Telangana

Bengal violence: Hyderabad BJP MLA Raja Singh asks Hindus to respond like 2002 in Gujarat

"The way Hindus were asked to leave Kashmir, they will be made to do the same in Bengal," he claimed.

Written by : TNM Staff

BJP MLA from Hyderabad, Raja Singh, was at the centre of yet another controversy, after he spoke up about the ongoing communal clashes in Baduria and Basirhat districts of West Bengal.

Singh reportedly asked Hindus in Bengal to 'respond in the same way' that Hindus did, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In a video posted on Twitter, Raja Singh can be seen saying, "The way Hindus were asked to leave Kashmir, they will be made to do the same in Bengal. It will be converted into a state like Bangladesh."

He then goes on to add. "This is why I appeal to my Hindu brothers, and Bengal tigers, to awake. My brothers, you remember what happened in 2002 in Gujarat, when Hindus were killed. The way that the Hindus responded in Gujarat, today, there is a need for Hindus in Bengal, to respond the same way."

Raja Singh is notorious in the state, for making alleged hate speeches and communal statements. He already has several cases booked against him.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on Saturday ordered a judicial probe into the communal violence, and continued a major shake-up of the police administration in the area by transferring two senior officers.

A team of three BJP MPs en route to the troubled area, was stopped and detained by police. Another BJP delegation met Governor K.N. Tripathi to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state.

Announcing the judicial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a sitting or a former Calcutta High Court Judge would be entrusted with the responsibility.

Violence erupted between two communities at Baduria on the night of July 3, over a Facebook post by a youth.

While he was soon arrested, violence broke out with mobs attacking shops and houses, torching vehicles, including those of police, and putting up road blockades. Several police personnel sustained injuries as the violence to spread to various pockets under the sub-division.

"We will conduct a judicial probe into the Baduria-Basirhat incident to take impartial action as per law. We want to know which were the forces which indulged in violence. We will also probe the media's involvement in spreading rumours," Banerjee told reporters at state Secretariat Nabanna.

The Chief Minister promised strong action against those responsible for the violence and attacked the Central government for not carrying out its responsibility of protecting the international border.

"How was the Bangladesh border opened? Who takes care of the security of the border? Some of the infiltrators came from the other side of the border and left after indulging in communal violence," she alleged.

Criticising rumour-mongering, she said: "I am not against Facebook, but against fakebook."

Banerjee also announced that her government has blacklisted two organisations - Hindu Sanhati and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen - and their leaders would not be allowed to enter the troubled areas.

She also blamed a section of the national media for "spreading rumour and telecasting distorted, fabricated videos".

IANS inputs

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