Latest news with #CalcuttaHighCourt-appointed
Economic Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Murshidabad riots report, then what?
A Calcutta High Court-appointed probe committee investigating the recent communal violence in Murshidabad over the Waqf (Amendment) Act has flagged serious administrative failures - including glaring police inaction and the alleged role of a TMC leader in orchestrating the violence. While the panel's effort to establish a timeline and name key perpetrators is a welcome step forward, the real test begins now. What matters is not just what the report says, but what the West Bengal government chooses to do with it. Accountability must follow, or the report will join a long list of inquiries that led the aftermath of violence, perspectives inevitably diverge - each community interprets events through its own lens. This case is no different. But in an age of advanced tech, CCTV surveillance, mobile data and improved forensic tools, identifying culprits and pursuing justice should not be insurmountable. The tools exist - what's often lacking is the institutional resolve to use them fairly and fearlessly. For justice to be delivered, a neutral and competent authority, the state police, is essential. Yet, the track record in Bengal, as in much of India, is deeply troubling. Failures extend beyond poor training, staffing shortages or inadequate evidence collection. A more corrosive issue lies at the heart of the problem: a lack of political will. This is often worsened by undue interference from ruling parties, which erodes both impartiality and accountability. Despite several recommendations and reminders from the Supreme Court, efforts to depoliticise the police have made little headway - mainly because no state has the incentive to relinquish control. Unless police forces are insulated from political pressure while retaining proper executive oversight, even the most comprehensive investigations will fail to bring meaningful outcomes - and public trust in justice will remain broken.
News18
21-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
'Cops Absent And Inactive, Local Councillor Directed Attacks': Murshidabad Violence Report
Last Updated: The Calcutta High Court-appointed committee found that the local police were inactive and absent during the Murshidabad violence. It also suggests the attack was pre-planned. The local police in West Bengal's violence-hit Murshidabad were 'inactive and absent" during the incidents in Dhuliyan town on April 11, a report by a committee set up by the Calcutta High Court stated. It also mentioned that a local councillor directed the attacks at the town, and that a mall was also looted. The three-member committee was set up on April 17 for the identification and rehabilitation of people displaced by the violence during the protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in the district. The panel, comprising Joginder Singh, Registrar, (Law), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Satya Arnab Ghosal, member secretary, West Bengal Legal Services Authority (WBLSA), and Saugata Chakraborty, Registrar, WBJS, submitted the report to the high court last week. This came after the panel visited the affected areas and spoke to the victims as directed by the division bench hearing the matter. Another report earlier submitted by the West Bengal government to the division bench hearing the petitions related to the Murshidabad violence detailed widespread incidents of violence between April 8 and April 12 by mobs in connection with protests over the Waqf Act. It stated that following intervention by the police and civil administration, the situation in Suti, Dhuliyan, Samserganj and Jangipur was under control. The report said that agitational programmes over the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 started on April 4 in all police station areas of Jangipur police district in Murshidabad district. It stated that the protests turned violent on April 8. The report said that two persons – Haragobinda Das and his son Chandan Das – were killed by a mob on April 12 at Jafrabad under the Samserganj police station. It stated that central forces were deployed in Samserganj on April 11 as the situation went out of control, and thereafter more CAPF were deployed on orders of the high court on April 12. (With PTI inputs) First Published: May 21, 2025, 09:07 IST
