On April 3 this year, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee courted controversy after she called upon the Muslim community to pray to Allah to finish off rioters in the State.
She made the contentious remarks at Khejuri in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal Hospital. Although Mamata Banerjee was addressing the public meeting for the distribution of government services, she raked up the issue of violence during the Ram Navami festival.
It must be mentioned that the West Bengal Chief Minister had earlier given a clean chit to Islamists and absolved them of any wrongdoing during the Hindu festival. On April 3, she made a heartfelt appeal to the youth of Purba Medinipur to come forward and fight off rioters in the State.
During her speech, the West Bengal Chief Minister slammed the Hindu devotees, who participated in the Ram Navami procession, for supposedly carrying deadly weapons.
Mamata Banerjee alleged that Hindus took out Ram Navami processions without permission, and asked why there should be processing for five days. ‘Don’t carry guns in procession, don’t carry bombs in the processions’, she said, alleging that guns and bombs were carried by Hindu devotees.
‘Despite the availability of so many roads, they willingly entered minority areas, and there they burnt fruit carts, fruits which are consumed during Ramzan’, she further claimed. The West Bengal CM then warned the Hindus against planning any more violence on Hanuman Jayanti, implying that the Ram Navami violence was planned by Hindus.
She also said that it is the responsibility of Hindus to ensure that no Muslim comes under attack of anyone on Hanuman Jayanti on 6th April.
At about 42 minutes and 20 seconds into the video of her speech, she can be heard saying, “Can’t you step up now and stop these rioters and goons? If women are with me, then, I will show my power to the rioters…” Mamata Banerjee then called upon the students to come forward and stop the outbreak of violence in the State.
“Ki sonkha loghu bhai bona ra, Allah Tallah er kache doye kore danaga baaj der khotom korte parbe na (Can’t my brothers and sisters from the minority community pray to Allah to finish off these rioters),” she said at 44:20 minutes.
She also alleged that rioters who damaged public property were paid by the BJP to do so.
The dog-whistling against the Hindu community by the Chief Minister of West Bengal came less than a week after Islamists wreaked havoc on a Ram Navami procession in the Shibpur area of Howrah.
It must be mentioned that Mamata Banerjee had earlier used radical Islamic terms such as ‘Jihad’, and even ‘Kafir’ to target political opponents.
Mamata Banerjee blames ‘outsiders’ for violence in Howrah
On March 31 this year, the West Bengal CM attempted to blame the Ram Navami violence on ‘outsiders.’
“You bring goons-on-hire from outside of Bengal, carry out arson, and orchestrate riots here…We have never stopped you from conducting rallies… Who permitted you to hold rallies with swords and bulldozers?” she said during a protest rally against the Union government.
“I heard that today they used bulldozers in Howrah…What is this audacity? We will give a befitting reply…Why did you change the route (of the Ram Navami procession)? You chose an unauthorised route to provoke a community,” Mamata Banerjee claimed.
The deliberate reference to ‘outsiders’ in the context of the violence, which took place in Howrah, is a ploy by Mamata Banerjee to absolve the role of Islamists in the violence and the failure of law and order in the state.
Ahead of Ram Navami, Mamata Banerjee stirred another controversy by asking Hundus not to take Ram Navami processions through ‘Muslim areas’. “I want to request those who are taking out the Ram Navami procession, please do but do it peacefully. Kindly avoid Muslim areas as Ramzan is going on,” she had said.
