[At least in one place, Nabadwip, the prospective attackers faced public wrath and got bashed up. Videos have been circulated on the social media. (Ref.. e.g.: <https://www.facebook.com/refugeebluez/videos/10216927910883423/?t=0>.)
<<In a string of remarkably similar incidents across the state, mobs in at least four places branded ordinary people as “anti-national” based on their social media posts and proceed to accost them in their homes. The crowds abused and assaulted their targets, forcing them to chant patriotic slogans and apologise for their posts. Videos of the assaults were uploaded onto social media.>> Reports of mob violence are come from various corners of the country. This accords pretty well with the following: <<Indian Elections and Ethnic Tensions *Parliamentary elections in India increase the possibility of communal violence if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stresses Hindu nationalist themes.* BJP policies during Modi’s first term have deepened communal tensions in some BJP-governed states, and Hindu nationalist state leaders might view a Hindu-nationalist campaign as a signal to incite low-level violence to animate their supporters. Increasing communal clashes could alienate Indian Muslims and allow Islamist terrorist groups in India to expand their influence. (Ref.: P. 35, 'WORLDWIDE THREAT ASSESSMENT of the US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY' (official briefing to the US Senate), dtd. Jan. 29 2019, at <https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf>.)] https://scroll.in/article/913768/pulwama-aftermath-a-string-of-mob-attacks-across-west-bengal-on-people-branded-anti-national?fbclid=IwAR1lHC3WqEOGksItbqzuYlPXSWbhEsZCe1RsJ8PUBfbZHmffJeR4GgqzXBk Pulwama aftermath: A string of mob attacks across West Bengal on people branded ‘anti-national’ At least four incidents have been reported. In many cases, videos of the assaults were uploaded on social media. A screengrab of the mob attack on Anik Das in Cooch Behar on Saturday. 2 hours ago Shoaib Daniyal On Thursday, more than 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district when a teenaged member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed explosive-laden vehicle into their bus. Over the next few days, the tragedy sparked a violent reaction in West Bengal. In a string of remarkably similar incidents across the state, mobs in at least four places branded ordinary people as “anti-national” based on their social media posts and proceed to accost them in their homes. The crowds abused and assaulted their targets, forcing them to chant patriotic slogans and apologise for their posts. Videos of the assaults were uploaded onto social media. In all the cases, the mobs claimed to be unaffiliated to any political party or group. But at a press conference on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Parivar for orchestrating the attacks. Mob actions Among the first of the assaults occurred on Saturday, when a person named Sarbajit Saha posted a Facebook “live” video with the caption, “We are the house of another anti-national.” The video showed a mob forcing its way into a home in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district. The crowd accosted a young man named Anik Das and accused him of writing an “anti-national” social mediapost. As it dragged him into the street, one person said, “Whatever will happen will happen out in the street.” Das denied that he had posted anything anti-India in the first place but was shouted down. The video ended with Das being forced to march down a road, waving a flag and shouting patriotic slogans. A similar series of events followed for school teacher Chitradeep Shome, where a crowd confronted him at his home in Bongaon on Sunday, forced him to apologise for a post related to Pulwama and to chant “Bharat mata ki jay”, victory to mother India. Later in the day, Shome received news that another mob was gathering to attack him. He fled to Kolkata by train, even as his home was vandalised. As a result of the controversy, Shome was fired from his job as a teacher in a city school, reported the Indian Express Bangla. School teacher Chitradeep Shome is forced to ask forgiveness by the mob. School teacher Chitradeep Shome is forced to ask forgiveness by the mob. In north Bengal’s Siliguri town, Sunday night saw a mob land up at the door of a college student named Debi Biswas. The mob was angry with her for a post on Pulwama. The encounter started with Biswas attempting to explain the political situation in Kashmir before elements in the mob became even more angry. The thousand-strong crowd hurled stones at her home before she and her family were rescued by the police, reported the Anandabazar Patrika. In Habra, a crowd surrounded college student Arpan Rakshita’s house on Sunday for a Facebook post in relation to Pulwama. Rakshita refused to delete the post and the police arrested him, reported Anandabazar Patrika. Targeted attacks In most cases, the assaults were filmed on mobile phone cameras and the videos uploaded on social media. One Facebook page called “Banglar Sera Byango” collected videos of such assaults under the heading “deshdrohi hatao, Bharat bachao” – eliminate anti-nationals, save India. Its most most-watched mob video showed the attack on Anik Das. It had 27 lakh views before the page was abruptly deleted early on Tuesday. It is unclear whether the page had been removed by its adminstrators or by Facebook following complaints that it was spreading rumours. At her press conference on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee bought up the assaults. “Suddenly, for the past two days late night at 12-1 am some RSS-BJP-VHP workers are taking out processions with the Indian flag and trying to create panic,” she said. She specifically mentioned the attack on school teacher Chitradeep Shome. “There was an attack in Bongaon yesterday. He came to the police station but even the police did not act,” said Banerjee. “I am strictly instructing all police personnel: No riot can be encouraged in any way; the police cannot look askance when a riot is developing. We will not tolerate it. The police has to handle the situation strongly.” -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com. 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