THE rampant criminalisation of politics in Bengal during the decade-long Trinamool regime has vitiated both social and political life. The BJP's recent attempts to first communalise the atmosphere and then exploit the resulting turmoil have further degraded law and order. Alarming levels of crimes against women have been reported. Recurrent outbreaks of mob violence, whether mass-mediated or otherwise, are clear indications that the general public has little to no confidence in law enforcement agencies. The most recent example of this is the situation in Kaliaganj.

Kaliaganj, located in North Dinajpur and known for its cultural and sporting events, has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons following the gruesome death of a 17-year-old Rajbanshi girl on April 20.  Mob attacks on the local police station, arson,   destruction of public facilities, vandalism of some shops and houses in the adjoining areas, skirmishes with the police and attacks by angry villagers on the police have proved how much the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state under the Trinamool rule. What is more concerning is that the RSS-BJP is trying to make the situation more complicated by putting communal colours on this whole incident.

In light of the situation, the district Left Front has assured the administration of their full cooperation in maintaining communal harmony. The Left Front has also called on the district's police administration to work for the common people and avoid any biases. They have urged people of good sense who value democracy to come together. Following the incident, representatives from SFI, DYFI, AIDWA, and Samajik Nyay Manch visited the deceased girl's house to express their condolences to her mother and other family members, and pledged their support. Prior to this, mass organisations had protested in front of Kaliaganj and Itahar police stations, demanding a proper investigation and justice for the victim's unusual death.

On April 20th, the daughter of an agricultural worker and resident of Gangua village went missing after attending her tuition classes, and despite extensive searches by family members and locals, she could not be found the entire night. On April 21st, the girl's body was discovered by local residents at the edge of a pond. She was a Class XII student. The residents who found the body claimed that it was unclothed. Subsequently, the family alleged that the student had been raped and murdered.

The villagers protested by leaving the dead body on the road while demanding exemplary punishment for the guilty. The police failed to convince the agitated villagers and resorted to firing tear gas and baton - charging to disperse them. Many villagers were injured in this incident. After that, the police dragged the dead girl's body and carried out the post-mortem. The manner in which the police took away the dead body has sparked a storm of protests in various quarters. This inhuman scene also spread through social media. Meanwhile, the police superintendent said that the autopsy report of the teenage minor tribal girl had revealed that the cause of her death was poisoning. The situation became more complicated when representatives of two Child Protection Commissions of the state and the centre were found to be at odds. The family did not accept the autopsy report and demanded a CBI investigation. The police have arrested the main accused and his father. The remaining two accused are still at large.

On April 25, a large number of people under the banner of Rajbanshi, Scheduled Caste and Adivasi Organisations' Coordinating Committee held a protest march in Kaliaganj town to hand over a memorandum to the police station. They demanded the arrest of the two accused and capital punishment for all the accused. Some of the protestors broke through the police barricade, entered the Kaliaganj police station, and set it on fire. The police used lathi charge, tear gas, and water cannons. But the fury of the agitators could not be quelled. After being attacked, some policemen took shelter in a nearby house, but the agitators followed them and attacked them. The police have arrested 33 people in connection with this incident, and 17 police personnel were injured.

The chief minister has, as usual, tried to cover up the death of the girl and declared it a case of suicide, even though the investigation is still ongoing. She and her District Superintendent of Police have alleged that the incident was planned, and people from Bihar were brought in to cause trouble.

Furthermore, amid ongoing protests over the suspicious death, tension started mounting again after a 33-year-old Rajbanshi man was killed in Kaliaganj on April 27. According to locals, the police personnel had gone in the early hours of the morning to arrest a person who was allegedly involved in the earlier mob violence. The deceased had an altercation with the police during which he died. The family members of the deceased and locals pointed fingers at the police, alleging that he had died in police firing. The death of the man, which came a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the police to take strong action against those involved in the attack on Kaliaganj police station, has further escalated the situation in the area.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
The incident has left many questions unanswered. Like the family, the primary question that arises in the minds of all people is why and how did this suspicious death occur? Has the teenager actually been raped? What is the police doing to investigate this matter? Will the deceased's family receive justice? The police's failure to handle the situation has raised serious questions about their unpreparedness, inefficiency, and incompetence. The police station was burnt down, and to save their lives, the police had to take shelter under a bed in a villager's house. The police personnel, including civic police, were cruelly beaten and injured. How could such a terrible event occur? What was the police intelligence department doing? Where was the government? What is the role of the home minister? It is also time for the police personnel to consider why there is so much anger towards them. Why do people hate the police so much? Many believe that the protectors of the people have become slaves to the ruling party. To them, the police in Bengal are nothing but Trinamool activists in police uniform, guarding all the misdeeds of the party.

The role of the chief minister as the home minister has done little to improve the situation. She herself has introduced a peculiar custom of announcing the outcome of the investigation even before it has properly started, and the police administration has been found to echo the same standard reaction of their political master. Police across the state are experiencing the damaging impact of public distrust, for which they are wholly responsible. It is a widely held belief that the police, CID, and SIT – all law-enforcing and investigative agencies are working under tight political control. It is significant to note that the home minister nor did have the time or did feel the need to go to the place of the incidents.

In Bengal, both the BJP and Trinamool are facing trouble as there is a widespread feeling of discontent. The Trinamool Congress and its corruption-ridden decade-long rule have resulted in popular dissatisfaction, while the BJP is seen as promoting a communal agenda that seeks to undermine Bengal's composite culture.  In the upcoming panchayat elections for 2023, poor people’s anger is directed against both parties. In a desperate attempt to change the situation, both parties are resorting to polarisation as their primary strategy. As a result, they are trying to exploit whatever political advantage they can gain from these gruesome incidents.

Mass movements are gaining momentum under the leadership of the Left.

The situation in Kaliaganj is grim. The family of the deceased is seeking justice at any cost, while the BJP hopes to gain politically by demanding a CBI investigation. However, there is a popular perception that both the state police and the CBI are merely mercenaries in a bigger political battle between the TMC and BJP. Some observers have even questioned whether the incidents of mob violence were spontaneous protests or demonstrations engineered by vested interests. Divisive organisations like the RSS-BJP, Kamtapur, and Greater Cooch Behar are noticeable in Kaliaganj. BJP-RSS are presently in a bad shape in Bengal as their role as a fake opposition has become quite exposed. They know they will not be able to come out of the crisis if they cannot create an atmosphere of communal polarisation. Trinamool, like the BJP, is desperate to profit from this atmosphere of communal polaraisation. So, plans are afoot to use this gruesome incident as a tool to divert attention away from demands for work, education, and fair prices for crops and to curb people’s struggle towards an alternative.

The current goal of the Left is to establish peace and harmony in the region. They demand that the administration take a patient and neutral role to earn the trust of the people. The Left Front also demands a judicial inquiry into the incident to ensure justice for the family of the deceased and punishment to the guilty. To restore peace, harmony, law and order, the district administration must call for all-party meetings and take positive initiatives to help people regain confidence. The binary of choosing between BJP’s communal politics and TMC’s anarchy is on the decline in Bengal, and the people must remain vigilant to prevent its resurgence through the Kaliaganj incident.