NEW DELHI, Nov 21: Battle lines hardened on Wednesday between rightwing Muslim groups in West Bengal and the state’s Left Front government after large-scale violence broke out in central Kolkata forcing the administration to call in the army.

The Muslim groups and the communists had jointly opposed India’s growing proximity to the United States. The alliance is now all but over.

As night curfew was imposed in parts of Kolkata, in New Delhi the Muslim groups, including the Jamiatul Islam, got unexpected support from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which described the violence as a second Tiananmen Square.

Muslim groups in West Bengal, like their counterparts in Hyderabad, are demanding the cancellation of visa of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen and her deportation. Visas are generally issued by the federal government, which is led by the Congress party.

The protestors are also agitating against violence unleashed against predominantly Muslim residents of Nandigram village, where the communist state government had proposed to build a special economic zone to woo foreign investment.

Activists of the minority forum enforced road blocks across Kolkata and clashed with police while protesting against the violence in Nandigram led by cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The protesters threw brickbats at police and passing vehicles. More than 150 cars were damaged and two buses were set on fire.

Later in the day, the state government called in the army to stage a flag march. Curfew was imposed and all schools, colleges and markets closed in the violence-hit areas. Police cordoned off the city’s famous Park Circus, TV reports said. The curfew will be in place from 10pm to 6am in the violence-hit areas.

“The cause of the protest is Nandigram tension and Taslima Nasreen. Without any provocation, the police started beating the protesters. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are on the streets now,” minority forum president Shehenshah Jehangir told CNN-IBN.

Traffic was brought to a halt on arterial city roads. Protesters ransacked the CPI-M office in east Kolkata, beat a cameraman and destroyed his camera.

Police fought pitched battles with the protesters and resorted to tear-gas shelling and baton-charge after being attacked with stones, glass bottles and swords.

Two police deputy commissioners were among 35 policemen injured, while several protesters were also hurt. At least 60 people were arrested, officials said.

Some students were reported to be trapped in schools waiting for order to be restored.