Days after riots broke out in Samserganj in Murshidabad, the police were engaged in removing the signs of violence that took place in the wake of a protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 as part of the process to restore normality. But this clean-up act is unlikely to remove the stain of the administration’s negligence that led to the flames killing three people and causing significant losses to traders and business outlets. Shops belonging to both Hindus and Muslims were targeted by the unruly mob whose strength and malintent eluded police intelligence. The unpreparedness of the police was mirrored by the inertia of Bengal’s ruling party even though four of the Trinamool Congress’s lawmakers are residents of Samserganj. Inner feuding, a typical trait of the TMC, as well as the lack of coordination, those in the know admit, had led to organisational lapses that made it difficult for the party to prevent the violence. The political implications of the disturbances in Murshidabad are apparent from the reactions of the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The TMC is on the defensive. Such violence a year before assembly elections would provide impetus to the Opposition’s allegations of a breakdown in law and order: one BJP leader has already urged the imposition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the areas affected by the unrest. The BJP, understandably, is upbeat. Murshidabad’s flames, the party hopes, could be fanned to polarise the electorate along religious lines before the polls, even though the ground reality clearly shows that Hindus and Muslims have suffered equally on account of the turmoil.
The immediate task of the government and the Opposition is to ensure the return of normalcy. Almost 200 people had fled to neighbouring Malda after the riots; their return and resettlement as well as the rehabilitation of all victims must be a priority. The state security apparatus must pull up its socks and prevent Murshidabad from burning again, or the flames from reaching other parts of Bengal. There should also be renewed political and civic initiative to separate public protest from violence: the latter has no place in a civilised democracy.