By Joydeep Sarkar
Kolkata: A semblance of normalcy has returned to a large part of the Murshidabad district in West Bengal, even as tension remains palpable on the ground. Days after the brutal killings of three people in communal clashes that rocked the district, political leaders, locals, and security forces continue to grapple with an uneasy calm interrupted by sporadic violence.
In the past 24 hours, over a hundred peace meetings were organised across the region, reaching from the block level to local neighbourhoods, spearheaded by local police officers and state-appointed officers on special duties (OSDs). Authorities also established booth-level peace committees, comprising cross-community representatives, political leaders, and civil society members, tasked with identifying and defusing tensions.
Each committee is headed by locally trusted figures, including elders and respected professionals, to add credibility to the peace process.
A cautious return to normalcy was felt on Tuesday (April 15) morning as economic activities picked up across most areas. Shops began to reopen in local markets, and in Samserganj and Dhulian, bidi workers returned to previously shuttered factories as production restarted.
‘Police said they wouldn’t come’
On Monday (April 14), senior CPI(M) leaders, including state secretary Mohammad Salim and central committee member Meenakshi Mukherjee along with local leaders visited the bereaved family members of the victims, the first major political visit to the region since the violence broke out.
CP(M) workers Hargobinda Das (70) and his son Chandan Das (40) were hacked to death in their home on Saturday (April 12). Women in the Das family, eyewitnesses to the atrocity, broke down as they recounted police inaction,
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
