A view of a damaged house after a protest over the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent on April 8, 2025, in Murshidabad’s Jangipur area, on April 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Twenty-two people were apprehended following an incident of violence and arson during a protest rally against the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 in Parliament at West Bengal’s Murshidabad on Tuesday, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
The officer added that around nine persons were in police custody, and the rest were in judicial custody.
“Raids are on since Tuesday night. We are scanning CCTV footage to identify more people from the incident,” the senior police official told The Hindu.
On Tuesday evening, violence erupted when about 100 protesters, rallying and sloganeering against the Waqf (Amendment) Act clashed with the police near the Umarpur crossing under the Raghunathganj police station area along National Highway 12.
The official said that after protestors vandalised police vehicles and attacked police personnel, the police resorted to lathi charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The situation was reportedly brought under control within a few hours.
The District Magistrate of Murshidabad, Rajarshi Mitra, passed a 48-hour prohibitory order on Tuesday evening under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita for the areas under the Raghunathganj and Suti police stations of Murshidabad. The order prohibits the assembly of five or more persons in one place.
The order is effective from 6 p.m. on Tuesday to 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty on Tuesday passed an order suspending Internet services in the Jangipur Sub Division area in Murshidabad from Tuesday till 6 p.m. on Friday.
With prohibitory orders in place, the Jangipur area initially remained quiet and deserted on Wednesday morning, with frequent patrolling and picketing by police personnel.
However, as the day wore on, reports emerged of fresh protests near the Ahiran bridge in the Jangipur subdivision’s Suti area.
“A big rally in connection to the Waqf law was scheduled at Suti today. Despite prohibitory orders, around 20-25 boys had gathered there and burnt one tyre at around 11 a.m. today (Wednesday). The National Highway was blocked for some time, but the police quickly chased them away and brought the situation under control,” the senior police official said.
The official added that any reports of violence at Suti were a “rumour”, and that the Jangipur and Suti areas were peaceful and normal on Wednesday.
“There was another massive rally at Textile More in Berhampore at Murshidabad against the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The rally passed peacefully. There was no violence there either,” the official said.
CM must resign: BJP
West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose condemned the violence in Murshidabad on his social media handle on Tuesday night.
The post, made by the Officer on Special Duty on the Governor’s behalf, said Mr. Bose had directed the State government to take immediate “bold action” to curb the violence, and submit a report.
“The situation where vested interests foment trouble cannot be tolerated and should be curbed. The peaceful passage of Shri Ram Navami festivities show the camaraderie among people of Bengal and the competence of the administration, the political parties, the silent majority, the media and all stakeholders. Any attempts to frustrate that needs to be put down with an iron hand,” the Governor’s social media post read.
While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday reassured minority populations that she would “protect them and their properties”, the president of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sukanta Majumdar, demanded her resignation.
“Murshidabad is burning, State police is getting beaten up, and Mamata Banerjee is busy playing the appeasement game!…This is not just a law and order failure — it’s a total collapse of governance. The failed CM must step down immediately! Enough of protecting vote banks while the state suffers,” he wrote on social media platform X.
He also criticised the Murshidabad District Magistrate for his handling of the law and order situation in the region.
“The recently passed Waqf (Amendment) Act is now the law of the land, after being passed by both the Houses of the Parliament and getting Presidential assent… The WB Govt and Administration are failing to maintain law & order, because they are deliberately turning a blind eye to protect the ruling party’s vote bank,” BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said on social media.
Published – April 09, 2025 01:18 pm IST