The leaders of West Bengal BJP's youth wing (Yuba Morcha) on Thursday accused the state police of resorting to "administrative terrorism" and trying to forcibly stop their motorcycle procession at various places in spite of the Calcutta High Court's nod to the event.
The High Court on Wednesday gave conditional permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuba Morcha's (BJYM) "Protirodh Sankalp Abhiyan", a week-long bike rally from East Midnapore district's coastal town Digha to north Bengal's Cooch Behar, starting Thursday.
"Administrative terrorism is going on in the state. Our activists participating in the rally are being stopped, harassed and even beaten up at several crossings by the police. One of our activist had to be hospitalised as his leg has got fractured in police beating," state BYJM chief Debjit Sarkar told IANS.
"The are stopping bikers in the name of checking documents to hinder the rally. Many of our activists have been detained.
Earlier the state police said they do not have enough personnel in place to secure the rally as the Gangasagar Mela is going on. But now we can see there are enough police to hamper our rally," he alleged.
In all, 400 BJYM activists are participating in the rally with 200 motorcycles to protest against the alleged deterioration in law and order in Bengal.
Welcoming the High Court's verdict on the matter, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the state government's ploy to stop the rally would not succeed as its attempt was unethical.
"We moved the High Court as the state government wrongfully tried to stop our rally. The court has given us permission. They can go to the Supreme Court if they want but they will not be able to win anywhere because what they are trying to do is unethical," Ghosh said.
The state government appealed before the division bench on Thursday challenging the High Court's order.
The police said the checking process was done to ensure all the bikers were travelling with valid papers and adhering to the road safety regulations, but refused to comment any further as the case is pending in the court.
"The case on this matter is going on in the court. Let us first see the verdict and then we will decide," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma said.
State Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said people of the state would keep an eye on the BJP to see if they were maintaining peace and harmony while holding the rally.
"I appeal to everyone to maintain peace and communal harmony. People would keep a watch on whether they (BJP) are maintaining that," he said.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)