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Murshidabad violence: The BJP claimed the SIT has raised the questions the TMC tried to obfuscate and evade. The TMC condemned what it called “provocative politcs”
West Bengal’s Murshidabad saw violence amid anti-Waqf protests. (PTI/Representative Image)
The door that was broken by a murderous mob to kill Hargobinda Das and his son Chandan in cold blood in Jaffrabad during the Murshidabad violence has now been repaired. The ashes of the houses in Bengal’s Betbona have gone cold.
However, the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted to look into the communal attack in Murshidabad in April, on Wednesday brought back the memories and political allegations against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Tearing into the TMC, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MP Sudhanshu Trivedi set the tone of the press conference. “After the release of the report of the SIT constituted by the court today, the anti-Hindu ruthlessness of the TMC government in West Bengal are clearly evident,” he said.
He went on to claim that the observations recorded on April 11 have “unmasked the TMC, the INDIA alliance, and the so-called champions of secularism”.
In a relatively packed media room, Trivedi read how the investigation revealed that a total of 113 houses were damaged, and many affected residents were forced to flee to Malda for safety.
After the violence, News18 had visited the key areas of Murshidabad — Digri, Betbona, Jaffrabad among others. A week after the violence, 70-year-old Krishna Chandra Pal and his wife had told News18 how an irate mob attacked their house, pelting diesel bombs, and looted their belongings, leaving them no choice, but to leave the premises they once called home. News18 found many doors with locks hanging on them. While some fled to Malda’s relief camp, others took refuge in relatives’ houses nearby.
The TMC claimed that “outsiders were responsible” for the violence. But News18 reportage on ground found victims blaming “local hand”. Now, the committee’s findings seem to have hinted towards TMC leaders, including its MLA, the BJP claimed. Quoting the report, Trivedi said, “The report specifically states that the attacks carried out on Friday, April 11, from 2:00 pm onwards, were under the instructions of local councillor Mehboob Alam.”
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh tried to defend the party, calling it “a well-planned lie by the BJP“. “Firstly, we have taken care of the compensation. Two, the perpetrators are in jail and action is being taken. Three, there is a possibility of the involvement of outsiders being involved in Murshidabad violence. Those who can’t stop attack on nation (Pahalgam)…after Operation Sindoor, when the TMC is playing the role of a constructive opposition even today, the BJP’s provocative politics is condemnable,” said Ghosh.
The BJP claimed the SIT has raised the questions the TMC tried to obfuscate and evade.
Meanwhile, the victims of Murshidabad, away from politics, continue trying to rebuild their life, brick by brick.
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