West Bengal: Bicycle-riding miscreants spread panic in minority areas of Kolkata

KOLKATA: The lives of minorities across Kolkata changed overnight after the election results were announced. A feeling of fear and unease gripped the residents as the bike-borne miscreants passed through the Muslim community, chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. In the southern community of Tangla, the situation turned unstable on Tuesday night when a mob chanting “Jai Shri Ram” attacked the TMC office and attacked bicycles and houses of members of the minority community. With TMC workers gathering in large numbers, the situation threatens to get out of hand. MLA Javed Khan arrived on time and took control of the situation. A dhaba shop owner, who attracts motorists for tea in the evening, called some of his Muslim customers and urged them not to come for now given the current tensions. An advisory circulating in a WhatsApp group warned members to avoid arguments and stay away from crowded gatherings. Shafqat Alam, who runs an NGO in the Topsia-Tirjala belt, said a day after the results were announced, two Muslim hardliners switched from the TMC to the BJP and led a bicycle gang into the minority-dominated area, shouting “Jai Shri Ram”. In Belgazia, north Kolkata, Muslim youths, including delivery executives, stopped venturing into Pikepara after dark after an incident of beatings on results day.