Disturbing visuals have emerged from the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ rally organised by the BJYM at Kolkata as BJP karyakartas took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation and continued attack and murder of BJP leaders in the state. BJP leaders said that they were attacked with tear gas, lathi-charge and even country-made bombs were hurled at them.
Images from the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ rally accessed by OpIndia reveal that senior leaders of the BJP and its youth organisation BJYM also suffered the brutality at the hands of the state administration along with ordinary karyakartas of the party. One photograph captured at an unspecified location shows Arvind Menon, national secretary of the BJP, sitting haplessly in front of a store.
Another image accessed by OpIndia shows Tapas Ghosh, state vice president of the BJYM, drenched in what appears to be water with a miserable expression on his face.
Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, BJP MP from the Purulia Lok Sabha Constituency, also spoke on the manner in which brutality was unleashed on a peaceful democratic protest. He said that tear gas, chemicals and lathi-charge were used against them. “It is very dangerous for a democracy, this should not happen,” he said. Mahato squarely blamed the violence on the police, he called them ‘goondas’.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that Mamata Banerjee has already surrendered, referring to the fact that Nabanno was shut down by the Trinamool government. She also questioned the West Bengal Chief Minister’s lack of courage during her speech at the Nabanno Chalo. Locket Chatterjee said that the rally was part of the BJP’s efforts to usher in an era of ‘Shonar Bangla’.
As per sources OpIndia spoke to, 450 karyakartas of the BJP have been arrested thus far and over a thousand were injured during the crackdown on the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ protest by the BJYM. After the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) announced a protest outside the state secretariat Nabanna today, the state government decided to shut down the secretariat for two days. The government also cited the Supreme Court order yesterday on Shaheen Bagh protest justifying preventing the protest rally from taking place.