Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sparked fury among the Opposition lines after attacking the BJP for preaching a “Ganda Dharam (dirty religion).” The saffron party immediately lashed out at Banerjee for her alleged remarks asking what she meant by the invective “Ganda” or dirty.
Banerjee used such words during a speech in an Eid congregation at the historic Red Road in Kolkata. The Chief Minister addresses the Muslims, thousands of whom assemble at the Red Road to offer Eid prayers.
“Hum Ramakrishna Parmamahansa ka dharma manta… Hum Vivekananda ka dharma manta… Lekin hum Jumla balon ka ganda dharma nahin manta (I follow the kind of religion practiced by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa or Swami Vivekananda … but I don’t give a damn to the dirty religion preached by the Jumla people — those who survive on false promises),” Banerjee on Monday told a large congregation of Muslims who had assembled at the historic Red Road in Kolkata for Eid prayers. The Chief Minister asked the minorities to remain united against the “nefarious design” being hatched by the CPI(M) and the BJP to divide the people of the state.
“Today Ram and Baam (read BJP and Left) have united and are trying to incite riots in Bengal… but remain alert to their dirty politics… they are trying to incite violence in state for their narrow political mileage… we have to remain alert against that… please don’t fall into these traps… please don’t react to rumours or provocations because I am there for the minorities… remember till your Didi is there no one can touch you... I will go any distance to protect the minorities,” Banerjee said.
Attacking the BJP leadership for allegedly “making provocative statements to gain political mileage,” Banerjee said “if you (BJP) are so much against the minorities then why don’t you change the Constitution… will you have the power to change the Constitution of the country?”
Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee too slammed the BJP and the Left for attacking the TMC Government saying that “they tried to create an unrest in 2024 but we successfully resisted them… this time also they have returned with more wicked politics and this time also we will resist them… the BJP is telling that the ‘Hindus are in danger’, whereas their friends (Left) are saying that the ‘Muslims are in danger’… in turn creating danger for both the communities by inciting communal violence … but the truth to be told… that the entire country is in danger because of their politics.”
The BJP immediately hit back wondering whether Mamata Banerjee was terming the Hindus as the followers of a “Ganda Dharam.” Launching a fierce counterattack State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari asked the Chief Minister to be bold enough to identify the religion that she was terming “Ganda.”
Adhikari wrote on the social media asking which religion Banerjee was referring to by the term Ganda.
“Kaun sa Dharm ganda hai Ms Mamata Banerjee? Appeasing the Muslim Community at the Red Road with your almost incomprehensible gibberish Urdu dialect, you made a statement that you don’t follow the “Ganda Dharm” or ‘Dirty Religion’. Which religion were you specifically referring to? Sanatan Hindu Dharma?,” he said.
Adhikari said that contrary to what Banerjee was claiming it was the TMC which was inciting violence. “She has used the word Danga (riots) many times more than she has used the word peace,” she said.
Another BJP leader and MP Samik Bhattacharya said, “Is Sanatan Dharam Ganda… what does the Chief Minister want to say… does her appeasement politics know no limits… is she ready to go to any distance … does she want to insult the Hindus in public for her own narrow political gains.”
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar to “marveled” at her “audacity to mock Hindus and deride their faith” in public. He said, by deriding the Hindus “once again, she has given Muslims a carte blanche to target them.”
