Murshidabad Violence Update: Her eight-day-old baby in her lap, Saptami Mondol (24) sat on a tarpaulin sheet inside a classroom of a high school in Parlalpur, which has been converted into a shelter after communal violence broke out in West Bengal’s Murshidabad last week.
Saptami, who is among the 400 men, women and children taking refuge at the school after fleeing their homes, is unsure if she will ever return to her village — located across the Ganga or 60 kilometres by road.
The violence over the new Waqf law has already claimed three lives, including one Ejaz Ahmad, who died of bullet injuries, and father and son Hargobindo Das (72) and Chandan Das (40), who were dragged out of their home by a mob and killed.
While more than 200 arrests have been made and police claim the situation is normalising, those who fled the trouble-torn areas are not so sure.
“On Friday, the mob set fire to our neighbour’s house and pelted stones at ours. My parents and I hid inside and left in the evening when the mob was gone. BSF had started patrolling by then. We only have the clothes we’re wearing. We made our way to the ghat (makeshift jetty) with the help of the BSF,” said Saptami, who stays in Dhulian and whose husband works in Kolkata as a mason.
“It was dark; we got on a boat and crossed the river. On the other side was this village where a family sheltered us for the night and gave us clothes. The next day, we came to this school,” said Maheshwari Mondol, Saptami’s mother.
“My baby developed a fever as we crossed the river… We are now at the mercy of others,” said Saptami. “We have become refugees in our own land. We may never return; what if they attack us again?”
The families occupying the Parlalpur High School come from areas such as Suti, Dhulian and Samaherganj.
“My house is burnt. We want a permanent BSF camp in our locality; only then can we return,” said Tulorani Mondol (56), a widow from Dhulian.
Sitting inside a classroom on the first floor, Lalpur resident Pratima Mondol (30) echoed a series of events narrated by many others — cowering in fear as a mob ran riot. “The mob ransacked our home as we hid on the terrace. The next evening, we took a boat to cross the river. I have a one-year-old,” she said.
“We couldn’t bring anything with us. Police and BSF will eventually be gone; who will protect us then?” said Namita Mondol (40), a resident of Sabjipatti in Dhulian, who is at the school with her 18-year-old son.
Inside the classrooms, benches have been removed to make room for bedding, and local villagers and the administration have made arrangements for clothes, food and medicine. The school is guarded by armed policemen and personnel of the Rapid Action Force.
Reba Biswas (57), a local, cooked lunch along with nine other women from the area. “We kept them in our homes on Friday night and then brought them here,” she said.
The mid-day meal cooking room has become a makeshift kitchen, and the dormitory a hall for feeding people.
Dr Prasenjit Mondol from the Kumbhira primary health centre, who is posted at the school, said, “There is a pregnant woman here, while another who was due for delivery has been shifted to the Bedrabad rural hospital.”
“We have made arrangements for families to stay here. We serve rice, dal, potatoes and eggs to the adults, baby food to infants and milk to children. The administration has provided tarpaulin sheets and adequate drinking water,” said Sukanta Sikdar, the Kaliachowk 3 block development officer.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumder visited the school and promised to help those taking shelter there. There was a brief commotion before he arrived as police had locked the gates, saying outsiders are not allowed. However, he was eventually let in.