Birbhum violence: The main reasons behind the Rampurhat arson attack, CPIML leader discloses the whole truth

West Bengal – On the morning of Tuesday (23 March 2022), some breaking news caught everyone's attention. It was being reported that eight people were set ablaze in Bhogtui village in Rampurhat in the Birbhum district of West Bengal (Birbhum violence). This incident is now being discussed all over the country. Everyone wants to know how a mob can be so cruel that they can purposefully let live persons burn to death. The whole story is like the script of a web series, in which two factions sacrifice the lives of many people in their fight for domination.

The Mooknayak team also tried very hard to find out the reasons behind this incident and also liaised with many journalists from West Bengal. CPIML leader Partho Ghosh told us one likely motive for this incident. From this, you can understand the reasons behind it. We spoke to Partho Ghosh over the phone.

Also read: 72 hours after the violence in Birbhum CM Mamta Banerjee takes stock of the situation, BJP demands imposition of President's rule in Bengal

Partho explains that Bhogtui village, where the incident happened, is predominantly a Muslim village. The main occupation is agriculture. Most of the people do farming or work as laborers. The struggle here is not for political [reasons] but for domination. To establish one's superiority, which is also clearly evident in this incident.

Referring to events that happened 10 years ago, Partho says that when Mamta Banerjee became the Chief Minister of Bengal in 2011, Trinamool workers started to openly come out in front of the people.

Three such people were Bhadu Sheikh (who was killed), Anarul Hussain (who has been arrested by the police), and Sona Sheikh (whose family members were burnt to death). Until that time, they had no particular connection with politics.

At the beginning of these events, he says, in the last 8-10 years, their earnings multiplied into crores. Before that, they were all ordinary laborers. He tells us that Anarul Hussain used to be a mason. But through illegal business in sand, coal, and stone he became acrorepati[millionaire], which then led to the formation of a gang. Bhadu Sheikh and Sona Sheikh were in the gang.

Also read: Birbhum Violence: no lawyer willing to fight the case for the accused

Partho further informs us that Birbhum district is at the furthest end of the Chota Nagpur plateau. This is where mineral resources are found in abundance. As a result, a huge amount of illegal mining goes on here. And the mineral wealth is behind this incident as well, in which eight people were burnt alive. The mineral resources include thousands of two small rivers, chip stone, and a few small open coal mines.

Partho tells us that in this saga of illegal mining, Anarul Hussain ran an illegal sand and stone chips business and Bhadu Sheikh was a police mail clerk. Which he used to communicate with the illegal miners to extort dues [vasuli] and hand them over to the police. He even had an important role in the matter of distribution. This was whyAnarul Hussain had complete control over the police and Bhadu Sheikh, and as a result of which the police did not reach the spot even though they were just10 minutes away.

He says the events that led to this incident started the year before when Bhadu Sheikh's elder brother Babar Sheikh was murdered. He was also a mail clerk in the police. No action was taken after this murder, which should have happened. A few days after this incident, Anarul Sheikh and Bhadu Sheikh together implicate Sona Sheikh in various cases for which he is sent to prison. He stays there for about three months and it is from here that the saga of the establishment of another gang begins — after Sona Sheikh's release from prison forms a separate gang and keeps a close watch on Bhadu Sheikh. And the fight then turns into one between Bhadu Sheikh and Sona Sheikh.

Referring to the day of the incident, Partho says son the day when Bhadu Sheikh died in the hospital after a bomb fell on his house, the villagers had a premonition that something major was going to happen. And so after the news broke, a silence spread over the whole village. The people were stunned.

Let us find out what the whole fight was about?

He says such things happen often. In the fight between two factions, it is the ordinary public who suffers the damage. The same thing happened that day too. As soon as Bhadu's gang heard the news of his death, they went to Sona Sheikh's house (in the same mohalla) and everyone knows what happened after that. Sona Sheikh's sisters and nephews were all burnt alive with petrol bombs. But a major point here is that Anarul Hussain had the most significant role in this. He kept complete control over the police and stopped them from coming to the village but said that the Trinamool district president Anubrata Mondal had given the order to the police to stop. That until orders came from above, do not go. Due to this, the police did not reach the site [of arson] that was just 10 minutes away. Three days after this incident, CM Mamta Banerjee ordered the arrest of Anarul Hussain under any circumstances, and he was arrested from Tarapith on the same day.

Such incidents happen in Birbhum

On the condition of anonymity, a political analyst from Birbhum district told The Mooknayak that Birbhumis West Bengal's most backward district. There is no kind of industry here. So to make ends meet, the people here have no option other than working in agriculture and illegal mining. Due to this, there is much engagement of people in violent politics as well. There are reports of murder every day. But these never manage to become headline news. This time, the heinous manner in which the people have been killed has created an awareness among the public of the politics in this area.

He goes on to say that as it often happens, the person who has more power is a member of the ruling party. Those with less power are under the protection of the opposition parties. This has been happening for a long time. The state of the Left government was not hidden from anyone. The dominance of the party was so much that the opposition could not say anything. Now fewer and fewer opposition members are able to voice their concerns.

However, other media outlets are also publishing reports on illegal sand mining and the fight for dominance. According to such reports, most of the people of the village earn their living by illegally digging up sand and stones to sell them. Even to the extent of illegal trading in sand and stone, which is dependent on how much one is able to dominate. These also have the patronage of the political parties. Although parties come and go with time, the ways of working remain the same. Due to this, such a major incident has occurred.