Two injured in West Bengal as clashes mar strike

KOLKATA - Two people were injured in a clash between political activists in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district Tuesday amid disruption of normal life across the state following a one-day nationwide strike. Air services were also affected.

The workers of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) prevented the activists of the Trinamool Congress from opening shops in Baranagar in North 24-Parganas district, and in the two people were injured, the police said.

“Two persons have sustained injuries. The situation was brought under control by deploying the Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawans,” North 24-Parganas police superintendent Rahul Srivasav.

There was tension in the Shyamnagar Jute Mill after Trinamool supporters, who are opposing the strike, tried to force their way in, Srivastav said.

Bombs were hurled near the main gate of the Angus Jute Mill in Hooghly district, with the Trinamool blaming the CPI-M cadres of trying to scare away workers.

Hoogly police superintendent Tapan Roychowdhury said additional forces have been sent to prevent any further trouble in the mill.

A CPI-M office was damaged allegedly by Trinamool supporters at Nandigram of East Midnapore district, police said.

The strike has crippled commercial activities and vehicular movement in the state. Markets and shops remained closed.

However, with the Trinamool bringing out processions, a few shops and markets opened as the day wore on.

More than 100 flights run by private airlines to and from Kolkata were cancelled in advance. However, 10 flights of state-run Air India took off from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (NSCB) International Airport.

“We have decided to operate all flights, though we have cancelled the Kolkata-Kathmandu flight and combined some domestic flights. All 10 flights we operated in the morning from the airport, including one in the Kolkata-Dhaka-Bangkok international sector, were full,” an Air India spokesman told IANS.

Two other Air India flights also landed in the morning, he said.

The city, which bustles with activity on normal weekdays, saw empty roads as vehicles did not venture out while the strike was total in industrial areas like Taratala.

Government and private buses did not ply and most people chose to remain indoors either fearing chaos on the roads or deciding to enjoy an unscheduled holiday with their families.

Banks, other offices and commercial establishments remained closed. Many schools, though unofficially, asked students not to come Tuesday to save them from any inconvenience on the roads.

The strike paralysed the industrial belt on both sides of the Hooghly river in Hooghly, Howrah and North 24-Parganas districts, with workers supporting the strike picketing the factories’ gates.

Railway and Metro Railway services remained normal as they were kept outside the purview of the strike, though only a handful of commuters availed of these modes of transport.

The minority dominated areas of the state were also exempted from the strike as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is on. But most shops and markets in these belts also remained closed as traders from other areas could not reach their workplace due to transport problems.

The strike was called by the Coordination Committee of the Central Trade Unions headed by Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) president G. Sanjeeva Reddy. It has been called by eight trade unions to protest price rise, violation of labour laws and privatisation.