The BJP government of West Bengal may move to withdraw the cases filed against demonstrators protesting over a leaked examination paper. After the governments of Assam and Bihar announced the withdrawal of all such cases, a similar notification may now be issued in West Bengal as well, high-level sources at the state secretariat said.
Violence broke out on Friday during a protest programme held at Esplanade in Kolkata at a rally called by a left-wing student organisation with the support of the CJP. The demonstrators had demanded the resignation of the union education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, over the paper leak.
At a press conference in Delhi on Monday, the CJP said that unless the arrested students were released and the FIRs filed against them withdrawn in line with the assurances given by the centre, the party would be forced to take to the streets again. It also expressed concern over the arrest of demonstrators in West Bengal and Bihar. It announced the launch of a website for lawyers across the country to register to provide legal assistance to those charged in the cases. The senior advocate Kapil Sibal will act as an adviser to the initiative.
Within hours the governments of Assam and Bihar announced through separate notifications the withdrawal of all cases filed against demonstrators who took part in Friday’s protests. The West Bengal government has not yet announced a formal decision, although secretariat sources say a notification could be issued as early as Monday.
At a rally in Jalpaiguri on Monday, the chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, called on party leaders and workers to stay alert against what he called the “tukre tukre gang.”
Seven cases in all have been filed at the Hare Street and Entally police stations in Kolkata over Friday’s violence. The cases were brought under the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, 2026, the so-called anti-goonda law recently passed by the state assembly.
Kolkata police said 16 people have been arrested on charges of vandalism during the protest. A further 70 people have been identified as allegedly involved in attacks on police and media workers. Clashes broke out on Friday when thousands of students and members of the public gathered at Dorina Crossing in Esplanade at the end of a march from Sealdah.
Speaking in the assembly on Saturday, the chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, said the new anti-goonda law had been applied for the first time in this case. He said those responsible for the incident would be punished so severely that their next three generations would remember it.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report