Mamata government’s action against a peaceful march proved that it is a Syndicate Raj, says the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, led a massive protest–Nabbano Chalo Abhiyaan–on Thursday to highlight the issues of corruption, goonda raj, scams and misgovernance of the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. But the protest was marred by widespread violence and police brutality which had turned the streets of Kolkata into a battleground.
Tejasvi Surya, the BJYM national president, who was leading the protest in Kolkata spoke to The Sunday Guardian exclusively on the police brutality and the high-handedness of the Mamata Banerjee government. Excerpts:
Q: What in your opinion has been the response of the people of Bengal to the BJYM’s Nabanno Chalo Abhiyaan?
A: The people of Bengal have suffered due to the misgovernance and maladministration of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government for the last 10 years. The West Bengal government’s action against a peaceful march proved that it is a Syndicate Raj. The West Bengal government of the TMC is the most corrupt in the country. The Nabanno Chalo Abhiyaan was a peaceful protest organised by the BJYM against the corrupt system of the West Bengal government and recruitment in the SSC system. A day before the protest, the CMO issues an order to close the Nabanno (State Secretariat) for “sanitization” for two days. For all practical purposes, the Nabanno has been symbolically shut for the last 10 years anyway. No people’s work has taken place there during the TMC government’s rule anyway. The people of Bengal are watching. They will give the right answer to the TMC by electing a BJP government in the 2021 Legislative Assembly elections. The people will “sanitize” the TMC from the Nabanno and elect the BJP to power.
Q: We have seen widespread police action and protests in the rally held on Thursday in Kolkata; what would you like to say on this?
A: The TMC government and the Kolkata Police have completely ignored Constitutional law and the democratic right of every citizen to protest peacefully. I have never seen police using 10 country bombs, tear gas shells and water cannons in a peaceful protest anywhere in the country. It can only happen in a fascist-led government which is what is in place in West Bengal. The police action led to BJYM karyakartas’ injuries, many of whom are hospitalised. The police are mere puppets of the Mamata Banerjee regime. Police stations in Bengal function as TMC party offices.
Q: There have been allegations on BJP members of carrying crude bombs and pistols in the rally. Your response?
A: BJYM members have always been against violence. It is the TMC which is known for its Goonda Raj and violent actions all over the country. The pistols may have been planted by the TMC goons, dressed as BJYM functionaries. There should be an impartial investigation into this.
Q: It has been your first such rally in Bengal. How often are we likely to see Tejasvi Surya in Bengal?
A: The writing on the wall is clear, “Agli Sarkar Bhajpa Sarkar”. The impulse on the ground, the feeling of the common karyakarta directly points to that. The TMC government is crumbling. But the BJP will not rest. The BJP will continue its fight. From BJYM, we will visit villages, towns and cities and ensure there will be a full majority for the BJP in the 2021 West Bengal elections. BJYM will continue its charge in Bengal until there is a change, until corruption is removed, until the unemployment situation is improved and until the Syndicate Raj of the TMC government is stopped.
Q: The TMC government has said that they had to resort to lathi-charge and use of force since there was a prohibitory order and it was violated. They have also cited the issue of Covid-19. What would you like to say to this?
A: Mamata Banerjee led a similar protest just a few days ago, weren’t the laws violated then? There cannot be one rule for the BJP and another rule for them. We’re the victims here, not the agitators. A peaceful protest is a democratic right of every citizen of our country, which the TMC government completely ignored. They used and ordered the police to hurl crude bombs at protesters, proving that they function as mere puppets of the TMC goons. The TMC fears the rise of the BJP in West Bengal, which is why it is directing the police to resort to such actions. But, yeh darr achha hai.
Q: How many workers of the BJP have been injured? You have also alleged that some chemical was used by the Kolkata police in the water cannons they were firing. Are you going to take steps against the same?
A: I have been informed that more than 1,000 karyakartas suffered injuries. The police also used a blue liquid while firing water cannons on protesters. The blue liquid contained a chemical which burnt the skin when it came into contact. Three of us went to the Jorasanko police station around 10 pm on 8 October to file a complaint against the crude bomb attack on BJYM karyakartas. We asked the inspector to register an FIR. He first dilly-dallied, waiting for orders from his boss. We told him that police must compulsorily file an FIR in cognizable offences.
We waited for more than two hours, well into midnight, for police to register the FIR upon our complaint, but they instead manhandled three Members of Parliament (Nisith Pramanik and Jyotirmay Singh Mahato being the two others). We will lodge a complaint with the Lok Sabha Speaker over it. There is a complete breakdown of law and order in Mamata’s Bengal. Like I said before, police stations there are nothing but TMC party offices.
Q: As you know next year is the election to the West Bengal Assembly; so was today’s rally in a way towards that direction?
A: The protest was against the deteriorating law and order situation in Bengal; the corruption, unemployment, Syndicate Raj in the state and also the rising number of political murders of BJP and BJYM workers in West Bengal. More than 120 functionaries were murdered by TMC goons in the last four years.
The people of Bengal are anyway aware of all this. They want to put an end to the Goonda Raj of Mamata Banerjee. The BJP will penetrate each village, each town and every city in West Bengal and attain a full majority in the 2021 elections.