‘State BJP is playing communal cards...’; Mamata takes tough stand on B’desh issue

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once again alleged that state BJP is playing communal cards on a sensitive issue like Bangladesh.

As the Bengal BJP has been on a desperate attempt to take some political mileage out of the Bangladesh issue, the Chief Minister has perhaps demanded the intervention of the Central government in the Bangladesh issue. She has taken a tough stand on the BJP’s communal politics. In August, she had clarified her government’s stance on the Bangladesh issue following the departure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from the neighbouring country amid political turmoil.

This came after Bangladesh’s Army chief announced Hasina’s resignation. Since then, Banerjee, on several occasions, said that her government would support the Centre in whatever decision it takes on the Bangladesh issue as her government has nothing to do with the international affairs between the two countries. Banerjee had stated: “The Government of India is the appropriate authority to decide on international affairs.”

She had also lent her full support to the Narendra Modi government on this issue.

But on the day, Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti and Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari staged a protest rally near the international border at the Petrapole protesting the arrest of Hindu monk, Banerjee gave her spontaneous reactions in the Assembly that she demanded PM Modi’s decisive action to rescue and rehabilitate persecuted Indians from Bangladesh. During her address in the Assembly, she also called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed in Bangladesh.

Political observers think that state BJP’s communal politics prompted Banerjee to take a tough stand on the issue and sought the Centre’s intervention. Political observers think that Banerjee on Monday reacted ‘under compulsion’ after Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari — instead of taking up the issue with the Prime Minister —- chose to “play the gallery” by holding a protest on the India-Bangladesh border where he also trained his guns on the Mamata Banerjee government on issues, besides demanding the release of Hindu monk who was arrested in Bangladesh. “Adhikari should have been more responsible as Bangladesh is now a sensitive issue. Vote bank politics in

the name of religion should not be done now,” a Trinamool leader said. Highly placed sources revealed that the Foreign Ministry viewed Banerjee’s appeal on Monday as a proposal that aligns with the country’s federal tradition.