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Birbhum violence: Mamata Banerjee blames Opposition; CM to visit site tomorrow
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said in a video message that he was “pained and disturbed” by the incidents since Monday night
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hinted that opposition parties could be behind the Birbhum massacre where at least nine persons, including a Trinamool Congress panchayat leader, were killed since Monday night.
“We are running the government. Why would we want murder, bloodshed and bomb blast? Such things are done by those who are not in power just to harass the government and malign us,” she said at a government program in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Banerjee said that she would visit Rampurhat in Birbhum on Thursday. Eight persons, mostly women and children, were burnt to death and a few houses were set on fire following the killing of a TMC panchayat leader at Rampurhat in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Monday late night.
“I would be going there tomorrow (March 24). I planned to go there today (March 23). I was ready. But some political parties are going there and having sweets. I don’t want to go there when they (opposition parties) are there. I don’t want to quarrel with them unnecessarily,” she added.
While a team of CPI(M) leaders visited the spot, on Wednesday morning, a team of Bharatiya Janata Pary legislators are on their way.
“They have already hiked the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. To divert the attention, they trigger violence. They then call up the Governor to make statements in the media,” she said while attacking the BJP.
“West Bengal has a population of 100 million. An incident took place in a remote village. We condemned this and took immediate action. Such incidents, much larger than this, take place in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. We are not justifying. We are just trying to say that a crime has taken place and action would be taken. We don’t see any colour while taking action,” she added.
“A political leader was murdered. Prior to that, his brother was killed. Why did the police not take any action? Tension was building in that area for quite some time, but police didn’t do anything. I think police allowed this massacre to take place. The result was that eight people were burnt alive. This is unimaginable. When the Governor expressed his concern, the chief minister attacked him but did nothing to take responsibility (of the massacre),” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s national vice president, said earlier today.
On Tuesday, the state police said that it did not appear to be a case of political violence.
“It was personal enmity between two groups that might have led to the murder of Bhadu Sheikh. No political rivalry was involved in this,” West Bengal director general of police Manoj Malviya said.
“Instead of making such remarks, the chief minister should first take responsibility and resign. I have already written to the Union home secretary urging that the NIA should probe the bomb blast that killed the panchayat leader. The chief minister is coming to Birbhum to tamper all evidence related to the massacre,” said Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar yesterday said in a video message that he was “pained and disturbed” to see “human rights in decimation and law and order (has) capsized” in the state.
Banerjee later shot off a letter to him saying such remarks can influence the SIT’s investigation. She alleged his statements were politically motivated.
Mamata also attacked Dhankhar by saying that he was always trying to tarnish the state’s image.
“There is a Saheb sitting here. At the drop of a hat, he would say that West Bengal is the worst state. Every day he is moving around from Darjeeling to Jalpaiguri and abusing the government. Some important persons have informed me that they are being instructed by the Governor to carry out raids at specific places. I know everything,” she said.
