THE six-member fact-finding committee on alleged violation of human rights in West Bengal led by former Patna High Court Chief Justice Narsimha Reddy on Monday in its interim report said that the riots during Ram Navami procession were “pre-planned, orchestrated and instigated”. The fact-finding panel sought a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the violence. The fact-finding team was on a three-day tour of West Bengal to assess alleged human rights violations in the State during Ram Navami processions in Howrah and Hooghly districts. The committee consist of former Patna High Court Chief Justice L Narsimha Reddy, former IPS Raj Pal Singh, former member of National Commission for Women advocate Charu Wali Khanna, former Joint Registrar (Law) National Human Rights Commission of India advocate OP Vyas, senior journalist Sanjeev Nayak and former consultant National Commission for Protection of Child Rights advocate Bhavna Bajaj.

“The committee is of the view that the riots which erupted on the auspicious occasion of Rain Navami on March 30, and continued in its aftermath, were pre-planned, orchestrated, and instigated. The trigger was the grossly inflammatory speech of the West Bengal Chief Minister. The committee has come across several user-generated videos and media reports also reporting multiple videos, which confirm that the peaceful Ram Navami procession was targeted and the rioters were exhorted to stop and target the procession,” the report stated.

The committee in its Report said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee just before the processions on Ram Navami, while sitting on dharna, made a call through a communal speech that any procession passing through ‘muslim areas’ (as spoken verbatim) will be seriously acted upon. Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Monday reserved judgement on a petition by West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari seeking an NIA investigation into clashes between two groups of people during a Ram Navami procession at Shibpur in Howrah.