Even as Mamta Banerjee government on Saturday ordered a judicial probe into the communal violence that has engulfed Bengal’s Baduria and Basirhat districts, , Bharatiya Janata Party MLA H Raja Singh ruffled a few feathers by appealing to the Hindu community in the state to respond the way Hindus in Gujarat reacted in 2002.
“Today, Hindus are not safe in the West Bengal state. Hindus in Bengal should respond to people involved in communal violence as Hindus in Gujarat did. Otherwise, soon Bengal will turn into Bangladesh,” Singh said in a video message posted on Twitter. He is a BJP legislator from Goshamahal in Telangana.
Parts of West Bengal particularly in and around Bashirhat have witnessed communal riots after a 17-year-old boy posted an objectionable photo of Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.
The Congress Party on Sunday slammed the BJP, saying, that by mentioning Gujarat riots, Singh is trying to claim that Narendra Modi-led government’s persecution in Gujarat was justified.
“The BJP is trying to provoke riots and violence in Bengal. BJP’s Bengal unit is fighting with the TMC. The statements by Raja Singh are shameful. By mentioning Gujarat riots, he is trying to claim that Modi government’s persecution in Gujarat was justified,” Congress leader Meem Afzal told ANI.
In April this year, Singh was booked by police in Hyderabad because of hate speech. He had controversially said that that those who tried to stop construction of the temple are traitors and would be driven out of the country.