It was a toy gun that someone gave him, the weeping mother of 18-year-old Sumit Shaw told The New Indian in one of the most touching images from the Hooghly violence in West Bengal.
Sumit was arrested from Munger in Bihar, after a video showing him allegedly holding a pistol during a procession on the occasion of Ram Navami went viral on social media platforms. Sumit, who helps Shaw household by working odd manual jobs, was arrested for instigating clashes.
His mother, however, has now claimed that the young man has been caught in the crosshairs and that he has never been a member of any political party.
With her hands folded and tears rolling down her cheek, Sumit’s mother, Soma Shaw, claimed that her son had been made a scapegoat in the ongoing tussle between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to The New Indian inside their 5×6 foot house just a few blocks away from the spot where two communities clashed in Salkia locality on March 30, she said, “My son has been set up by someone. I don’t know who is behind the violence, but what I know for sure is that he was never a member of any party.”
While Sumit and his father work as a driver, his mother is a housewife and his two elder sisters are pursuing higher studies. As per his mother, Sumit earns ₹300 per day by driving vehicles owned by others. He is completing Class 10th from open learning, said his mother.
“I had warned him not to participate in the Ram Navami procession this year because there was some trouble last year as well. He told me that he had to drive a vehicle that was part of the procession,” she said.
Apart from his driving job, Sumit would often put up posters of both the TMC and BJP across the city as a part-time job to support his family. “Sumit was neither a member of the BJP nor the TMC. My son is innocent. He would often help in pasting posters for these parties.”
Several photos of Sumit posing with senior BJP leaders are also circulating online, with many claiming that he was a member of the main opposition in West Bengal. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other TMC leaders have blamed the BJP for orchestrating the violence.