The Bengal BJP’s desperation to politically exploit the clashes in Bangladesh during Durga Puja was evident on Monday as party MLA and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari led a delegation of MLAs to the Bangladesh deputy high commissioner’s office in Calcutta to express concern over the attacks.

“We have won (the Assembly seats) with votes of Sanatanis. Nobody else voted for us. We are responsible for the Hindus,” Suvendu told the media after the meeting.

“With all due respect towards India’s foreign policies, the Bangladesh PM (Sheikh Hasina) isn’t dealing with the situation with a tough hand,” Suvendu said in contrast to Narendra Modi government’s acknowledgement that the Hasina government had acted promptly to control the situation.

A source in the Bangladesh deputy high commissioner’s office confirmed Suvendu met deputy high commissioner Toufique Hasan and handed over a memorandum.

“Suvendu’s decision to meet Hasan was his way of sending a message ahead of the October 30 bypolls that the party was concerned about the plight of Hindus in India and outside,” said a party leader.

Suvendu also visited the Dhakeshwari temple in Kumartuli where, according to BJP’s media cell, he prayed “for the safety of the oppressed Hindu minority of Bangladesh”.

SFI, the students’ wing of the CPM, organised demonstrations across the state to condemn the attack on minorities in Bangladesh and in several parts of India. “From Babri to Comilla, majoritarian extremist atrocities are the same. These extremists nurture each other. This is why the likes of Suvendu Adhikari eye electoral gains when the Jamaat creates unrest beyond the borders. There is no difference between the RSS and the Jamaat. It is our duty to shun all forms of communalism and stand up for humanity,” said SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharya.

Echoing the same spirit, members of the Bengal intelligentsia have issued a letter of protest condemning the attacks on the minorities in Bangladesh and sought immediate redressal from the Sheikh Hasina government.

In Nadia’s Mayapur, monks and devotees of the Iskcon organised a congregation at its headquarters on Monday evening to condemn the alleged atrocities on its devotees in Bangladesh. They also demanded “tangible action” against them at the earliest to ensure the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.

Additional reporting by Subhasish Chaudhuri