KOLKATA: In an unusual protest against alleged lack of concern by those occupying high posts about the worsening coronavirus situation in West Bengal, a social organisation on Tuesday herded a flock of sheep in front of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.
A spokesperson of the Kolkata Nagarik Mancha accompanied shepherds who took the animals near the North Gate of the Governor House.
They remained there for around 5-7 minutes before policemen, who were initially bewildered, drove the agitators and the sheep away from the high-security area.
Incidentally, Tuesday is the birthday of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Mancha spokesperson said that the organisation resorted to such a mode of protest as gathering of people is not allowed during the pandemic and prohibitory orders are in force in the area.
"There is oxygen scarcity in the state, COVID patients are not getting beds, people are dying. But we have not seen him (Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar) coming in support of people reeling under the coronavirus blow," the spokesperson said.
The governor is flagging other issues but not the "grave CCOVID-19 situation", he claimed.
The Kolkata Nagarik Mancha has no link with any political party, the spokesperson said.
Reacting to the incident, senior BJP leader Anupam Hazra said, "Such distasteful conduct against the first citizen of the state outside Raj Bhavan only showed Bengal in poor light."
Ruling Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the party has no idea who were behind this agitation or what prompted them to resort to such an act.
"We will ask everyone to exercise restraint and keep cool and not do anything which will violate coronavirus safety guidelines," Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, minister Firhad Hakim, arrested in the Narada sting case, is not really bothered about his plight in jail, but his inability to discharge duties for people amid the COVID-19 surge has left him ill at ease, his daughter Shabba Hakim said on Tuesday.
Shabba, a doctor by profession, met Hakim in the Presidency correctional home here during the day.
"Baba is not sad because he is away from us. What concerns him is the work that he was supposed to undertake to alleviate people's pain amid the COVID-19 crisis. He would leave home every morning to attend to the people in need of help," Shabba rued.
She further said that the state transport minister was trying to cope with the sudden turn of events.
"As of now, Baba is okay. We are keeping a tab on his health condition. But we are also worried. The Supreme Court had noted that chances of virus transmission were high in prison," she added.
The CBI on Monday arrested two state ministers - Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee -- MLA Madan Mitra and former party leader Sovan Chatterjee in connection with its probe into the Narada sting operation, which purportedly caught politicians accepting bribes on camera.
They were initially granted interim bail by a special CBI court, but the central probe agency subsequently moved the Calcutta High Court, which stayed the lower court order.
Taking to Twitter, Shabba, the second of Hakim's three daughters, had criticised the CBI on Monday afternoon for not releasing the four leaders, despite the lower court having granted them bail.
"Even after the bail order has come through, CBI is detaining @FirhadHakim, @MLA_Subrata, @madanmitraoff and Sovan Chatterjee illegally. They are disregarding the verdict of the court.#shamecbi," she had tweeted.