Mamata Banerjee slams Amit Shah for remarks on Bengal’s law and order situation
Union home minister Amit Shah arrived in West Bengal on Thursday morning and will be camping in the state for two days.
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed union home minister Amit Shah without naming him for his recent remarks in the Rajya Sabha over the state’s law and order situation.
Shah arrived in West Bengal on Thursday morning and will be camping here for two days. This is his first visit to the state after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept back to power in the state last summer for the third time.
“It is not right to malign everyone. In a state with a population of 110 million, if five incidents take place, I would be happy if you condemn those five incidents and demand that the guilty be hanged. But it is not right to put everyone on the dock. It hurts me if anyone says don’t go to Bengal, you may be murdered. West Bengal is better than any other state,” Banerjee said at a function to celebrate 11 years in power in the state.
Earlier on April 6, while responding to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh in the Rajya Sabha, Shah said that if anyone goes to West Bengal, he might get killed. The remarks provoked a protest by TMC MPs.
“You have been to Gujarat. I don’t know whether any FIR has been filed against AAP in Gujarat. If they had done something, a FIR may have been filed. But if you go to Bengal, you might get killed. It is good that you didn’t go there,” Shah said.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders reiterated their demand of imposing Article 355 in the state due to the alleged deterioration of law and order.
“Unless Article 355 is imposed democracy will not return in West Bengal. Here violence takes place with the help of the police administration, be it Birbhum massacre or any murder of a political leader. Our MPs and MLAs would speak to Amit Shah on Friday in this regard. The Centre would take the final call,” a BJP leader said.
Bengal BJP leaders said Shah will meet top state office-bearers, departmental heads, legislators and members of Parliament at 2pm on Friday at a hotel on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata.
The TMC supremo also upped her ante against the BJP while citing incidents of crime against women in states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
“In Uttar Pradesh if a woman goes to seek justice, she would be victimised once again by the police. I hope no one would dare to do this in West Bengal. If that happens, I would be the worst and strictest person. I don’t even spare my party workers if found guilty. I order the police to arrest them,” she said.
A 13-year-old alleged gang-rape survivor was allegedly raped by a police officer in Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur when she went there to lodge a complaint. The station house officer was arrested on Wednesday.
“Mothers and sisters are our pride. This is not Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh. This is Bengal where the guilty are tried and punished,” Banerjee said.