Attempts by some parties to incite riots, says Mamata on Howrah violence
The Hindu
While there were no reports of fresh violence in Kolkata on Saturday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said there were attempts by some political parties to incite riots in light of remarks by former BJP leaders on Prophet Muhammed
Internet services remained suspended and prohibitory orders were imposed on Saturday in large parts of West Bengal’s Howrah district after two days of violent protests over the offensive remarks directed at Prophet Muhammed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokespersons.
While the situation on Saturday morning remained under control with no reports of fresh violence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that there were attempts by some political parties to incite riots.
“Violent incidents have been taking place in Howrah for two days now. There are some political parties behind this and they want to incite riots; but these will not be tolerated and strict action will be taken against all of them. The BJP will sin, people will suffer?” Ms. Banerjee said on Twitter.
The Chief Minister had on Thursday appealed for calm and demanded the arrest of the suspended BJP spokespersons on the issue of offensive remarks. She had also told protesters that there was no reason to hold protests in West Bengal.
Along with road and railway blockades for hours, violence was reported in parts of Uluberia Subdivision in Howrah on June 9 and 10. Several vehicles and motorbikes including those belong to police were attacked and set on fire.
There was violence at Domjur police station in Howrah district also. Party offices of the BJP and Trinamool Congress were also attacked and set on fire in the region. Some roadside shops and public property were also destroyed by the protestors during the violence. A State government notification prohibited assembly of five or more persons in procession or carrying lathi or other dangerous weapon till June 15.
BJP leaders including National Vice-President Dilip Ghosh on Saturday visited the areas that witnessed violence in Howrah and shared photos from his social media account. State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said that he has been put under house arrest by the West Bengal police on the instructions of the Chief Minister. State’s Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had on Friday sought a report from State’s Chief Secretary on the situation.
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