Protestors in Bhangar in January. Kabeer Katlat. All rights reserved.In a country that is constantly hungry for electricity, residents of Bhangar, a sub-district in the state of West Bengal, are protesting a power grid in their backyard.
In the first two months of this year, palpable tension in Bhangar sub-district in West Bengal raised important questions about state repression in the world’s largest democracy. Men, women and children flooded the streets, claiming the government lied to them and was quiet about the health hazards of an electrical grid being built in their area. The state, in turn, used force to quell protests.
On January 11, villagers began protests in Bhangar, 35km southeast of the state capital of Kolkata. On successive days, there were police raids and arrests. On January 17, two villagers were shot dead. Since then, the issue has gained unprecedented traction, with agitators preventing police from entering the area for seven days in mid January.
