Waqf Riots Pre-planned by BJP: Mamata

Kolkata: Calling the Jangipur violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district a "pre-planned” design of the BJP, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "rein in" Union home minister Amit Shah.

Ms Banerjee also mocked Shah as "Kalidas" for cutting the tree branch he was sitting on in his apparent bid to become the next PM and wondered about his fate after Modi's tenure.

The Trinamul Congress supremo, who was addressing the Muslim clerics at Netaji Indoor Stadium, further alleged that the BJP had planned to trigger the unrest during the Ram Navami celebration but failed due to tight security arrangements.

Ms Banerjee even accused a section of the Border Security Force (BSF) of allowing youth from across the border (Bangladesh) to orchestrate the communal riot by paying money to them.

Giving a clean chit to her party for the unrest, the TMC chief said, “Had the TMC been involved in the Waqf law violence as claimed by the Opposition, the houses of our party leaders would not have been attacked.”

Ms Banerjee then claimed, “I didn't mention him earlier. But if a Union home minister acts like Kalidas, who had cut the tree branch he was sitting on, then I am bound to point it out.”

The West Bengal CM added: “I urge the Prime Minister to control the Union home minister. He is using all the agencies to plot against us. He is the most dangerous and damaging everything. What will happen to him when Modi Ji is not there? He will never become the PM. Hope he doesn't need to crawl then. So why is he in a hurry?”

Targeting the Centre and a section of the BSF, she argued, “I saw a report on Tuesday quoting Union home ministry sources that Bangladesh was involved in the violence. If that is the case, the Central government is responsible since the BSF guards the borders, not us.”

Ms Banerjee reasoned: “The state government doesn’t have the responsibility to guard the borders. The Central government can't evade its responsibility. Whom did the BSF manage and manipulate? Young people from Bangladesh were allowed to cross the border and were paid Rs.5,000-Rs.6,000 per head to throw stones to create the violence. Why did the BSF allow them to enter Bengal? I will find out who the BSF had financed in the border areas by paying money to youths to pelt stones during the violence.”

The CM also urged the Muslim clerics to tell their community members not to fall prey to the provocation by the BJP and suggested they visit New Delhi to raise their voice against the new law. She announced compensation of Rs.10 lakhs to the family of each of the three victims killed in the violence.

In the evening, Union minister and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar sat in a demonstration at the Bhawani Bhavan, the state police headquarters, in Alipore with the homeless villagers of Dhulian for justice.