Uneasy calm as West Bengal limps to normalcy; 200 arrested, 42 FIRs registered
The Hindu
Almost all the shops have downed their shutters. Several shops in the market have been set on fire.
HOWRAH
Mohammad Ainul (45) and Aurangzeb (34) rummaged through a pile of debris that was once their shop in Panchala Bazar on Monday afternoon. Both of them fruit vendors, travel from Bauria in the district to the busy Panchla market and make a living by selling fruits. “There is nothing left here. Who do we blame for this, Muslims or Hindus? Both are responsible for this,” Aurangzeb said. Ainul said that when the mob came rushing towards the shops from Panchla crossing, all the shopkeepers - both Hindus and Muslims - ran for their lives. “I covered my stall which had all kinds of fruits, apples, mangoes and pomegranate. See, everything has been turned to ashes,” Ainul said.
An uneasy calm prevails over Panchla Bazar, where violence had erupted on Saturday. Almost all the shops have downed their shutters. Several shops in the market have been set on fire. Panchla Bazar has shops of both Hindus and Muslims, which is clear from boards and signages on them.
A security guard at an ATM says that another ATM of a nationalised bank few meters away has been vandalized. “What is the fault of the poor ATM? Doesn’t everyone use it?” the guard asked and hurriedly left the market. Several garment shops in the market including one owned by Sanath was burnt to ashes. Like the fruit vendors, Sanath who is picking up the pieces of his shop, also rued the fact that he could save his own life but could not protect his property.
Protesters did not spare even a club called Netaji Sangha that stands at the entrance of the market. Not only photographs of national icons including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were destroyed, even the ambulance of the club was not spared by the protesters. While traders and shopkeepers stayed away from the market, scores of policemen stood guard to the rows of closed shops at Panchla bazar.
Protests over the offensive remarks made about Prophet Muhammad by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson had started in Howrah on June 9. It started with blockade of the National Highway 6 and on June 10, the protests turned violent with porters targeting public property and private vehicles.
About 20 km away at Salap crossing on the National Highway 6, rows of charred vehicles still bear testimony to the violence. Rita Porel, who works in a plastic factory, said that her house was surrounded by vehicles on fire when she returned from work on Saturday evening. The house which is nothing more than a cubicle wrapped by polyethene sheets is home to four persons and a goat. “All the Muslim neighbors have fled, maybe they fear arrests,” she said pointing out to the small houses located next to hers.