Upping the ante against the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accused it of converting West Bengal into a “safe haven for terrorists.” Mr. Naqvi led a central delegation of the BJP to visit the strife-torn village of Makhra in Birbhum district on Thursday. The village was under attack by armed miscreants on Monday that led to the death of three people.
Mr. Naqvi criticised the State Government for doing precious little to curb “terrorists and anti-national forces.” He said that if the State Government was as pro-active in curbing terrorists as it is in suppressing the Opposition, the anti-national forces would have been wiped out from Bengal. “It is clear that terrorist forces are active in Bengal as it has turned out to be a safe haven for them,” said Mr. Naqvi, adding that the culprits behind Monday’s attack are roaming freely.
As the BJP delegation was on its way to Makhra on Thursday, they were informed by the party’s State office that the State’s Home Department had asked them to refrain from visiting Makhra as prohibitory orders under Section 144 was imposed on the village. The delegation was stopped by the police about a kilometre away from the Makhra village. After BJP supporters tried to barge though the barricade, the police detained them and took them to Parui police station. They were released after an hour. Claiming that many villagers came out in support of the BJP leaders, BJP MP Kierti Azad, a member of the delegation, told The Hindu, “I am surprised to see the support for the BJP among villagers here. They were mostly from the minority community.”
