West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday scaled up her attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the recent violent clashes in the state, alleging that the saffron party is “defaming Hindu religion by pitting one community against another”.
Stating that “violence is not Bengal’s culture”, Banerjee also alleged that the BJP has hired ‘goondas’ in the state.
“I have to be alert all the time lest BJP incites riots. They don’t understand that the people of Bengal don’t like violence. Rioting is not Bengal’s culture. We don’t riot, the general public does not incite riots. When BJP cannot do it on its own, it hires people to fan riots,” the CM said while addressing a rally in Khejuri district.
Also read: Bengal governor’s ‘thugs will be crushed with…’ remarks after Hooghly clash
She added, “The youth in whose hands the weapons were seen during Ram Navami….CPI(M) used to do the same. Did you forget the atrocities conducted by CPI(M)? ‘Baam’ (Left) and ‘Ram’ (BJP) have their joined hands against us.”
Citing union home minister Amit Shah’s ‘rioters will be hung upside down’ statement after the violence in Bihar, Banerjee asked, “BJP said if they come to power in Bihar, they would hang rioters upside down; why are they not doing that to their goondas here?”
Bengal has witnessed two incidents of violence in the past week in Howrah and Hooghly districts during Ram Navami processions. The TMC and BJP have been at loggerheads and playing a political blame game over the incidents.
Also read: ‘Deliberately…’: Mamata slams BJP on Ram Navami clashes in Bengal
On Sunday, the BJP alleged that a Ram Navami rally was attacked outside a mosque at Rishra in West Bengal’s Hooghly district and claimed that its local legislator was injured. While on Friday, a violent clash broke out between two groups during a Ram Navami procession. According to reports, vehicles were torched, and shops and auto-rickshaws were ransacked.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the West Bengal police arrested a 19-year-old for allegedly brandishing a weapon during a Ram Navami procession in Howrah. The accused -who was seen in a video – was arrested from Bihar’s Munger district.
(With inputs from PTI)