Murshidabad violence: Empower Union government, set up inquiry panel, suggests Bengal Governor

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has submitted a special report to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the recent communal riots in Murshidabad district, and has recommended the formulation of "an overarching legislation to empower the Union government to maintain law and order when the state machinery fails to act effectively".

He has also suggested the "appointment of a Commission of Inquiry under The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 to look into the reported acts of omission and commission and to suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future". He also suggested "reinstating/setting up Central Forces Outposts/BSF outposts in the vulnerable districts along the international border". Murshidabad district's Suti and Samserganj witnessed large-scale communal violence in which three persons died in the first week of April. The governor had visited Murshidabad's violence-affected areas and Malda district where displaced people had taken refuge, following the violence.

At the end of the report, in the last line, the Governor adds (but not as recommendations), "Needless to add, provisions under Article 356 of the Constitution also remain."


The report noted that despite the state government's success in dealing with the "organised ultra-Left militancy", the state "continues to flounder while dealing with communal conflagrations and ordinary and routine law and order situations, especially issues such as rape and campus violence". He pointed towards 'demographic manipulation', which is an issue which needs to be addressed, and the "twin spectre of radicalisation and militancy" posing serious challenge for the state in both Murshidabad and Malda".

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, "...It's against BJP's policy to remove an elected government using Article 356; we never did this; it's a tool of Congress. But such criminalisation of things here is not good, and we need something to prevent this. I think that in 2026, the people will remove Mamata Banerjee from power..."