‘We don’t discriminate between Hindus and Muslims, our development is for all,’ says Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee at the programme. Mamata Banerjee at the programme.
A DAY after BJP state president Dilip Ghosh accused the government of indulging in politics over the murder of a labourer from Bengal in Rajasthan because he was from the minority community, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Trinamool Congress does not believe in discrimination and works for the development of all.
Addressing a public meeting at Kanksa in West Burdwan district, Mamata said: “A person was killed in Rajasthan. I do not want to know whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim. All I know is that a labourer from West Bengal was killed…”
Mohammad Afrazul, a labourer from Malda district, was recently hacked and burnt to death in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. Mamata, without naming Ghosh, said: “People from Bengal have been living in other states for the last 40 to 50 years. Similarly, people from other states have been living in Bengal for over 30 to 40 years… Some people are saying why people from Bengal are going outside? Why will not they go? It is their choice. People from Rajasthan also live here. Can I tell my Rajasthani brothers and sisters to leave our states? No, we cannot because Bengal is their home now and they will not leave. Our government will help everyone and will never discriminate.”
Ghosh, on Sunday, had said that labourers from Bengal were being forced to migrate to other states as the Mamata government had failed to provide jobs to them. “We do not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims or between Sikhs and Christians. Our development is for all. Members of all communities have benefited from our government schemes. Our government is not for a specific section of the society but for all. Our government is for everyone. For us, all are equal,” said Mamata.
Alleging that hate crimes against minorities and Dalits were being committed in BJP-ruled states, Mamata said: “I don’t know what BJP is trying to do. A Dalit family in Gujarat was lynched after they went to watch a cultural programme. A person in Rajasthan had aired his protest against the banning of (film) Padmavati. He was hanged. Now a person, who had gone to Rajasthan to work, was burnt alive. Why are these attacks taking place? Who is responsible for these attacks?”
Mamata also warned TMC leaders not to speak in a foul language. “They (BJP) can speak in foul language but we should not be provoked to speak in the same language. Our culture is different from the BJP’s. We do not like BJP’s culture. We will fight them politically and administratively. We will save people. We will not counter them in the language they understand.”
Mamata went on to warn Trinamool’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal not to use “offensive language”. “I am giving Kesto (Anubrata Mondal) the last warning today not to speak in foul language,” Mamata said On Sunday, while speaking about Afrazul’s murder at Murarai in Birbhum, Mondal had said: “Don’t you have shame? There is a BJP chief minister in Rajasthan. A Muslim person was brutally killed there. Can they do such things in West Bengal? If anyone dares to indulge in such violence, we will cut off their tongues. We will not allow anyone to attack Muslims in West Bengal. If such incident had taken place in my district, I would have burnt the culprit alive.”
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