Violence follows letter criticising Azhar

A small township called Bankra on Thursday witnessed communal violence over the alleged criticism of the former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin in the `Letters to the Editor Column' of a Bengali vernacular daily. In the violence. more than 50 people were injured, 45 arrested, three police vans and two Government buses were broken and set on fire. Eight policemen were also injured and the police had to burst to disperse a mob that was turning violent.

On Thursday, the writer of the particular letter had stated that Azhar had betrayed the country because he belonged to the minority community. This enraged the fans of Azhar in Bankra which is about 90 kilometres away from Calcutta. A huge procession was taken out in the afternoon demanding the withdrawal of the letter by the newspaper authorities. The mob then started stoning and looting shops that belonged to another community. However, the prompt intervention of the police prevented the situation from really turning ugly.

When this correspondent visited the spot on Friday morning, the area still had signs of the violence that had taken place on Thursday. The local shop owners' association secretary Shaikh Sultan said, "We were all shocked at the language of the letter defaming Azhar. We are all great fans of the cricketer and we will not tolerate any statement against him. Even though 45 of us have been arrested, many more are ready to go to jail for him. We do not believe that Azhar has betrayed the country. If he had done so, he could not have been the best captain the country has ever produced."

Even the police superintendent of the area Rajiv Mishra stated that the situation could have been avoided. "The letter was really demeaning. It was full of communal feelings." The SP himself called up the editor of the newspaper asking him to publish an apology.

Meanwhile the editor of the newspaper on Friday said "We apologize for the mistake that we have committed. We have no intentions of defaming either Mohammed Azharuddin or any particular community as mentioned in the letter, which was published inadvertently. "