15 killed, including two children, in Kolkata hotel fire; several injured critical, SIT formed
Blaze breaks out at Mechuapatti hotel with 88 boarders; fire contained after hours, cause still under investigation. KOLKATA: Fifteen people, including a woman and two children, were killed in a devastating fire at a hotel in the Mechuapatti area of central Kolkata, police said on Wednesday. Thirteen others were also injured in the fire that broke out on Tuesday evening, a senior police officer said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the fire incident, and announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased. “Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire mishap in Kolkata. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000,” the prime minister’s office said on X. According to the Kolkata Police officer, the deceased include 11 men, eight of whom have been identified so far. The condition of several of the injured is said to be critical, he said. “There were 88 guests in 42 rooms at the time of the incident. A boy, a girl and a woman are among the dead. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Our forensic team will examine the site, which has been cordoned off,” the officer said. The fire at the low-cost Rituraj Hotel was first reported around 7:30 PM on Tuesday. Ten fire tenders were pressed into service, and the blaze was brought under control, after nearly 10 hours, this morning on Wednesday, a fire and emergency services official said. “There were 15 fatalities in last night’s fire. Eight of the deceased have been identified,” state minister Sujit Bose told PTI. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kolkata Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar lashed out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of “insensitivity” for attending a day-long inauguration programme of Jagannath Dham in Digha while the fire tragedy was unfolding in the state capital. “Yesterday, a devastating fire in the Mechhua area of Burrabazar claimed the lives of more than 14 innocent people. Many more are battling for their lives. Yet, the chief minister chose to remain silent and continued with her religious event in Digha,” Majumdar said in a strongly worded statement. “This exposes her lack of empathy and the failure of her administration. While helpless citizens were trapped in flames and dying in pain, the CM was busy exploiting religion for political gain. Her year-round appeasement and election-time religious posturing have once again taken precedence over governance,” he alleged Majumdar called upon BJP workers across the state to immediately mobilise relief efforts and extend support to the victims’ families. “I will personally stand by the affected families and oversee our party’s involvement in the rescue and relief operations,” he said. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https://thenewindianexpress.com and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
Rioter tag, Muslim migrant workers from Bengal ‘thrashed’ in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh
‘Forced returns’ have sparked fear among migrant workers from Murshidabad and Malda, many of whom were now worried about their survival The fallout of the Samserganj riots reached BJP-ruled Odisha and Uttar Pradesh on Monday when around 70 migrant labourers of the minority community from Murshidabad and Malda were allegedly assaulted and sent home when they reached those states to resume work. Some 50 workers from Murshidabad had left for Keonjhar, Odisha, on Sunday, after their Eid break. They had to return home late Monday night in the same bus arranged by a labour contractor after being attacked allegedly by Hindutva activists who accused them of attacking a particular community in riot-hit Murshidabad. Similarly, 24 migrant workers from Sujapur in Malda, who had been working in a garments factory in Jamalpur in Uttar Pradesh, were also allegedly beaten up and forced back. The violence, which erupted over protests against the amended waqf law, had spread in pockets of Murshidabad, leaving three dead and damaging homes and property. The “forced returns” have sparked fear among migrant workers from Murshidabad and Malda, many of whom were now worried about their survival. On Monday, a Special Investigating Team (SIT) formed by the Bengal government arrested 12 migrant labourers from Jharsuguda in Odisha for their alleged role in the Murshidabad riots. However, these migrant workers who were attacked and forced to return home, claimed they were not involved in violence but were paying the price of perception. Momin Miyan, a labour contractor from Suti, who had arranged the Odisha-bound trip, said: “We just came home for a small break which coincided with the anti-waqf Act protests. We didn’t take part in it.” Momin, who has been recruiting labourers for 12 years, said he had arranged a bus for workers to Keonjhar as usual. “Around 5.30am on Monday, a group of youths with Bajrang Dal flags stopped our bus at Jashipur More in Mayurbhanj. We were dragged out and beaten up…. They accused us of attacking their community. They warned us that the bus would be set on fire if we didn’t leave,” said Momin. One of the 24 migrant workers from Sujapur in Malda who had been working in Jamalpur, Uttar Pradesh, for seven years, said a group of youths with saffron flags in their hands attacked them when they were working. “They accused us of attacking a community and asked us to leave, saying we would not be allowed to work there. Some of us were beaten up severely,” he said. Monirul Khan of Sujapur, who returned from UP, said when they went to the police, they were detained and were released “only after paying a bribe of ₹30,000”. “We have been working in UP for seven years. There was no problem earlier. But the scenario changed after the Murshidabad violence. Now it has become a question of our survival since we are not feeling secure to return there,” he said. When the Sujapur workers were detained at Jamalpur Kotwali police station, Fatema Khatun, wife of migrant worker Shariful Khan, lodged a complaint