The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared a 12-hour bandh in West Bengal to protest police action on participants marching to the state secretariat.
The march came in response to the tragic rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Sukanta Majumdar, the President of Bengal BJP, made the announcement urging residents to participate in the general strike scheduled from 6 AM to 6 PM tomorrow.
Majumdar condemned the incident, describing it as a grave concern for public safety and demanded immediate action from the state authorities.
A protest march - 'Nabanna Abhiyan' - called over RG Kar case turned violent after protestors broke police barricades at Santragachi in Howrah and clashed with cops prompting actions from the Kolkata Police.
The protest march started from College Square in Kolkata and was headed towards Nabanna, the state secretariat that houses the chief minister's office (CMO). The protesters were stopped at the iconic Howrah bridge, with the police resorting to lathi charges, firing water canons and tear gas shells.
Ahead of the march, the Kolkata Police turned the high-security zone into a fortress and blocked all the roads leading up to Nabanna.
Regarding police actions, BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not behaving like Didi, but Idi Ameen. "Mamata Banerjee's government has protected the rapists, destroyed evidence, and suppressed the voice of truth, for which the Supreme Court and the High Court reprimanded. Now once again when the students, doctors, and common citizens' are taking out Nabanna Chalo Abhiyan' to demand justice for the daughter, Mamata Banerjee's government is blocking the roads."
BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya slammed Mamata Banerjee, saying that she is so scared of students' movement that she has ordered Kolkata Police to put large containers on the road to stop protesting citizens from reaching Nabanno. "Is she imagining students' seeking justice for the RG Kar rape and murder victim marching ahead in tanks?" he asked.