Ram Navami Riots In Bengal 'Pre-planned, Orchestrated', Triggered By CM's Speech: Fact-Finding Panel

The six-member fact-finding committee on alleged violation of human rights in West Bengal released an interim report on Monday (10 April).

They said the riots during Ram Navami procession were "pre-planned, orchestrated and instigated."

Led by former Patna High Court chief justice Narsimha Reddy, the committee sought a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the violence.

The fact-finding team was on a three-day tour of West Bengal to assess alleged human rights violations in the state during Ram Navami processions in Howrah and Hooghly districts.

"The trigger was the grossly inflammatory speech of the West Bengal Chief Minister," the report said.

The panel claims to have come across several user-generated and media-reported videos which confirm that the peaceful Ram Navami procession was targeted, and the rioters were exhorted to stop and target the procession.

The committee in its report said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, just before the processions on Ram Navami, while sitting on dharna, made a call through a communal speech that any procession passing through 'Muslim areas' (as spoken verbatim) will be seriously acted upon.

According to the committee, it appeared that communally charged mob violence broke out against people taking part in the peaceful Ram Navami processions, and, at the same time, the state police were found completely missing in action to control rioters.

Appropriate police action has been sought in the matter by filing first information reports (FIRs) against the culprits behind the riots to achieve justice for the victims.

The recommendation to hand over investigation of the riots to NIA was to ensure that the probe is being carried out in a fair, impartial, and independent manner.