Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday acknowledged the grievances of Muslims against the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act of the Narendra Modi government and urged those in Bengal to have faith in her.
She asserted she would protect the minorities and their property amid reports of protesters turning violent in pockets of the state.
The chief minister, addressing a Vishwa Navkar Mahamantra Diwas event of the Jain community at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, said her mantra in politics and policy would unflinchingly remain “jiyo aur jeeney do (live and let live)”.
“I want to tell the minorities, we know you are in pain because of the Waqf property issue. Have faith, nothing will happen in Bengal. We will never allow any divide-and-rule policy here,” said Mamata.
“Give the message that we will all live together — jiyo aur jeeney do. There should be no impatience…. We do not have the right to snatch anybody’s property. Let everyone live in peace,” added the Trinamool Congress chief.
“It is our foremost duty to provide protection to all communities…. Shoot me, but you will remain unable to separate me from (the faith in) unity. Every religion, caste, creed — everyone prays for humanity, and we love them all.”
“I appeal to the minority communities, be wary. Do not get trapped by political provocation…. Please remember that for as long as Didi (Mamata) is here, Didi will protect you and your property,” said Mamata.
“See the situation in (some) areas bordering Bangladesh. This (Act) should not have been passed now. Some things should not be done hurriedly. We have 33 per cent minority population here. Will we drive them away? How can we do that?” she asked. “We weren’t responsible for the Partition. Prior to Independence, Bengal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India… all used be together (in undivided India). All those living here, we are duty-bound to protect them.”
The BJP, predictably, responded with scorn.
“‘Didi will protect you!” — Who exactly is West Bengal’s failed, appeasement-obsessed CM Mamata Banerjee trying to shield? Radical mobs?Fanatic elements? Has she completely surrendered the state to fundamentalistforces just for vote bank politics?” asked BJP state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar in a statement on X.
”Jangipur, Murshidabad is burning. Public property torched, police attacked, law and order in shambles — and @MamataOfficial remains silent. Is this leadership or complicity?” he asked.
Majumdar said the law that was being opposed in Bengal was passed in both Houses of Parliament and signed by the President.
“It’s the will of the nation. Yet a constitutional head chooses to back lawlessness? This isn’t dissent — it’s a direct betrayal of the Constitution!” he wrote.
“Opposing a central law equals to opposing the Nation. Mamata Banerjee has traded national interest for communal appeasement. In her desperation to stay in power, she’s dragging Bengal into chaos. Shame!” added the Balurghat MP.
Reacting to the BJP’s criticism of Mamata’s assurance, Trinamool state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “As the state’s guardian, Mamata Banerjee can give such assurances.... We strongly condemn how the statement is being twisted by the BJP for its propaganda.”
On Wednesday, the protest site at Murshidabad’s Raghunathganj, which had turned violent on Tuesday, remained calm. Police regained control overnight and made 22 arrests. District magistrate Rajarshi Mitra and deputy inspector-general of police (Murshidabad range) Syed Waquar Raza visited the troubled spots to assess the situation first-hand and spoke to the people.
Some new protests erupted at Ahirun and Ajagar More on NH12 in Suti. As protesters blocked the carriageway and set tyres ablaze, a large police contingent led by Farakka sub-divisional police officer Aminul Islam Khan lathi-charged the gathering and cleared the national highway.
Internet services were suspended in the Jangipur police district, while prohibitive orders under Section 163 of the BNS were imposed in Suti and Raghunathganj.
Barely 25km away, in neighbouring Birbhum’s Murarai, when local MP Satabdi Roy tried joining a protest march against the Act, some of the participants raised slogans against her.
Roy, Ghatal MP Dev Adhikari and Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Barma Basunia were Trinamool’s Lok Sabha members who were conspicuously absent in the House while voting was taking place on the Bill last week. Roy had later attributed her absence to illness.
Roy claimed those raising slogans had nothing to do with Trinamool.
