Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday afternoon expressed her displeasure at the absence of two widows from the Das family of Samsergunj, whose husbands were killed in the communal violence that rocked the town around 287 km north of Kolkata almost a month ago, and dropped the hint of another conspiracy.
“I came here to meet the two women. I wanted to hand over the cheque for Rs 10 lakh that we had promised. But they are not here. Why? Is something cooking,” asked the chief minister during a brief interaction with the media at Berhampore on the first day of her tour of the riot-hit parts of Murshidabad, of which Samserganj is a part.
On April 8, protests over the Waqf Amendment Act escalated into a communal riot that claimed three lives, including the father-son duo of Hargobind Das and his son Chandan, and forced thousands to flee their homes.
A day before Mamata’s arrival, both the widows had come to Kolkata. The family has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI probe into the murders of their husbands at their home in Samsergunj’s Jaffrabad.
“I came to meet them. I am not at fault here,” Mamata said on Monday afternoon.
The chief minister redirected her suspicions towards the Centre and the BJP over the communal violence in the district, which is now completely under Trinamool’s domination.
“How could the National Human Rights Commission reach the next day? They did not have time to visit Manipur, which is burning for two years. They did not visit Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha or Delhi where so many people lost their lives. In Bengal they reached the very next day,” said Mamata.
“If you remember there was a PayTM ad the very next morning after demonetisation was announced. How could it happen without prior information?”
Mamata said she had been inquiring into the events that led to the violence in the district and would unravel the chronology after gathering all evidence.
“Had the BSF not fired, this violence would not have happened,” she said. "Instead of focusing on politics of division, protect our borders".
Mamata’s mistrust of the Border Security Force stems from her aversion to the Union home minister. She referred to Amit Shah as the “acting Prime Minister”, without taking his name.
“Everybody knows who the acting prime minister is,” she said.
The chief minister also appealed to the chief ministers of Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan to act against attacks on Bengali-speaking people in the states.
“Bengali-speaking people are being beaten in these states. There are 1.5 crore non-Bengalis residing in Bengal, but we won’t allow this to happen here. That is the difference between you and us,” she said. “The chief secretary will write to these states. The DGP has already spoken with the Odisha DGP.”
Mamata warned the ruling dispensation at the Centre, saying discrimination on religion did not behove those on administrative positions.
“If you are occupying a chair, you cannot divide the people of two communities,” she said.
The chief minister’s visit to Murshidabad is happening a day after Governor C.V, Ananda Bose submitted a report to the Union ministry of home affairs, highlighting lapses and drawbacks on part of the state government in handling the communal violence in the district.
The chief minister said she had no knowledge of the governor's report or of his mention of the possible implementation of Article 356 (President’s rule) in the state.
"I have no information about Bose's report to the MHA. The governor's health is not okay. Let us pray to God for his speedy recovery," Banerjee said before boarding the helicopter to Murshidabad.
On Tuesday, she will visit the strife-affected spots like Dhulian and Samserganj, and interact with the people there. The chief minister will also address an administrative review meeting at Dhulian.