Murshidabad violence: West Bengal police were inactive, says HC-appointed panel

The police were “completely inactive and absent” during the communal violence that broke out in West Bengal’s Murshidabad in April, a three-member fact-finding committee appointed by the Calcutta High Court to investigate the unrest has found, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.

The committee’s report, based on the testimony of those affected by the violence, stated that the police failed to respond to distress calls from residents. It also mentioned that Trinamool Congress leader Mehboob Alam was present at the site of the violence, The Hindu reported.

Violence broke out in Murshidabad on April 11 and 12 during protests against amendments to the Waqf Act passed by Parliament on April 4. Three persons were killed in the violence.

A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

The Waqf Amendment Act curbs the authority of waqf boards and allows greater government control over them. Critics allege that the amended law violates the right to equality and the freedom to manage religious affairs.

The committee – set up by the division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury – comprises Joginder Singh, the registrar of the National Human Rights Commission, Satya Arnab...

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