Bengal BJP out to polarise voters over Bangladesh Durga Puja clashes
The BJP is off once again with one of its favourite tactics to gain votes: exploiting communal incidents, this time the clashes in Durga Puja pandals in Bangladesh that left five dead.
The Bengal BJP, still licking the wounds of the crushing assembly election defeat, has been giving enough hints that it is out to exploit the clashes in Durga Puja pandals, which led to the killing of five Hindus, and attacks on Hindu homes for the by-elections.
Exploiting communal incidents (as well as adding communal colour to incidents) to the hilt for electoral gains is in the DNA of the BJP, but this time, the Bengal BJP’s apparent strategy flies in the face of the facts that not only has the Modi government (the Foreign Ministry, to be exact) but also several prominent Hindu leaders in Bangladesh have acknowledged that the Bangladeshi government has taken prompt action.
Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress government has also appealed for peace in Bangladesh.
The party’s Bengal unit’s chief spokesperson, Samik Bhattacharya, told a news conference on Sunday that “[w]hat happened in Bangladesh is not an isolated incident” and that “[i]llegal immigration from Bangladesh has disturbed the demography of our state as well”. “The Union government and the people of Bengal will have to be aware of this now,” he added.
The leader of the opposition in the state assembly, and former Trinamool leader Suvendu Adhikari raised the issue while addressing an election rally (for by-election) in the Santipur assembly constituency. He later told the media: “The people of Santipur … have seen what has happened in Bangladesh and will give a fitting reply here.”
On Sunday as well as on Monday, the BJP organised rallies in several parts of the state to protest against the clashes in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Dhaka saw a secular congregation, numbering more than 1,000 people, including Dhaka University students and ISKCON and Ramna Kali Temple monks, gather at the famous Shahbag Square in the morning and later, in the evening to protest against the attacks.
They said they would return to the venue with a much larger crowd on October 20, that is, tomorrow and organise protects in other parts of Bangladesh too to protest against the rise of fundamentalist forces.
