As The New Indian travelled to the riot-hit Rishra in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, the fear of ‘Didi’s army’ was quite palpable.
At the main thoroughfare that witnessed the violent attack on the Ram Navami procession, Lord Ganesha’s temple bore the brunt of the rioters as the anonymous local described the ghastly attack on that fateful day.
“The whole temple was covered with shattered glass. They even damaged the Lord’s sanctuary,” the local, who was clearly wary about the West Bengal police and Muslims, told The New Indian.
“We call this temple the Teenmurti temple. It is dedicated to Lord Ganesha,” the unnamed local said.
“The temple suffered great damage. All the glass panes were broken as the rioters came from that side (pointing towards the direction from which Muslim rioters threw stones at people celebrating Ram Navami),” they said.
However, when asked to share their name, the local excused themselves, perhaps wary of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which is accused of supporting Muslims for vote bank politics. People have also complained that even the West Bengal police are taking the side of the Muslims.
On Sunday evening, clashes were reported in Rishra town during a Ram Navami procession in which BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh and party’s Pursurah MLA Biman Ghosh were present.
Parts of nearby Serampore town also witnessed incidents of vandalism following which prohibitory orders were imposed and internet services were suspended.
On Tuesday, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose cut short his Darjeeling trip to rush back to the city before visiting Rishra to take stock of the situation there.
He spoke to senior police officers and locals and assured them that the miscreants would be brought to book.