Security personnel keep a vigil as protestors raise slogans during a protest against a recent demolition drive at Tijala area among other issues, at Park Circus area, in Kolkata, on May 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Clashes erupted between a group of protesters and police in Kolkata’s Park Circus area over restrictions imposed on holding prayers on public roads.
A crowd had gathered at the Park Circus at around 1.30 p.m. on Sunday (May 17, 2026) and blocked the road. The people gathered were protesting over several issues, including restrictions on prayer and the removal encroachments through bulldozers.
According to the police, there was stone pelting, and three police personnel were injured. The police were seen resorting to baton charges and demoflag marches to clear the crowd. The protesters alleged that there was indiscriminate use of force by the police.
“Some people tried to block roads. There was stone pelting at the police. We have taken necessary action and will take legal action also. Nobody will be spared,” a senior official of Kolkata Police said.
There was tension at Park Circus crossing, an important traffic intersection in the city. The protesters were upset over several new directives of the BJP government which includes prohibition of prayers in public places.
Tensions had also erupted in Kolkata’s Rajabazar area on Friday (May 15, 2026), when Muslims tried to offer namaz on the road despite the prohibition. The situation spiralled out of control when huge police forces arrived and asked the people to vacate the road.
According to reports, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in a Cabinet meeting had issued directions that prayers should be offered only inside mosques and not on public roads.
Violence had also erupted in Asansol on Friday night (May 15) after a mob allegedly pelted stones and vandalised a police post following complaints against the volume of loudspeakers at a mosque.
The incident occurred in Jahangir Mohalla of Asansol city in Paschim Bardhaman when a police team urged the locals and mosque authorities to reduce the loudspeaker’s volume. The police were acting on behalf of a complaint by locals.
Soon, a scuffle broke out in front of the police outpost between two groups, and the mob allegedly pelted stones and vandalised the police outpost. The police had to resort to force and had to fire tear gas shells to contain the situation. Seven persons have been arrested for their role in the violence.
‘Attack on dignity’
Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said the poor are “paying the price of bulldozer politics”.
“What we are witnessing today is an attack on the dignity of the people of Bengal- daily wage workers, street vendors, small shopkeepers, and struggling families who have built their lives brick by brick. The massive eviction drive around Howrah Station, the unrest and anger erupting on the streets of Tiljala and Park Circus, and the growing desperation among those suddenly stripped of shelter and livelihood expose a government more obsessed with optics than humanity,” she said.
“A government that demolishes first and listens later has forgotten the very spirit of Bengal. Real progress is measured by how a state treats its weakest citizens, not by how quickly it can erase them,” the former Chief Minister said.
“Bulldozers cannot become the language of governance in a State built on culture, compassion, and resistance to oppression,” she added.
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has sought Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s intervention to mitigate the “unease and confusion” triggered by the West Bengal government’s recent guidelines on animal slaughter. Mr. Chowdhury, in a letter dated May 17, said that the notification of animal slaughter has caused confusion as well as unrest that needs to be addressed.
The former Congress MP pointed out that West Bengal, like any other region in the country, is home to multifarious groups and communities following diverse cultural and religious traditions.
The West Bengal government has notified a new set of guidelines for animal slaughter in the state, which includes a ‘fit certificate’ for the animal, banning of public slaughter, along with imprisonment and fine for violations.
Published – May 17, 2026 07:00 pm IST
