Scuffle, cop plaint over Israeli flag at Ram Navami rallies
Times of India | 9 April 2025
123 Kolkata: Jagaddal's Trinamool MLA Somenath Shyam Ichini on Tuesday lodged a complaint against Arjun Singh and other BJP functionaries, including Priyangu Pandey, at Bhatpara PS over the display of Israeli flag at a Ram Navami procession in the Bhatpara-Kankinara area on Sunday. The Israeli flag reappeared in another Ram Navami rally in Habra on Tuesday, leading to a scuffle between the participants and cops who allegedly seized it.
The Habra rally, which started from Deshbandhu Park, was to pass through Jessore Road. At Habra No. 1 Rail Gate, BJP's Raju Bandopadhyay was seen holding up the Israeli flag. When cops asked him to take it down, an argument started. Tensions escalated as police reportedly took the flag away. BJP workers allegedly manhandled cops and blocked Jessore Road near Habra station, disrupting traffic in peak hours. A team from Habra PS, led by IC Anupam Chakraborty, was deployed to clear the road.
Bandopadhyay said, "There were both Indian and Israeli flags. Israel is a sovereign nation and India's friend. That's why we carried its flag." Trinamool-run Habra civic body chairman Narayan Chandra Saha said, "They should carry their party's flag, not that of a foreign nation... BJP is behaving in an unruly way."
In the police complaint, MLA Shyam called the act of waving another country's flag at a religious rally "against Indian traditions". But Singh cited India's ties with Israel as a reason for the act.