A number of prominent BJP leaders on Thursday expressed outrage over the murders of an RSS activist, his pregnant wife and young child in West Bengal's Murshidabad district. Interestingly, several of these BJP leaders used the incident to attack 'liberals', making indirect references to the controversial decision of the Bihar Police to initiate and then drop criminal charges against 49 prominent persons who had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on incidents of lynching.
The bodies of 35-year-old Bondhu Gopal Pal, his wife Beauty and their eight-year-old son Angan were found in a pool of blood in their residence in the Jiaganj area of Murshidabad on Wednesday. The victims were last seen on Monday and police suspect they were killed on Monday night as they were not seen at a puja pandal on Vijayadashami.
Pal was a primary schoolteacher. His wife was eight months pregnant at the time of their murder. Photographs and videos of the bodies of Pal and his family have gone viral in West Bengal and triggered outrage among BJP leaders and sympathisers.
In the last two years, approximately 80 activists of the BJP and associated groups have been killed in West Bengal as the saffron party has sought to expand its base in the state in the face of vehement opposition from the ruling Trinamool Congress. The majority of these killings happened in the western part of the state. The killing of the Pal family is the first instance of the entire family of an RSS activist being eliminated.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra shared a graphic video of the Pal household on Twitter. Patra lashed out at “liberals” for not writing to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the incident.
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BJP MP from Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje also used the incident to criticise liberals. Karandlaje tweeted, “RSS Svayam Sevak's entire family brutally slaughtered in #Murshidabad of West Bengal but still @RSSorg is fascist. No protest &letters from liberal gangs against this gruesome murder, they find no threat to secularism when a Hindu family brutally murdered.”
Why did 48 'celebrities' who recently showed their 'concern' for 'lynching' become dumb and deaf when three RSS workers ,Bandhu prakash jis wife and 8 year old child, mercilessly killed in Murshidabad?
— Prof Rakesh Sinha (@RakeshSinha01) October 10, 2019
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha was another saffron party leader who used the killing of the RSS activist's family to hit out at liberals. “Why did 48 'celebrities' who recently showed their 'concern' for 'lynching' become dumb and deaf when three RSS workers, Bandhu prakash jis wife and 8 year old child, mercilessly killed in Murshidabad?” tweeted Sinha.
Union Minister of State for Statistics Rao Inderjit Singh also tweeted about the killing of the RSS activist. Singh wrote, “Horrible murder in #Murshidabad must be investigated to discover the facts. The way the family killed is drastic cruelty. If the victim's association with RSS is the reason behind this slaughter then it's a serious concern...”
NCW demands action
News agency ANI reported on Thursday that Rekha Sharma, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women, had written to Banerjee and the West Bengal DGP about the killing of the RSS activist's family. Sharma asked them to ensure a “swift and fair investigation” and arrest of the accused soon.
