West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday publicly rebuked Biddhannagar’s Commissioner of Police Manoj Verma when the Governor visited Gandhi Ghat in Barrackpore on the occasion of Martyrs’ Day.
“You were sitting in the first row and reading newspapers, such casual, farcical and improper approach,” Mr. Dhankhar was shown remarking in a televised news clip broadcast by multiple news channels. “The Governor is here. It is Martyrs’ Day, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Shame on us,” the Governor was heard telling the senior police officer.
Mr. Dhankhar, who has in the past expressed his disappointment over the deployment of police at events attended by him, expressed surprise at “how men in uniform can indulge in such behaviour”.
“I am worried at such a serious lapse, how can it happen on this day. Are we living in a State where there is rule of law?” he remarked. The Governor asked the Commissioner to make a list of police officers present at the event and send it to him either directly or route it through the State Secretariat.
Later, speaking to journalists Mr. Dhankhar asserted that rule of law had completely broken down in the State. “We are having total breakdown of law and order, total lawlessness. There is no rule of law. Let us resolve on this day to do some serious soul searching,” he said. The development comes just days after the the Governor was unable to attend the convocation at the University of Calcutta, owing to protests by students.
“What I saw at Calcutta University, where was the Kolkata Police. Did you see a single uniformed man,” he said. The Governor also remarked that when he wanted to meet the Home Secretary, the officer was not available.
Senior TMC leader and Minister for Power Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who was present at the event in Barrackpore, claimed that the Governor had turned his face when he greeted him and ignored his gesture. “I will not respond to what he said. I think that he is representing a political party and not behaving like a Governor,” Mr. Chattopadhyay said.
