Left Front Chairman Biman Bose announced a 12-hour bandh between 6 am and 6 pm in the state to protest against the police crackdown. West Bengal Bandh Today Live Updates: Left parties in West Bengal have called for a 12-hour state-wide bandh on Friday to protest against the recent police crackdown on students and activists while they were marching towards Nabanna, the state secretariat in Kolkata, to demand jobs on Thursday.
The march started in College Street but was stopped by police on SN Banerjee Road in the Esplanade area, PTI reported. When the activists attempted to break heavy metal barricades to make their way forward, the police deployed teargas and water cannons to slow them down. Protestors said the use of force was both brutal and unprecedented.
The Left outfits were marching to Nabanna, demanding jobs and industrialisation in the state, among others. Left leaders claimed that several activists were injured in the police action.
Soon after the incident, Left Front Chairman Biman Bose announced a 12-hour bandh between 6 am and 6 pm in the state to protest against the police crackdown. “The way police unleashed atrocities on the participants in the march to Nabanna, it created a situation somewhat akin to the historic Jallianwala Bagh incident,” he said in a statement.
However, the West Bengal government has opposed the call for a bandh and issued a notice urging all government employees to report for work on Friday. Those who don’t will face scary deductions, the notice stated.
Prostesters clash with police in Kolkata on Thursday. (Express Photo)
The 12-hour statewide bandh by Left parties in West Bengal is well underway. Here are some pictures from across the state.
Left parties in West Bengal have called for a 12-hour state-wide bandh on Friday. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
Police in protective gear carry lathis amid the state-wide bandh. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)
Left Front Chairman Biman Bose announced a 12-hour bandh between 6 am and 6 pm in the state to protest against the police crackdown. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
Members of Left parties and the Congress blocked roads across the state in the initial hours of the state-wide bandh. Road blockades were reported in the North 24 Parganas district's Barasat area, and near Sukanta Setu overbridge in Kolkata, ANI reported.
The Left Front has called for a 12-hour bandh in the state today to protest after its workers were allegedly beaten up during a march to Nabanna in Kolkata yesterday.
Soon after the 12-hour bandh across West Bengal commenced, Left party workers blocked the train track at Kanchrapara railway station, located in the North 24 Paraganas district on the outskirts of Kolkata, to protest against the police crackdown on students and activists on Thursday. (ANI)