Post Communal Violence, Murshidabad Crawls Back to Normalcy Amid Lingering Tensions and Polarisation Politics

Days after communal violence rocked several parts of West Bengal's Murshidabad district, the usually busy Dhuliyan market area bore a subdued look. On Tuesday, 14 April, the day of Nobo Borsho (Bengali New Year), only a few sweet shops opened their shutters in the morning. Two garment shops and three pharmacies, too, joined in later even though the number of visible customers remained few. The heated-up areas of Dhuliyan, Ghoshpara, Suti, and Samserganj in Murshidabad's Jangipur subdivision at the epicentre of the violence have been inching back to some form of "normalcy". The administration and security are working together towards building confidence among the affected families.And yet, the flames that were lit in Murshidabad are now spreading to Kolkata and further fuelling the growing feud between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), currently its primary opposition in the state headed to polls next year.On Thursday, Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president and Union minister, visited Governor CV Ananda Bose along with a group of people allegedly displaced by the unrest in Murshidabad and requested the governor to visit the areas himself.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, urged the governor to defer his visit in the interest of an uninterrupted stabilisation of the terror-stricken area.Killings, Displacement, Fear: How Waqf Protests Led to Violence in MurshidabadThree people died in the Murshidabad clashes. One Muslim man was allegedly shot by the police at Suti amid clashes with protesters on 11 April, and two Hindus — father and son — were allegedly hacked to death by an unidentified mob inside their home in Jafrabad on 12 April. The chief minister has proposed Rs 10 lakh compensation for the kin of the victims.The Hindu family has refused the sum, stating that their only interest lies in seeking justice for the dead. Though the deceased were Hindu idol makers by profession, the family claims that they failed to find a priest or a barber for their funeral rituals. "The neighbours were too scared to come to our house," they told The Quint.Over 250 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in Murshidabad, which erupted after anti-Waqf protests at two sites — Dhuliyan and Suti — turned violent in unrelated incidents.Shops and houses were set ablaze, streets rampaged, properties and local religious structures destroyed, and personal belongings looted. Some 500 families fled to nearby villages in the Maldah district. Many took refuge in the Parlalpur High School of Baishnabnagar, across the river from Ghoshpara and Samserganj. As a result, the school had to remain closed until now.At least 60 cases have been filed so far in relation to the violence. Jangipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Ananda Roy told the media that three people have been arrested specifically on charges of the murder of the father-son duo. A 10-member forensic team has reached Jangipur to help with the investigations. A team of officials from the National Committee of Women (NCW) arrived in Kolkata on Thursday evening meet the victims in Murshidabad as part of a fact-finding delegation.On Wednesday, West Bengal Police formed a 20-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the three deaths. Jangipur SP and the officers in-charge of Suti police station, Samserganj, and Farakka are part of this team led by the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar. Nine members of the team met in Samserganj Thana on Wednesday night. The discussion in this first meeting was focused on identifying the conspirators and gathering more information from the arrested teenagers.Sources within the police told The Quint that an intelligence failure was cited as one of the reasons behind the quick spread of violence.Old Video of Police Being Beaten in West Bengal Falsely Linked to Waqf ProtestsBoth the state police and central forces have been actively working on restoring peace in these areas. Under the local police's initiative, over a hundred peace meetings were organised at the block or village level. Local Thana Officer-in-Charge or Officer on Special Duty personnel presided over these meetings in different places. Peace committees have been formed involving members from both the Hindu and the Muslim communities, as well as some representatives from political parties. These committees are responsible for promptly informing the police at the slightest indication of violence and rumours inciting violence.Speaking to The Quint, ADG (South Bengal) Sarkar said the state police has adopted a zero-tolerance policy."Several individuals have been spreading provocative statements on the Samserganj and Suti incidents using social media platforms like Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram. We have already identified and blocked 1,093 such accounts."Supratim Sarkar, ADG (South Bengal) Meanwhile, the administration has opened a relief camp in Jafrabad Primary School to provide the displaced people with food and tarpaulins. MLA Manirul Islam, who switched from the TMC to the BJP in 2019, was seen on the streets with a microphone in hand, assuring people that the situation was getting normal again. He also requested the local traders to get back to business. Additional District Magistrate of Murshidabad, Dinanarayan Ghosh, has also urged the displaced families to return. Relief kits are being handed over, and community kitchens have been arranged.The bidi workers of Dhuliyan and Samserganj have returned to work. Nearly 200 out of the 500 displaced families were reportedly returned by Tuesday. Among the rest, some have fled larger distances, and some are still too scared to go back to their once peaceful abode.On Wednesday, a small group preparing to return got scared by the news of a shop in Dhuliyan catching fire. The flames, however, were most likely caused by a short circuit.Does This Video Show a Family Being Attacked in West Bengal’s Murshidabad? No!The High Court ordered on Thursday that the Border Security Force (BSF) will continue to be deployed in the area. The order also mentioned that a committee must be formed involving at least one member from each of the National Human Rights Commission, the State Human Rights Commission, and the State Legal Services Committee. The task of this committee will be to return the displaced to their homes.Nine companies of paramilitary forces were deployed to tackle the situation in Murshidabad. DIG of BSF's South Bengal Frontier, Neelotpal Pandey, has admitted in a brief to the Bengali daily