KOLKATA: Thousands of protesters clashed in India’s eastern city of Kolkata on Wednesday, where demonstrations seeking justice for a murdered doctor spiralled into violent street skirmishes between political rivals.

The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s body at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9 stoked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women. That sparked strikes by medics and rallies across India, but protests in West Bengal state capital Kolkata have transformed into clashes between the state’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) and the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Hindu-nationalist BJP sits in opposition in West Bengal.

Police clashes with protesters and arrest of 245 of them a day ago prompted BJP supporters on Wedn­esday to launch a daylong shutdown of Kolkata, with skirmishes against AITMC supporters in the morning.

Protesters erected barricades to close roads and railway lines, with police reporting clashes between rival workers across the city and in adjoining districts.

Arjun Singh, a former BJP lawmaker, alleged his party loyalists were attacked by supporters of Banerjee’s AITMC, and two people were injured. AITMC “activists blocked the roads to prevent BJP supporters from marching”, he said.

“Train services were disrupted as protesters squatted on railway tracks,” Kousik Mitra, a senior railways official said. “We want justice,” BJP supporters chanted, referring to the murdered doctor, then demanding the resignation of AITMC leader and CM Mamata Banerjee.

“Go back! Go back!” AITMC supporters shouted in return.

CM Banerjee accused the BJP of “dirty politics” and exploiting the doctor’s death, speaking at a rally of party loyalists. Police later enforced an uneasy peace between them and their rivals.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2024