State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dilip Ghosh, on Sunday claimed that West Bengal was “on fire,” but that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had been “playing the piano” in Germany.
Mr Ghosh, who spoke at the BJP party office in Balucchar in English Bazaar area in Malda, was referring to the police firing in Islampur in North Dinajpur that killed two students, and the reports and a video of Miss Banerjee playing a tune on the accordion of a busker dressed as Mickey Mouse on the streets of Frankfurt in Germany.
Mr Ghosh said that as the CM had already given her verdict that the BJP and the RSS were responsible for the incident at the Darivit High School in Islampur, “investigations would be nothing but an eyewash.”
“Though the BJP is against any form of strike, the party had to call for the (statewide) shutdown (on 26 September) on the Islampur issue after we were left with no other alternative,” Mr Ghosh told the Press.
He also came down heavily on the state government and said: “Students only demanded for teachers, which was replied to with bullets from the police in Islampur. Students who were demonstrating in Kalyani University were beaten up and molested by outsiders in front of the police. Such incidents have exposed the true colours of the government in the field of education.”
“The Superintendent of Police of North Dinajpur himself claimed that the police did not fire shots. Then who did it? Do they have an answer? They also claimed that outsiders had gathered there with bombs and fire arms, so why did the police not arrest them or recover illegal arms from their possession? Police have forcibly been made a servant of the ruling party, and made to lie in front of the media.” Mr Ghosh added.
The state BJP chief also challenged the government to go for a CBI enquiry into the incident if it has the guts.
Mr Ghosh on Sunday reached Malda after paying a visit to South Dinajpur where he held talks with saffron party activists on various issues. He is likely to visit Islampur on 28 September.