‘No compensation can make up for loss’: CJP activist Abdul Hafeez lights candle for Chorebagan stampede victims

A young man whose father died following an alleged assault earlier this year, after he took part in a nationwide campaign to highlight the poor state of schools, lit a candle on Saturday evening in memory of the victims of the Chorebagan stampede.

“I know how it feels to lose someone dear to you all of a sudden. No compensation is enough to deal with such a loss,” said Abdul Hafeez, 25, an activist of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Bengal.

Hafeez took part in a campaign organised by the CJP’s Bengal unit near the Shyambazar intersection to pay tribute to the victims of the October 17 tragedy, which claimed 19 lives and injured at least 25 people.

On August 13 this year, Hafeez and his 50-year-old father, Sekh Mohammad Mafik, were allegedly assaulted at their home in Karishunda village in Bankura.

Mafik died in hospital a couple of days later.

The attack allegedly followed Hafeez’s participation in the CJP’s “School Thik Karo” (Fix the School) campaign, during which he inspected a local government primary school and filmed its poor infrastructure.

The family and the CJP have blamed the BJP for Mafik’s death.

“We have not come here to engage in any political blame game. We have just come to pray for the departed and express solidarity with the bereaved families and friends. They have suffered an irreparable loss,” Hafeez said.

The CJP team had initially planned to march from the Shyambazar five-point intersection to Bagbazar. However, the police denied permission, citing immersion processions, CJP volunteers said.

The team instead staged a sit-in near the intersection, on the Sealdah-bound flank of APC Road.

“Accountability must be fixed. A special investigation team (SIT), headed by a retired judge, has been formed. We have faith in the justice system. We will not comment on the probe. We have several questions, but this is not the place to raise them,” said CJP member Dedipya Ganguly.

Another CJP volunteer, Rohini Malick, visited the Salkia home of Bikash Bhattacharya, one of the victims.

“It was Ashtami. The streets were decorated. The beat of dhak was constant. But a pall of gloom had descended on the house,” she said.

The volunteers offered candles to passers-by. An elderly man accepted one and lit it.

“This is the least we can do in memory of the deceased,” he said.