Strife-stricken residents of Murshidabad, who took shelter at a school in Malda district, burst out in protest against police when governor C.V. Anand Bose and representatives of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the camp.

“Our houses were torched, and there is hardly anything left for us to live there. There is no guarantee that we will not face another attack. But the police here want us to leave,” said Rina Mandal, a Murshidabad resident who is staying at Parlalpur High School in Kaliachak 3 block.

Some other displaced residents who did not want to be named said the police were stopping them from moving outside the school.

“Even if one needs to buy medicine, the policemen are reluctant to let him go,” said one of them.

When Bose entered the school in the evening, media persons were barred by the police from recording his conversations with the inmates.

Infuriated over the restrictions, relatives of the displaced people, along with some local people, resorted to a demonstration.

The demonstrators tried to remove the guard rails installed by the police. Finally, the police had to give in as the agitations turned fierce, and the media personnel were allowed to enter the school during Bose’s visit.

In the morning, a three-member delegation of the NHRC reached the Parlalpur High School. They spoke to people who had taken shelter in the school and later left. The delegates did not speak to the media.

After some time, a team from the NCW reached the same venue. Members of the NCW expressed strong discontent at the conditions of those staying at the camp and criticised the conduct of the police.

Archana Majumdar, a member of the NCW who had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Assembly elections on a BJP ticket from the Dumdum North constituency, said: “Police even prevented cooking for those who have taken shelter here and are exerting pressure on the helpless people to leave the camp.”

“This is inhuman. These families could not go back to their houses as those were damaged and torched. The police are forcing them to leave by stopping them from moving outside the school,” she added.

In the afternoon, the governor reached Malda by train. “Normality has to be restored in the affected areas at the earliest. I will visit the camp and listen to the grievances of the inmates. I would try to understand their sentiments, feelings and needs,” he said.

After meeting the displaced people, Bose said he had gathered information about their losses and the problems they were facing at the camp.

“I got a feeling that there was a kind of attempt to establish somebody’s supremacy. One section of the community tried to intimidate another section, almost telling them to shut up or put up. That is not the way democracy should function,” he said.

“All of them (at the camp) told me that they want to go back but want protection, a sense of security, houses and a BSF camp. I would take it up with the appropriate authority,” he added.

Kunal Ghosh, the state general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, has accused the governor of acting at the BJP’s behest.

“The administration and the police are taking necessary steps… he went there to please his bosses,” said Ghosh.

A BJP functionary in Malda said: “It is because of police inaction that these people had to flee their homes. The government cannot evade its responsibility.”