On Wednesday (28th August), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee courted yet another controversy after she issued a veiled threat warning that if Bengal burns, then other states and Delhi will also be burned. She made the contentious remarks while claiming that the unrest in West Bengal could have far-reaching consequences beyond the state. However, her veiled threats to Assam and other states didn’t go down well with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Taking to X, CM Sarma lashed out at the TMC leader for speaking in divisive language which according to him, doesn’t behoove her post. He warned the West Bengal CM not to try burning the country with her “politics of failure”.
Sarma said, “Didi, how dare you threaten Assam? Don’t show us red eyes. Don’t even try to burn India with your politics of failure. It does not befit you to speak divisive language.”
दीदी, आपकी हिम्मत कैसे हुई असम को धमकाने की? हमें लाल आंखें मत दिखाइए। आपकी असफलता की राजनीति से भारत को जलाने की कोशिश भी मत कीजिए। आपको विभाजनकारी भाषा बोलना शोभा नहीं देता।
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 28, 2024
দিদি, আপনার এতো সাহস কীভাবে হলো যে আপনি অসমকে ধমকি দিচ্ছেন? আমাদের রক্তচক্ষু দেখাবেন না। আপনার অসফলতার… pic.twitter.com/k194lajS8s
The recent controversy unfolded after Mamata Banerjee addressed a public event that was organised to mark the foundation day of the Trinamool Congress’s student wing. During her address, Banerjee warned that the unrest in Bengal could have far-reaching consequences beyond the state.
Mamata Banerjee alleged that PM Narendra Modi is using his party to cause fire in West Bengal over the Kolkata woman doctor rape and murder incident and warned that if Bengal burns, other states including Assam, North-East, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Delhi too shall burn
Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee says, "Remember if Bengal is burned, then Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Delhi will also be burned" pic.twitter.com/zwg8ZOnR9p
— IANS (@ians_india) August 28, 2024
She went further to blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused his party of fueling unrest in Bengal. She brazened it out saying, “Mr. Modi, you’re using your party to cause fire here. If you burn Bengal, Assam, North-East, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Delhi too shall burn! We will topple your chair.”
Banerjee further stated, “Some people think this is Bangladesh. Please remember, I love Bangladesh, they speak like us, and their culture is the same as ours, but Bangladesh is a separate nation, and India is a separate nation.”
Her remarks come at a time when she is facing mounting criticism over her handling of the Kolkata rape and murder case and its aftermath, with opposition parties accusing her of failing to maintain law and order.
BJP launches scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee, intensifies demand for her resignation
Reacting sharply to her controversial remarks, several BJP leaders slammed Mamata Banerjee. They also intensified their demand for Banerjee’s resignation stating that such “anti-national comments isn’t the voice of someone holding a constitutional position”.
Union Minister and Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar also wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in which he slammed Banerjee for advocating violence in Kolkata.
The letter written by Majumdar read, “CM Mamata Banerjee during her address to the Student Wing of TMC today in Kolkata where she shamelessly incited gathering, declaring, ‘I never sought revenge, but now, do what needs to be done.’ This is nothing less than a blatant endorsement of revenge politics from the highest office in the state.”
CM Mamata Banerjee shamelessly makes anti-national remarks today, saying, "Remember, if Bengal burns, then Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Delhi will also burn."
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) August 28, 2024
This isn’t the voice of someone holding a constitutional position; it's the voice of an anti-national. pic.twitter.com/dFBzR0LXT4
BJP leader and party’s social media head Amit Malviya wrote, “A cornered Mamata Banerjee has declared war on the people of West Bengal, who are holding her to account in the brutal rape and murder of a young lady doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital. The deceased could have been our sister or daughter but Mamata wants more blood.”
A cornered Mamata Banerjee has declared war on the people of West Bengal, who are holding her to account in the brutal rape and murder of a young lady doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital. The deceased could have been our sister or daughter but Mamata wants more blood…… pic.twitter.com/O5523Pgh2G
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 28, 2024
Malviya added, “Once a proponent of the ‘Bodol noy, Bodla Chai’ mantra, Mamata Banerjee now brazenly shifted her stance, openly calling for the very vengeance, she once purported to abhor.”
It is pertinent to note that the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee is facing mounting pressure from civil society, doctors, students, political parties, and the public at large to resign for failing to maintain law and order situation, especially in the wake of the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case and its aftermath.
Strikingly, Banerjee who is the only woman Chief Minister in the country has also been facing severe criticism for her contentious remarks in heinous cases of rape and sexual assault. Additionally, the Mamata Banerjee government received a drubbing down from the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court during the initial days of the RG Kar case investigation. The courts came down heavily for law and order failure in the wake of a vandalism incident at RG Kar Hospital. CM Banerjee has been facing this brunt as she is responsible for the law and order situation in the state as she is also the Home Minister of the state. Incidentally, she is also the state’s Health Minister which is under the dock over the issue of safety concerns of medical staff, especially women, and the poor health infrastructure.
