Union Minister of State for Railways, Suresh Angadi has said that he has directed the concerned district administration and railway authorities to “shoot at sight” anyone destroying public property. He told ANI, “I strictly warn concerned district administration and railway authorities, if anybody destroys public property, including railway, I direct as a Minister, shoot them at sight.”
Coming down heavily on vandals and hooligans destroying public and private property across the country, he said that it is taxpayers’ money and it takes years to develop a single train. The Minister also said, “If anybody throws stones at that time government should take stringent action like Vallabhbhai Patel. Local minorities, some communities are unnecessarily creating problems to destabilise the country’s economy.”
It is pertinent to mention here that ever since the CAA was passed by the Parliament, wild rumours were being spread about the Amendment legislation, inciting violence against across the country. Rail property, especially in the state of West Bengal has been a major target of violence perpetrated by vandals and hooligans.
Over the past few days, there have been several incidents of rampant violence in the state. Violence has also taken grip of Malda, even as the hooligans vandalised the Bhaluka railway station on Sunday. They even resorted to arson and set the ticket counter on fire, even as hundreds of agitators blocked the tracks at the railway station. Within a few days of violence, these vandals and hooligans have run riot in West Bengal torching 5 trains and 3 railway stations, apart from attacking and vandalising several other railway assets. These protesters have not just been torching and vandalising public property, but they have also been targeting innocent citizen.
There have also been reports and disturbing visuals of such communally enraged violent mobs pelting stones at running trains carrying passengers. The vandals have also been inflicting structural damage on the railway tracks, setting them on fire and vandalising critical infrastructure to cause derailments and nasty accidents. The West Bengal Police has thus far been ineffective in handling the violent mobs and vandals causing serious damage to rail infrastructure in the state, which has in turn, seriously imperilled the safety of railway passengers in the state.
The situation has been further exacerbated by the casual attitude of the West Bengal Chief Minister and former Union Railways Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has even tried to downplay the widespread violence and arson by stating, “Just because few trains were set on fire, Centre has stopped railway services in most parts of Bengal.” It is that much more shocking because this is coming from the former Railway Minister of India.
The rail property is facing a serious threat from violent mobs and vandals. Moreover, the state administration has displayed a lackadaisical approach towards the serious cases of vandalism. However, the Union Minister of State for Railways, Suresh Angadi has made it clear that the Railways Ministry is not going to tolerate such nuisance and violence. The Minister has therefore made it clear that the rail authorities are going to deal with vandalism and violence with an iron fist.