Tension simmered in a communally competitive climate as Bengal Netas continued to trade incendiary lingo ahead of Eid and Ram Navami — whereas helpless Police brass apprehending trouble appealed all and sundry to mind their language, desist from lending ears to rumors and provocations.
This, even as situations remained tensed but under control at Mothabari in Malda ion North Bengal where communal clashes took place a few days ago.
Senior BJP leaders including State party president Sukanto Majumdar, his predecessor in job Dilip Ghosh and Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari breathed fire saying if there was a ‘tit’ from any rival community then there would be a ‘tat’ from the side of the Hindus “as the time of lying and getting hit is a passé.”
“Whatever we have seen in the past a few days in Murshidabad, Malda and East Midnaprore there is clear indication that the TMC is inciting a trouble for its narrow political gains ahead of the next year’s elections … in doing so they are playing with fire … this time there will be a retaliation if there is a provocation,” Ghosh on Sunday said.
Majumdar who is a Union Minister too went a step ahead promising a “counter attack.” He said, “if there is an attack like the one that happened the last year in Howrah and Rishra then there will be a reply … last year attacks were orchestrated on Ram Navami procession and when we went to find out the cause we were not let in … this year if there is an attack there will be a befitting reply … because the Hindus have to retaliate … they are already fighting with their backs against the wall … time has come to teach the TMC mischief mongers a lesson.”
Adhikari breathed more fire linking the Ram Navami celebrations with electoral issues saying Bengal required a Government resembling the one that was being run by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh. “We need a nationalist government like the one of Yogi ji ... The reason is that we are fighting for our existence Bengal … post Independence the Hindus were 85 percent … today we have been reduced to 67 percent and in another 15 years we will be come down to below 15 percent then there will be self-styled prime ministers emanating from all the localities from a particular sect … so this is an awakening call … rise up and do what is to be done,” he said.
The TMC which had had been preferring a comparatively subdued response apparently for the fear of ruffling the Hindu nerves stuck to making political statements only even as senior party MP Kalyan Banerjee said, “the BJP is trying to incite a communal violence in order reap political dividends … they don’t have any political agenda … no genuine issue … so they are trying to provoke communal riots … but there will be no problem as the police are alert and they will take action at the appropriate moment.”
TMC MLA and strongman Shaukat Molla to chose to speak a mellowed political language. “There is no issue between the Hindus and Muslims … Bengal celebrates and has been celebrating Durga Pujas, Eids, Ram Navami, Holi peacefully for years … but these days the BJP is inciting trouble … the people are however alert and they are cautious enough not to step into their trap … there will be peace in Bengal.”
Meanwhile, in view of the Bengal Police have urged the people not to pay heed to rumors and inciting statements on the social media. While senior police officials said that the coming ten days were going to be stressful for the force State Additional Director General (Law and Order Javed Shamim earlier said, “we will ask the people to inform the police if they get any information about any suspicious activities. We will have full security arrangements for the festivities, and we want people to enjoy during that time. Inter-community meetings have been held, and police will be deployed in large numbers on the streets during the festive days.”
In a related development a BJP delegation led by Sukanto Majumdar was on Sunday stopped by the police some three miles before Mothabari in Malda where clashes took place between two groups that resulted in lootng of some shops. “The TMC will get a reply for what they are doing here … The people of Bengal is seeing what is happening here … The police are working like TMC cadres … had the police shown the kind of alertness they showed today then the riots would not have taken place last week.” The clashes took place during a religious procession on Thursday leading to arson and vandalism. The police said 57 people have been arrested in relation to Thursday’s incident.
