'Cannot keep eyes closed': HC slams Waqf violence in Bengal

Cannot keep eyes closed when such situations come up, the Calcutta high court said on Saturday as it ordered deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, where protests against the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act have claimed three lives and triggered a political tussle between the state's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Opposition.

- Joydeep Thakur

KOLKATA:

On Friday, widespread violence erupted across Malda, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts of Bengal during protests against the new Act. Several vehicles, including police vans, were set ablaze, stones were thrown at security forces, and roads were blocked. Murshidabad, which was the worst affected, had reported several injuries.

Taking cognisance of the violence, high court chief justice on Saturday constituted a special bench comprising justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury to hear a petition filed by state assembly's leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, who sought the deployment of central forces in the district.

"For several days now, we have been witnessing widespread violence throughout the state of West Bengal, particularly in the Murshidabad district," advocate Anish Mukherjee, who represented Adhikari, told news agency ANI.