Political parties in WB condemn Home Ministry’s remark

The Union Home Ministry’s claim that madrasas in West Bengal’s Bardhaman and Murshidabad were being used by Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin Bangladesh and some other terrorist organisations drew strong reactions from both the ruling and opposition parties in the state.

Senior Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Abdul Mannan alleged that such remarks are intensifying communal polarisation in the country.

“If any Union Minister makes such a statement in Parliament, then keeping with the tradition of Bengal, people will have no choice but to show them black flags. If such Ministers and MPs come to West Bengal they will face condemnation. They are jeopardizing national unity, intensifying communal polarisation and labelling a particular community as ‘terrorists,’” said Mannan.

CPI(M) MLA and Leader of the Left Legislative party Sujan Chakraborty said that more Muslim students study in general educational institutes than in madrasas in West Bengal. He also said that such “divisional tactics” will prove to be futile in the state.

“Madrasas in West Bengal have almost an equal number of Muslim and Hindu students. More Muslim students study in general educational institutions than in madrasas. Such divisional tactics will not work in West Bengal. Will allegations such as they (madrasas) are breeding grounds of terrorists are being made to generate hatred against a particular community. We condemn such politics of the Centre,” he said.

State’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee also criticised the remarks and said that a resolution can be brought in the Assembly condemning them.