Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of rock-throwing demonstrators in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Tuesday, during protests demanding the resignation of West Bengal's chief minister over the rape and killing of a doctor.
The Paschimbanga Chhatro Samaj – the West Bengal Students' Society – led the march, saying Mamata Banerjee must step down over claims she has mishandled the case.
More than 6,000 police personnel had converted Nabanna, the West Bengal government headquarters, and the surrounding areas into a fortress by putting up steel barricades that were greased to prevent protesters scaling them.
Despite the heavy police presence in the state capital, protesters marched towards the headquarters of the state government, triggering clashes between officers and demonstrators.
Police fired dozens of tear gas shells and water cannon to disperse stone-throwing students, who carried anti-state government banners. Protesters and opposition parties accuse the state government of shielding those responsible for the killing.
Clips aired on television showed angry protesters pulling down the barricades as police used water cannon and struck people with batons.
Namita Ghosh, a college student who attended the protest, told AFP news agency that the crowd intended to “protest peacefully” before the baton charge.
At least 100 protesters “have been arrested on the charges of violence”, a senior police official told AFP.
The killing of the resident doctor, 31, at the government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9 led to weeks-long nationwide protests and strikes by doctors.
Her body was discovered with multiple injuries – including to her head and neck – that indicated strangulation, according to a postmortem report.
Kolkata police initially arrested a volunteer at the hospital in connection with the case, but the matter was later taken up by the federal Central Bureau of Investigation, after the parents of the victim filed a petition.
The young woman's family sought an investigation monitored by courts to ensure evidence was not tampered with.
Ms Banerjee and her ruling Trinamool Congress party are facing allegations from political opponents, mainly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, of shielding the alleged perpetrators.
The TMC party has also come under criticism for levels of alleged lawlessness in West Bengal.
The West Bengal government rejects the allegations and accused the BJP of orchestrating the protests and fomenting violence.
“Make no mistake, this isn't a protest for justice, it's chaos orchestrated by BJP – hired goons running amok, smashing barricades and attacking on-duty police officers,” the TMC said.
The BJP accused police of heavy-handedness and claimed the ruling party was helping rapists and criminals.
It also announced a 12-hour strike on Wednesday to protest against police action against the demonstrators.
“The images of police high-handedness from Kolkata have angered every person who values democratic principles. In Didi’s [a nickname for Ms Banerjee] West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it’s a crime to speak for women’s safety,” Jagat Prakash Nadda, BJP national president, wrote on X.
Doctors and healthcare workers, who launched a nationwide strike lasting two weeks, demanding justice for the trainee doctor and a safe environment for medics, refused to join Tuesday’s protests.
Education institutions in Kolkata were closed on Tuesday or moved to online classes, with thousands of police and paramilitary forces patrolling the streets.
Some protesters made comparisons to the weeks-long protests by students in Bangladesh that brought the 16-year rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to an abrupt end this month.
Ms Banerjee has been governing West Bengal for more than 15 years and her opponents accuse her of being an autocrat.
Protesters in Kolkata adapted a slogan used by Bangladeshi demonstrators against Ms Hasina to target Ms Banerjee. They chanted: “Dofa ek, dabi ek, Mamata Banerjeer podotyag” – which translates as “the only demand is Mamata Banerjee's resignation.” They carried placards with the same slogan.
The BJP has failed to make a significant mark in the state politics of West Bengal.
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Expert input
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
