The first public meeting of the RSS in Bengal in ‘several decades’ was attended by senior leaders of the RSS and the BJP, in Baruipur municipality on Sunday |
Senior leaders of RSS and BJP hit out at TMC for attacking their supporters
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has conducted its
first public meeting in Bengal in ‘several decades’. Nearly ‘4,000
people’ attended the two-hour programme, according to police sources.
Senior leaders of the RSS in south Bengal and top BJP functionaries
lambasted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for attacking BJP workers and RSS
activists.
Later, in a different context, senior
TMC leader Partha Chatterjee alleged that ‘right-wing’ forces are
‘disturbing the peace in the State’.
On Sunday
evening, the State witnessed a unique event in Baruipur municipality,
about 20 km south of Kolkata, in South 24 Paraganas district. The
spokesperson of the RSS in south Bengal, Jishnu Basu, confirmed that it
was first public event of the RSS in Bengal in ‘several decades’. The
activists came in vehicles organised by the Sangh and many locals also
walked in. Senior police officers, who were covering the event, do not
remember any RSS programme in South 24 Paraganas that went ‘public’
during their ‘20-year-long career’. “I always witness the organisation's
programme for the activists,” a senior officer said.
The
Prant Sanghchalak or the zonal in-charge of the RSS in south Bengal,
Atul Kumar Biswas, accepted that it was unusual for the organisation to
go public. “It is a fact that we do not hold such programmes in public,”
Mr. Biswas said, and explained why the RSS had to hold a public
meeting. “Since last Lok Saha elections, our (BJP and RSS) activists are
coming under severe attack. Even the RSS activists are not spared and
we have never witnessed such atrocities…some danger is lurking somewhere
and so we decided to go public,” Mr. Biswas said. He, however, did not
name the TMC.