March to Nabanna) was a protest march to the West Bengal state secretariat Nabanna, organised by Students Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), Left Front and other Left parties and student organisations on 11 February 2021 against the alleged failures of TMC-led Government of West Bengal, which eventually turned into a conflict between the police and protesters.
[1] The protest march saw a massive involvement of youths, students and activists from SFI, DYFI and 8 other Left parties along with Indian National Congress and it's unions.
[10][2] DYFI claimed that its activists will reach Nabanna to submit thousands of applications signed by unemployed youths from West Bengal.
They demanded for non-discriminatory access to education, secure jobs, good health, and all that the Constitution aspires to achieve.
[11] Earlier in the day, a few Left supporters suddenly gathered outside Nabanna and started raising slogans and posters.
[10] There are conflicting claims on how many students and workers were injured (38 according to police sources, more than 150 according to another report[3] and more than 400 as per SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharya)[1][11] which included broken skulls, bleeding noses and laceration wounds.
One report suggested that an activist named Maidul Islam Midya was hit so hard in the abdomen area with a force that led to the bursting of his kidney.
[1] Maidul Islam Midya, one of the DYFI activists and a resident of Kotalpur in Bankura district who was injured during the rally, died on February 15 after surviving for four days in a private hospital of South Kolkata's Camac Street.
[16][17][18] Maidul's death led to fresh outbreak of violence in parts of Bengal, with the activists of DYFI and SFI again clashing with the Kolkata Police officials, demanding action against the officers who were involved in the lathi-charge.
[20][5][21][verification needed] Police lodged FIR against unidentified Left activists on the basis of a complaint by the aggrieved cop.
[1] Because of the bandh, schools faced problem in functioning on the day of reopening after a long shutdown caused by the Covid situation.
[23][24] The Left cadres created troubles in some places by attacking vehicles, threatening auto and bus drivers which caused the retailers to shut down their stores.
[27] Meanwhile, the initial post-mortem report of the deceased Maidul found no major internal or external injury on his body.
"Our probe is on and we are finding out what transpired till Midya was picked up in an ambulance 600 m from the clash spot," said a detective department officer.
In a statement, CPI(ML)(Liberation) West Bengal state committee criticised the police action, saying it was “most unwelcome at a time when the Narendra Modi-led Union government is trying to oppress all kinds of the democratic activity.