The Burmans of Cooch Behar’s Pathakuli are a divided lot and a tragedy has made the rift deeper. On Wednesday morning when Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee came calling on the kin of those killed on April 10, Jagadish, father of the slain 18-year-old first-time voter Anand, refused to meet her.
Jagadish Burman’s refusal was a reminder of the acrimonious atmosphere that personal political choices can create within a family and its fallout.
Instead, Anand’s maternal grandfather Kshitish Chandra Roy and uncle Ranjit later went to meet the chief minister at Mathabhanga, where she addressed an campaign meeting.
The residents of Sitalkuchi’s Jorpatki have a question for the Election Commission: why did it not send any representative to the village after the deaths of four voters in CISF firing, unlike its prompt action when a BJP politician was found dead in the same district?
Most of the villagers
The Telegraph spoke to said they were high school dropouts with very little idea about the outside world, but were aware that the poll panel was supposed to be a neutral body.
Two yardsticks
“A few days ago, a BJP leader was found dead in Dinhata town. Immediately, the Election Commission ordered an investigation and sent the special police observer to Cooch Behar to conduct an inquiry and submit a report,” said Mortuza Mian, a local youth.
People must be allowed to vote, Mamata Banerjee said.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has labelled the killing of four people in central force firing at Cooch Behar a genocide and said the victims were sprayed with bullets in the chest and neck . This is genocide. They have fired just like a fire spray. They should have fired below the wait. But they have fired at neck and chest, she said.
Ms Banerjee, who was speaking at a press meet in Siliguri in north Bengal today, said, The CISF is not trained for mob control. Now they want to suppress facts. That s why they banned entry into Cooch Behar for 72 hours, she added.