West Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said that some political parties want to incite riots and asked why should the citizens suffer for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “sin”.
Her comments came after violent protests continued in Howrah district against the disparaging remarks made by two BJP spokespersons about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
“Violent incidents have been taking place in Howrah for two days now,” the chief minister wrote on Twitter. “There are some political parties behind this and they want to instigate riots. But this will not be tolerated and strict action will be taken against all of them. The BJP will sin, common people will suffer?”
The BJP is facing backlash from Muslims in India and abroad, including a number of Gulf countries, after Nupur Sharma made the remarks about the Prophet during a debate on the Times Now television channel on May 26. Naveen Jindal, who was media head of the party’s Delhi unit, had also posted a tweet on June 1 about the Prophet, which he later deleted.
In Howrah, the protestors set several kiosks and vehicles, including those belonging to police, on fire. In Uleberia and Panchla areas of the district, the local BJP party offices were also set on fire allegedly by the protestors.
The protestors also blocked road and railway tracks, leading to long traffic jams and cancellation of several local and express trains.
Internet services have been suspended across the district till June 13 to rein in the unrest. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the gathering of more than four people, is in place in several areas such as Uluberia, Panchla and Domjur till June 15, PTI reported.
A fresh clash broke out between the police and the protestors in Howrah’s Panchla Bazaar on Saturday. The police threw tear gas shells to disperse those who threw stones at them, ANI reported. Scroll. In
