On Saturday, the house of a retired Army officer from Haringhata, Bengal, was vandalized early in the morning after he lit candles in condolence for those martyred in the abominable Pulwama attack, reported The Times of India. Army JCO (retd.), Gour Sekhar Dey, who also served in Kargil for two years during his 35 years of service in the Army, had later registered a case to the police.
Speaking about the incident, Dey’s son Arunava said, “My father was in the Army Postal Service. The Army then had a rank of Warrant Officer, which now exists only in the Indian Air Force. We built the house in Haringhata in 2014 and moved in after my father retired in 2016. We had never faced any trouble in the neighborhood. So it came as a shock when we found my father’s plaque defaced with tar. There were also markings on the walls. It seems that some people were unhappy with us lighting the candles”.
In the wake of the Pulwama attack, the family was paying homage to the martyrs and lighting candles as urged by the ex-serviceman’s association. The family later posted the pictures of it on the social media and afterwards some goons with nefarious intent defaced his plaque with tar.
Arunava further lashed out against those ill-intentioned goons and stated, “I was awake till 1.30am. I had checked the doors and windows and everything seemed fine. The vandals seem to have struck after that. It was not the work of mischievous children as the tar marks on the walls could only have been made by somebody quite tall. His is quite unnerving. Are there people around us who are unpatriotic or was there some other motive behind this?”
An investigation has been initiated in the case. Talking to media, a senior police official said, “We are investigating the matter. Nothing more can be said at this point”.
This is a shocking incident to the part of local administration and moreover for state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It seems that the law and order situation in the state had gone from bad to worse. Mamata Banerjee is too busy exploiting the state police by using it against the Union Government and gaining political mileage out of it.
While the whole nation is in sorrow and is condemning Pakistan’s atrocious act, the reports coming from Kolkata are disturbing to say the least. The law and order situation had already deteriorated badly under the Mamata Banerjee government and on top of that, she has started indulging in direct confrontation with the centre. The situation calls for President’s rule in West Bengal and the Modi government must act now.