with the Kaliachak police in Malda. The issue was taken up by the Migrant Workers’ Unity Forum. Its general secretary, Asif Farooq, wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, urging him to ensure the safety and rights of migrant workers across states. Jangipur SDO Ekam J. Singh professed ignorance. “If I get any complaint, I will report it to the state government,” he said. The CPM said that TMC MP Abu Taher’s comment about the role of migrant workers in the riots was also to blame. “Abu Taher’s comment was amplified by BJP leader Tarunjyoti Tewari on social media. Within hours, attacks were unleashed in Odisha and UP. The Centre has also abrogated its responsibility to protect migrant workers…,” said CPM state secretary Md Salim and added that his party units in the two states were alerted to help Bengal workers. Samirul Islam, chairman of West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board and TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP, blamed the BJP. “Such attacks on migrant workers are not new in BJP-ruled states. Wherever they find Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant workers, they always find an issue to torture them,” he said. Samik Bhattacharya, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP, argued that such incidents were the result of suspicion after states like Tamil Nadu found many Bengali-speaking people with fake Indian documents, who are Bangladeshi infiltrators. He pointed out that Tamil Nadu was not a BJP-ruled state. “Tamil Nadu government, which is not run by the BJP, was the first to conduct a combing operation and discovered many such migrant workers with fake identities. After that, they stopped allowing Bengali migrant workers to work in their state. The allegations that came from other states are likely to be the result of such suspicion,” said Bhattacharya. Courtesy : Alamgir Hossain, The Telegraph Note: This news was originally published on https://thetelegraph.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
‘Minority communities must take care of each other’: Mamata urges people to maintain peace after Murshidabad violence
Urging people not to trust the BJP and its allies, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee alleged that they want to incite riots. Kolkata: Alleging that the BJP and the RSS initiated a “vicious false campaign” in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the people to maintain peace, and stated that the majority and the minority communities must take care of each other. Referring to the violence in Murshidabad, Banerjee said “these forces” were using the backdrop of “an unfortunate incident” that happened “on provocation” to play divisive politics. “BJP and its allies have suddenly become very aggressive in West Bengal. These allies include RSS. I have not taken the RSS’s name earlier, but I am being forced now to identify them. Together, they all have initiated a vicious false campaign in the State,” she alleged in the open letter, which was made public late in the night. “These forces are using the backdrop of an unfortunate incident that happened on provocation. They are using the backdrop to play divisive politics. They are planning to play the ‘divide and rule’ game. This is sinister,” she added. Asserting that the “criminals” behind the riots are being strongly dealt with, Banerjee said that at the same time “mutual mistrust and distrust” must be avoided. “The majority and the minority communities must work together and take care of each other,” she said. “They had originally planned to use the Ram Navami day for playing with fire, but the Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal have been most peaceful. Then they tried to use some subsequent matters relating to the agitations against the Waqf (Amendment) Act,” she alleged. Urging people not to trust the BJP and its allies, she alleged that they want to incite riots. “…riots can affect everyone. We love all. We want to stay together. We condemn riots. We are against riots. They want to divide us for some narrow electoral politics,” she said. The CM said she has taken “strong actions” for maintaining law and order and saving human lives and dignity. “Two police officers-in-charge have been removed. Police is investigating. Further actions are being taken. Please remember that riots are created neither by Hindus, nor by Muslims, riots are engineered by criminals. Strict actions will be taken against all criminals. No one will be spared,” she said. Banerjee claimed that protest rallies are not allowed in the BJP-ruled UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan, but no such anti-Constitutional dispensation is there in West Bengal. “When they use bulldozers in UP, agony comes. In contrast, in West Bengal, when someone suffers, we help. That is our approach in West Bengal. No community will be disturbed or adversely affected in West Bengal. We strongly condemn such disturbances,” she said. “Those who create riots always come from outside and then go away. We from inside have to now fight against their bad deeds. We shall together survive and win,” she said. Banerjee said her “detractors”, the BJP, want to divert people’s attention from the burning problem of price rise, and hence they have taken recourse to “inflammatory propaganda”. “Jealousy has no cure. The jealous cannot go beyond their narrow vision. Our detractors do not want employment, development, creativity – their only interest is to ensure price rise, to enhance costs of medicines, hospital charges and insurance premium, to increase the price of petrol, diesel and even domestic cooking gas,” she said. “Finally, my appeal to everyone again is: stay calm, stay united. Do not give in to mistrust and distrust. Do not be diverted by their false communal rhetoric,” she said. Three people were killed, several others injured, and numerous properties were vandalised during protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad last week. Courtesy : News Nine Note: This news is originally published on https://newsnine.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.