he had passed the higher secondary examination in 2015 and was currently in the third year in a college. He had stepped out midstream and joined his father’s business due to family circumstances, he explained, but refused to furnish details of the course he was following.