TMC MLA Saokat Molla Escapes Attack by ISF Supporters in West Bengal

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Saokat Molla had a narrow escape in Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal late Saturday night after crude bombs were allegedly hurled at his convoy while he was returning from a police station after registering an FIR over an attack on a TMC meeting that left four persons injured earlier in the evening. Police have arrested two men in connection with the attack on the TMC meeting. Both the arrested men, sources in the police said, were members of the Indian Secular Front (ISF). Molla said the attack on his convoy was “a premeditated and life-threatening one that was aimed at silencing political leadership”, and accused local ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui of orchestrating the violence. According to sources, the ruling TMC on Saturday evening had organised a meeting in Bhangar for the Assembly poll preparations, which is due in two months. During the course of the meeting, a group of men carrying sticks and bamboo poles allegedly entered the venue and attacked the TMC members. The group also allegedly ransacked the vehicle of local TMC leader Khairul Islam. Two TMC workers were also seriously injured and admitted to a hospital. As police were called in and deployed in Bhangar, TMC MLA from Canning East, Soukat Molla, rushed to the spot. Molla is the party’s observer for Bhangar. According to him, while he was on his way to file a police complaint, crude bombs were hurled at his convoy. “They attacked Khairul Islam and other TMC members at the meeting after turning off the lights. At least four persons were injured in the attack. They were first taken to a local hospital, and from there, they were shifted to Kolkata . Around 10:30 pm, I reached the Polarhat Police Station to get an FIR registered. When I was just 500 metres away from the police station on my way back, bombs were hurled at us. There were gunshots. Somehow, we managed to speed away, but the vehicle behind our car got damaged. We then called up the police from the spot,” Molla told mediapersons. Pointing fingers at local ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui, Molla said, “This MLA (Siddiqui) has no love for Bhangar. For his personal benefits, he wants to disturb the peace in Bhangar. He doesn’t care about about the people here,” Molla said, demanding strict action against the culprits. Siddiqui, however, rejected the TMC MLA’s charge. “It is Saokat Molla who always wants this to remain tense. Police must find out the real culprit behind such violence in the area. It will not be tolerated,” the lone MLA of the ISF said, calling the attack on the TMC MLA a “political conspiracy” to “suppress the ISF’s growing influence in the South 24 Parganas district’. Meanwhile, Bhangar remained tense on Sunday. A large contingent of the police force and Rapid Action Force has been deployed in the area to stop any untoward incident. Why Bhangar is TMC-ISF flashpoint The ISF, formed just ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections by the cleric of the revered Furfura Sharif shrine, Peerzada Abbas Siddiqui, went on to contest the Assembly elections in alliance with the Left Front and won one seat – Bhangar, where the cleric’s younger brother Naushad Siddiqui emerged victorious. Two years later, the ISF continued its hold in the area during the panchayat elections – which were marked by largescale violence — and also expanded its influence in neighbouring North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts. The TMC, on the other hand, first registered a presence in Bhangar in the 2006 Assembly elections, when its leader, Arabul Islam, won from the seat. In 2011, in an election that the TMC swept to form a government for the first time, Bhangar was one of the constituencies it lost. In 2016, the TMC wrested the seat back, fielding Abdur Razzak Mollah, who had been Land Reforms Minister under the Left Front government. But, come 2021, the TMC dropped Mollah for Dr Rezaul Karim, a former CPI(M) leader who had contested the Lok Sabha election from Birbhum in 2019, triggering protests from Mollah’s people. The latter got his sweet revenge when Karim lost the seat to the ISF’s Naushad Siddiqui. The TMC government has been contending with a protest against land acquisition for a power grid project in the area since 2013. The ISF tapped into this, roping in the Jomi Jibika Bastutantro O Poribesh Raksha Committee – the panel formed to protest against the land acquisition. The tension between the TMC and ISF last came to the fore in January 2022, when their workers clashed on the streets of Kolkata, with the ISF protesting against attacks on its workers allegedly by TMC men led by Arabul Islam. At least eight policemen were injured in the clash, while Naushad Siddiqui and 17 of his supporters were arrested. Naushad could get bail only after 42 days. The TMC tried to do damage control by sending Saokat Molla, a party MLA and close associate of general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. However, the party only had limited success.