West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party of hatching a sinister plan to divide and rule the people of the state, taking advantage of the violence and communal clashes triggered by the recent protests against the new Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
She also accused the BJP of defaming Hinduism for its political agenda.
“BJP and its allies have suddenly become very aggressive in West Bengal. These allies include RSS,” the chief minister stated in an appeal issued to the people of the state. “I have not taken the name of the RSS earlier, but I am being forced now to identify them. Together, they all have initiated a vicious false campaign in the state.”
She urged people of West Bengal to stay calm and to stay united. “Do not give in to mistrust and distrust. Do not be diverted by their false communal rhetoric. Let us remain together and combat their bad propaganda. Let us fight their hooliganism and falsehood. Let us remain united as Indians,” she stated in a four-page appeal released late in the evening on Saturday.
Three people were killed, and several others, including cops, were injured, as the protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, turned violent in Murshidabad and some other places in West Bengal in India on April 11 and 12.
The protesters clashed with the police personnel, burnt government vehicles and ransacked government offices. The protests also led to communal clashes, and houses and shops were set ablaze at Suti, Samserganj, Dhulian and Jangipur in Murshidabad, forcing hundreds of people to flee and take refuge in Malda.
The normalcy started returning to Murshidabad since April 13, with paramilitary forces joining police in maintaining law and order.
The BJP accused Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government of pursuing a ‘policy of appeasement’, failing to rein in the radicals and protecting the Hindus.
“The criminals behind the riots are being strongly dealt with. But, simultaneously, we must avoid mutual mistrust and distrust. The majority and the minority communities must work together and take care of each other,” she said.
She alleged that the BJP and its allies had originally planned to use the Ram Navami Day to play with fire. But, she added, the Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal have been most peaceful. “Then they tried to use some subsequent matters relating to the agitations against the Waqf (Amendment) Act,” she added.
She alleged that the BJP and its allies were defaming the universal Hinduism in the name of their so-called political agenda.
“In India, the Hinduism of Sri Ramakrishna-Swami Vivekananda is a universal religion. This universal religion teaches me to embrace all, accept all, and love all. It teaches me to respect all religions, from Hinduism to Islam to Christianity to Sikhism to Buddhism to Jainism to Judaism. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore also teaches us to love all religions of all human beings. This was the religion of our ancient Tapovans,” she noted.
“In contrast”, she added, “what the BJP and their allies are propagating are false and narrow. Their utterances are garbage of lies, based on misquotes. Please do not trust them. They want to incite riots, and riots can affect everyone. We love all. We want to stay together. We condemn riots. We are against riots. They want to divide us for some narrow electoral politics.”