Anandabazar that "the situation was so dire that we had to enforce discipline by firing some shots in the air, to scare and disperse the crowd and to make them run." He has been further quoted by the daily to claim that the BSF is being tolerant since. However, any sort of incitement to violence won't be tolerated. The BSF's goal is to safely restore all who have fled their homes, he added.Quite a few residents of the affected areas said that a group of outsiders rampaged through the neighbourhoods. A masked gang of young boys was mentioned by many.Moreover, the police were accused of being spectators. Some of those attacked in the violent breakout have demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation. Police sources The Quint spoke with suspect that some “conspiracy” may be afoot under the disguise of communal agitation around Waqf.On 12 April itself, West Bengal State Secretary Kunal Ghosh had accused the BSF of intentionally allowing troublemakers from outside the state into the agitated area. Rabi Gandhi, BSF's ADG (Eastern Command), responded to that accusation with a curt reply:"The border is secured. There is no infiltration there. BSF is a highly trained force that always prioritises border security."The TMC and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) have already filed a case in the Supreme Court, demanding a repeal of the Waqf Amendment Bill. The Supreme Court heard the case on Tuesday, but no orders have been given. The apex court has also expressed its concern over the developments in West Bengal. Addressing a large gathering of imams and muezzins in Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee said:"There is no point in protesting in Bengal. Ask to meet the Prime Minister. If necessary, go by train or plane. Be on the streets, if necessary. Take other communities along. TMC MPs will also join you. I will request all parties in India to support you."She further said, "There has been some unrest around the Waqf, some provocative conversations as well. The Congress won in that constituency. They can win in the election, but cannot come out during a riot; this is not what I expect of them."Responding to the BJP's claim that Bangladesh has its contribution behind this unrest, Banerjee said that it is the BSF that controls the border, and not the state police. In her speech, she also accused Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah of planning and spreading violence in the country, and requested Modi to “control” him.The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, the current leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, has labelled Banerjee’s accusations of BSF and Amit Shah as 'anti-national'. He, in turn, accused Banerjee of "provoking the imams and Muslim leaders to create a disturbance." The state police is allegedly not allowing Adhikari to visit Dhuliyan, and he has sought the High Court's permission for the same.The BJP, meanwhile, has decidely given a communal spin to the Murshidabad incident and the state government's mishandling of the Waqf protests.West Bengal BJP President Majumdar claimed that the call for riots was given from the loudspeaker of the mosque. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the TMC government, saying, "They (West Bengal government) have allowed the rioters in the name of secularism. Murshidabad has been burning for a week, and the government is silent." Many BJP leaders lashed out at Banerjee for her comment about not allowing the Waqf amendments to be implemented in West Bengal. In an interview with India Today, actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakrabarty said, "Mamata is responsible for communal violence in this state. They (TMC) are discriminating between the communities. Bengali Hindus are now eating khichri in relief camps. What's their fault?"Veteran BJP leader Dilip Ghosh has also made controversial statements, such as claiming that "Hindus are buying TVs, refrigerators and new furniture for their homes. But there is not a single weapon in the house. Don't think the police will save you if something happens."Emphasising the need for a unified Hindu identity, Ghosh spoke of the rise of Ram Navami (a new site of communal violence in the state) celebrations in Bengal as proof of the BJP’s growing ideological presence. "Ten years ago, when the Ram Navami procession started, Hindu Bengalis did not know what it was; today, processions have started in every neighbourhood, because Hindus have understood that they have to live together. Even God will not be with the weak."In the wake of Ghosh's divisive remarks, TMC MLA from Bharatpur, Murshidabad district, Humayun Kabir, spoke with The Quint. "BJP leaders are spreading provocations in a planned manner. They are doing these things with complete calculation. The BJP is trying to create communal divisions and do well in the 2026 elections. But they will not succeed."Humayun Kabir, TMC MLAPolitical observer, however, feel that both parties are trying to leverage the Murshidabad incident to further their own narratives ahead of the Assembly elections in Bengal next year, at the essential expense of further dividing the communities.The BJP's sudden advocacy for and outreach among poor Muslims through leaders like Manirul is being viewed skeptically by the Muslim community.On the other hand, the TMC's engagement with mosque committees and the provision of salaries to imams and muezzins have bolstered its influence within the Muslim community at the cost of perpetuating more traditional religious practices, which in turn, is a cause for fear and annoyance to the local Hindu communities.Moreover, such communal violence in West Bengal has the potential to reopen deeper wounds that have only barely healed. The displacement of Hindu families due to violence purportedly meted out by Muslims (or vice versa) naturally revives the historical agony of Partition and its related violence, etched deep in the collective memory of West Bengal. Unfortunately, recent trends point toward a weaponisation of that helpless pain, especially by forces of Hindutva politics. The intertwining of religious institutions with political agendas has led to increased communal polarisation, which can only feed further into the scope for crafted communalism.(Arka Bhaduri is an independent journalist from West Bengal.)

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Amid Lingering Tensions and Polarisation, Murshidabad Inches Back to 'Normalcy'

Over 250 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in Murshidabad which left three dead.

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Topics: Mamata Banerjee West Bengal Murshidabad