E-Paper
Chopra deaths: Mamata alleges BSF campaigning for BJP, trying to create unrest
Referring to the recent death of four minors at a ditch construction site of the BSF at North Dinajpur district’s Chopra, Banerjee said that the BSF did not seek permission from the local administration for digging the ditch
Kolkata: After the Trinamool Congress (TMC) blamed the Border Security Force (BSF) for the death of four children following an accident which took place near the India-Bangladesh border at Chopra on Monday (February 12), TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in the latest alleged that the BSF is “actively campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal head of the Lok Sabha polls”.
Addressing the legislative assembly on Thursday, the West Bengal chief minister said, “BSF is distributing goodies in saffron-coloured bags among local people. They are campaigning for the BJP. I was told that they dragged out an imam (cleric) from a mosque in Murshidabad. They are trying to create unrest in our state.”
Referring to the recent death of four minors at a ditch construction site of the BSF at North Dinajpur district’s Chopra, Banerjee said that the BSF did not seek permission from the local administration for digging the ditch. “I want all BSF personnel involved in the deaths to be punished. What is the Centre doing?” Banerjee said, targeting the BJP.
In November 2021, the Bengal assembly passed a resolution against the Centre’s decision to extend the BSF’s jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km of the international border in the state.
The resolution was opposed by the BJP legislators who claimed that the Centre’s decision to amend the BSF Act and extend the paramilitary force’s jurisdiction by 35 km from the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam was “meant to tighten security”.
The death of the four minors at Chopra has once again brought the BSF into the TMC’s crosshairs.
The mishap took place at the time when the work for and-digging to install a drain pipe was going on in the North Dinajpur district within the BSF’s jurisdiction.
Four children, aged between five to years, died after a mound of soil caved in during drainage expansion near the Bangladesh border.
by the BSF.
Chopra MLA Hamidul Rahman has been leading an indefinite sit-in demonstration outside the BSF camp at Chopra since Tuesday. Moreover, the ruling TMC has announced a compensation of Rs.3 lakh each to the affected families.
Shortly before Banerjee attended the assembly session, a 10-member TMC delegation comprising ministers and parliament members met the governor at Raj Bhawan.
“The governor assured us that he will visit Chopra and conduct his own probe,” Chandrima Bhattacharya, minister of state for finance, who was part of the delegation, said.
Members of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights also visited Chopra on Wednesday and Thursday to meet local villagers and BSF officials.
“BSF officials told us that they will take safety measures during such activities in the future,” Tulika Das, the commission’s chairperson, told the media on Thursday.
There has been no official comment from the BSF on Banerjee’s allegations.
Referring to characters from the Ramayana that represent the triumph of good over evil, Banerjee said, “They (BJP) are bulldozing everybody today but one day they will be run over by the bulldozer. They want to put everybody in jail. We have tolerated enough. They have crossed the Laxman Rekha and drawn their Ravana Rekha. We have run out of patience.”
“They (BJP) want people to believe that it’s dawn if they say so at midnight. They removed the Chief Justice of India from the panel that selects the chief election commissioner. CJI has been replaced by a politician,” Banerjee said.
Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dismissed Banerjee’s remarks saying she has been unnerved by his party’s growing popularity.
“The allegations she made against BJP is laughable. The saffron storm in Bengal has made her nervous. It hardly matters whether she made the statements on the floor of the assembly or the streets. The entire TMC leadership makes irresponsible remarks. Industry minister Shashi Panja alleged yesterday that BSF personnel molest village women wherever they go,” he said.
