Sporadic violence, clashes between Left-wing activists and Trinamool supporters and allegations of police excesses in Bengal marked Wednesday’s Bharat Bandh called by a forum of 10 central trade unions to protest against “liberalisation, price rise of essentials, joblessness, increase in contractual work and other issues”.
The strike drew mixed response across Bengal, with partial impact in key sectors like tea, jute mills, steel plants, transport and retail, while banking services in both public and private sectors were largely affected.
Reinforcing the Bengal government’s stand of zero-tolerance towards strikes, the police came down heavily on strike supporters — both Left and Congress — at several places, forcibly removing protesters from spaces where they attempted disruption of public life to enforce the bandh.
“The excess committed by police to crackdown on strikers showed that chief minister and police minister Mamata Banerjee was trying to show her loyalty towards Narendra Modi," CPM state secretary Md Salim claimed.
"One of our veteran party workers was slapped by police. We demand action against him and we will hold protests in front of police stations across the state. When Trinamool leaders like Anubrata Mondal abuse cops, they don’t have the courage to act. (Here), they are trying to show their macho self against protesters,” Salim added.
Salim was referring to the in South Dinajpur’s Banshihari, where a police officer slapped an elderly CPM worker Majedar Rahman following a heated argument.
Despite police action, strikers blocked roads and railway tracks in various parts of the state and tried to force shops and business establishments to shur down in some pockets.
While government offices and educational institutions functioned largely as usual, the bandh disrupted normal life in parts of Siliguri, the Terai region and some pockets of Cooch Behar and Malda. Shops and markets remained closed in several areas and private transport was off the roads in many places.
In the Terai region of Darjeeling district, several tea gardens remained shut, although gardens in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar operated normally.
There was hardly any impact of the strike in the Darjeeling hills, sources said.
“Most of the tea gardens were open and work continued without disruption,” claimed Amitangshu Chakraborty, the adviser to the Indian Tea Planters’ Association.
However, Saman Pathak, the president of the Citu-affiiated Darjeeling Zila Chia Kaman Mazdoor Union, claimed widespread support in parts of Siliguri.
At Naxalbari and Tufanganj (north Bengal) and Kirnahar (Birbhum), Trinamool supporters allegedly assaulted strike supporters.
Citu workers clashed and were subsequently chased by their INTTUC counterparts of the Trinamool Congress trade union wing in Tufanganj town of Cooch Behar, leading to tension in the area.
In Birbhum’s Kirnahar, Left and Trinamool workers clashed, allegedly in front of the police, when the former group took out a rally in support of the strike.
Three CPM supporters were reportedly injured in the altercation and admitted to a hospital.
“The Congress has supported this strike. The Trinamool Congress is only brokering the politics of the BJP in this state,” alleged senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Criticising the Left for the strike and defending the police action against strikers, Trinamool leader Debangshu Bhattacharya said: “What the Left is doing in the name of bandh is nothing more than hooliganism and the police are taking action against these rowdies. This is not a spontaneous strike of people, but one forced upon them.”