SEVERE power cuts lasting over twelve hours a day had been going on at a stretch for the past two months. The prolonged outages had caused disruptions in educational and agricultural activities, and children were falling ill due to the sweltering heat. Frustrated with the situation, the villagers of Enayetpur in Manikchak decided on July 18 to rise in protest blocking the road in a demonstration against the authorities. Driven to desperation, they dared to demand a basic necessity: a more reliable power supply. Incidentally, Manikchak belongs to the Malda South Lok Sabha constituency, and the Left-backed Congress candidate Isha Khan Chowdhury has won this seat in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

 But in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal, even peaceful protests are met with violence. The police, acting as enforcers of silence, opened fire on the unarmed villagers, wounding three and leaving the entire area traumatised. While the power minister himself denied the incident entirely, the district superintendent of police, Malda, attempted to justify the brutality as "self-defense".

Adding to the injustice, the police arrested the sister of one of the injured youths from Malda Medical Hospital. Anwarul Nadabe, wounded in the police firing, was first taken to Milky Hospital and then to Malda Medical Hospital due to massive bleeding after the bullet was removed from his body. His sister was present there.  The police picked her up from the spot. In all, police arrested six villagers till night. Village by village, police raids continued compelling men to flee their homes. The people of Enayetpur, their lives already disrupted by the power outages, now face the added trauma of police brutality and the fear of further reprisals.

Never before in Manikchak had such a dastardly police act been perpetrated upon protesting people.  In protest against the police firing on villagers, the Left Front called for a 12-hour hartal in the Manikchak block area on July 19.  Congress   also expressed support for the bandh.

The irony is that under Mamata Banerjee's regime, the administration cannot even admit to a firing incident openly.  The district superintendent of police initially denied the incident to reporters, as did the state minister. Power minister Arup Biswas claimed in a statement, 'This is not a case of load shedding. There is no load shedding anywhere in West Bengal. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has removed the word load shedding from Bengali dictionary forever...There is no load shedding even for a minute in West Bengal.' 

Not only were the people of Manikchak but of the entire Malda district got stunned and angry after hearing such a statement from the power minister. Residents of Manikchak said "If what the minister claims is true, then Manikchak may not be a part of West Bengal!  The minister should come and spend a couple of hours in Manikchak any day. Then he will come to know what happens when there is load shedding!" For the last couple of months, the problem of load shedding has been acute in the entire Malda district. In many cases it has reached unbearable levels. In 11 panchayat areas of Manikchak block, load shedding on a drastic scale has become a regular feature.   There is no electricity for 12-15 hours a day. On July 18, the long absence of electricity wore out the patience of the suffering people. A few hundred villagers started protesting at the station master's office in Jalalpur. But suddenly the police of Manikchak police station appeared there and chased away the protestors with baton charge. This made people even more incensed.

Demonstrations and road blockades sprang up simultaneously in 10 locations – Manikchak, Enayetpur, Kalindri, Shekharpur Mor, Nurpur, Sabjipara, Bhutni, Shobha Nagar near English Bazar and Chandipur. Hundreds of women joined the fray, demanding immediate action.  The Malda-Manikchak state highway was brought to a standstill near Enayetpur bus stand, where the protests turned violent.  Traffic was paralysed, highlighting the villagers' desperation and frustration.

After   hours of siege, a large police force of Manikchak police station arrived there. Instead of attempting to control the situation through dialogue, the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd of protesters. The situation quickly escalated, with bricks being hurled and police resorting to lathi charges. As the crowd grew increasingly agitated, officers opened fire, leaving three villagers shot and one missing. Eyewitnesses report that 10-12 rounds were fired, with some claiming that the police targeted protesters from behind houses. In the ensuing pandemonium, a police car was set ablaze, and several villagers as well as a few police sustained injuries. Two of the shooting victims, Akbar Sheikh (25) and Anwarul Nadab (24), were hospitalised with leg wounds.

The police, as usual, initially denied firing any shots, claiming they only used lathi charges to control the situation. However, Malda superintendent of police Pradeep Kumar Yadav confirmed injuries on both sides and announced ongoing arrests in the area. By nightfall, 25 villagers had been detained. The situation remained volatile, with the district police reporting that the Manikchak police station IC was injured during the incident. Even members of the press were affected by the violence.

CPI(M) Malda district secretary Ambar Mitra criticised the government's response to the load shedding protests, accusing them of lying about the situation. The police opened fire on protesters, and a bullet was removed from someone's body, but the government denies any shooting occurred, he said. “We condemn this callous attitude of Mamata Banerjee’s government. There will be a 12-hour total shutdown tomorrow in Manikchak,” he added. After the situation got out of hand, The BDO called for an all-party meeting, but CPI(M) refused to participate, demanding the release of innocent villagers and criticising the government's handling of the protests.

Late night on July 18, police conducted raids in villages throughout Manikchak. 25 CPI(M) and Congress supporters and workers were arrested on non-bailable charges. Among the arrested was secretary of Malda District Migrant Workers Union, CITU leader Kamal Sheikh. Cases have been filed against the detainees under Section 23 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, most of which are non-bailable. When the CPI(M) and Congress workers were produced in the Malda court on July 19, the judge ordered them to undergo 14 days in jail.

SUCCESSFUL HARTAL

In response to the arrests and police brutality, the 12-hour hartal called by the Left Front brought Manikchak block to a standstill. All 11 panchayat areas observed a spontaneous closure, with shops, bazaars, schools, and banks shutting down. Vehicular movement also came to a halt. Despite a large police presence, the hartal remained peaceful and effective, with no reports of forced picketing or clashes. The widespread shutdown demonstrated the people's anger against the police and administration's handling of the protests. In the meantime, state president of West Bengal Migrant Workers Union S M Sadi and secretary Asadullah Gayen  in a statement condemned Kamal Sheikh's arrest and expressed concern about potential police harassment of more common people and organisers.

Even on July 19th night, police brutality and harassment continued throughout Manikchak. Manikchak police arrested 6 Congress and CPI(M) workers and supporters after raiding Mohan village of Enayetpur in Manikchak. Around two o'clock on July 19th  night, a large police force rushed to Mohan village of Enayetpur in Manikchak. Congress supporter Oli Ulla was dragged away and police mistreated his wife, Manoara Bibi. "Is my husband a terrorist?" she questioned, expressing outrage over the violent intrusion. Protests against continuous load shedding had taken place, drawing many villagers, including Oli Ulla. Police broke down gates and doors before arresting him, leaving Manoara Bibi and others terrified and traumatised.

After that, the police raided five more houses in Mohan village and started arbitrarily arresting suspects. Overnight the police of Manikchak police station arrested 6 Congress and CPI(M) workers and supporters after vandalising several houses. In total, 31 people were arrested in two days. However, the policemen who opened fire, resulting in three people being hospitalised, have not been held accountable. Instead of taking action against them, the district administration is arresting protesting villagers indiscriminately. 

CITU district secretary Debajyoti Sinha condemned the biased actions and announced a series of protest meetings across the district starting next July 23. These meetings aim to denounce police brutality and demand justice for those unjustly arrested.