Aggrieved since the West Bengal government has not managed to make arrangements to get them back to their native places in Bengal, hundreds of stranded Bengalis resorted to a sit-in protest to express their resentment in Haridwar.
At Haridwar’s Vishnu Ghat, around 450 Bengali pilgrims and workers, have been agitating and raising slogans for the past few days hitting out at chief minister Mamata Banerjee for not taking them back to the state.
With help from the city magistrate’s office these stranded Bengali pilgrims and workers have also conveyed to the West Bengal government and tourism department information about their situation as they have been stranded in Haridwar for the past forty days.
A memorandum through district tourism officer Seema Nautiyal has also been forwarded to the West Bengal government by these stranded residents of Bengal asking for permission to return on a priority basis.
“We have become refugees in a sense as our state government is denying permission for our return to our homes. Forget bearing the expenses which we will afford on our own, CM Mamata Banerjee has not even conveyed any concern regarding our plight,” Mitthu Mukherjee a Bengal resident said.
Local tehsildar Ashish Ghildiyal said as the West Bengal government had not granted permission to stranded residents, these people are not being allowed to move further.
Chandrima Chakravarti, another stranded pilgrim said she had arrived in Haridwar in March for pilgrimage. “But due to the lockdown, I got stranded with my family members and its quite disheartening that our own state government is not granting us permission or taking measures to take us back as is being done by Uttarakhand or even Uttar Pradesh government,” she said.
Radhe Krishan ashram spiritual guru Satpal Brahmachari said that till the lockdown sanctions are waived fully and pilgrims, workers from other states are unable to go to their homes, their ashram will distribute free food to all such people.