Mamata puts district violence blame on 'communal terrorism'

KOLKATA: Breaking silence on the reports of sectarian violence, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said communal terrorism posed more danger. "We condemn terrorism as a threat to peace, stability, prosperity. We equally condemn communal terrorism that is more dangerous than anything," she said, without blaming anyone or any party in particular.
Taking the cue, chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee told reporters, "There were some stray incidents due to personal rivalry and quick action was taken.The situation is under control. There were some distorted reports in the media which is not correct". Flanked by state DGP Surajit Kar Purakayastha, city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and home secretary Moloy De, the chief secretary insisted, "There were two or three incidents and the government is keeping watch. If necessary, we will take action. The law will take its own course".
The state's formal reaction to the incidents which has taken social media by storm, however, did little to pacify the opposition. BJP's national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh trained guns on the Mamata regime for "unleashing violent attacks" on its workers under the "pretext" of communal clashes as part of her "vote bank politics"."Under Banerjee, TMC leaders have unleashed violence against BJP workers under the pretext of communal clashes," Singh said in a statement. BJP has also demanded arrest of a TMC MLA Arjun Singh over the clashes. A par ty worker was killed in Malda clashes, it said.
State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury blamed both TMC and the BJP . "Communal tension which was alien to Bengal for decades, has reached an alarming proportion. The RSS and the TMC are playing it mutually to reap political dividend," Chowdhury told reporters outside the Assembly . He said the TMC and BJP has had an under-the-table settlement for each other's benefit. "Workers of the Opposition parties have been assaulted, implicated in false cases and their party offices have been burnt, but there has been no instance where a BJP worker has been jailed or their party office being razed," Chowdhury added. He alleged that the opposition workers were being prevented from entering the trouble-torn areas.
CPM politburo member Md Salim too attacked the chief minister. "These are highsounding words which has no meaning. When eight-nine places in the state are burning, she is busy in the carnival. This is irresponsible! Houses are being looted, people are scared, police are being beaten up and they are helpless because there has been no instruction from Nabanna. This is only because she always choses to ignore the communal development in the state on one hand and gives free hand to the goons.Earlier, whenever there was any communal tension, police played a very major role and this time the situation was pathetic," he said.
Police, however, say while the situation is under control, the systematic manner in which social media forums is being used to propagate hatred and sectarianism is becoming increasingly tough to tackle. "We are keeping tabs on the social media and are trying to develop a mechanism so that we can neutralise this technological infiltration into the religious fabric and integrity of the society ," an officer said.