New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the violence over the Waqf law was “planned” and suggested a conspiracy by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BSF to allow the entry of Bangladeshi miscreants to fuel unrest in the state.
“I urge the Prime Minister. He must rein in the Home Minister (Amit Shah). He is using all the agencies to plot against us. What will happen when Modi ji is not there?” Mamata said. This is not the first time that Mamata has trained her guns on Amit Shah while going soft on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Three people died and several were injured as Bengal’s Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas districts witnessed widespread violence during protests over the passage of the Waqf law. Among the deceased are a father-son duo who were hacked to death by a mob in Samsherganj.
Latching on to the charge, Mamata claimed that the BSF, which guards the 2,200 km Bangladesh border along Bengal, was responsible for letting miscreants in from the neighbouring country. “I saw a report that the Home Ministry said Bangladesh is involved in this (Murshidabad violence). If this is true, the Centre is responsible. BSF takes care of the border. Why did BSF not avert such a crisis?” the Chief Minister said.
Mamata also rejected the BJP’s claims that the Trinamool was involved in the Waqf violence. “Had the TMC been involved in Waqf violence as claimed by the opposition, the houses of its leaders would not have been attacked,” the Trinamool chief said. Union Minister and Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar took a swipe at Mamata Banerjee after she wrongly said that West Bengal shares a border with Sri Lanka, an island nation.