'If you riot, I will not back your cause': Mamata Banerjee warns Waqf protestors

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday warned those staging protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act that she won’t spare anyone who causes any more violence in the state over the issue.

“There is no question of Waqf in West Bengal. If you need to protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, go to Delhi. Don’t stage protests here. There is no problem in West Bengal. We don’t acquire any property of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians,” she said while addressing an event Murshidabad’s Suti.

Three people were killed in Suti after communal clashes broke out on April 11 and 12 over the Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Act.

“Don’t engage in any more violence over this. If you do, I will be your biggest enemy. If anyone tries to snatch your rights, it is our guarantee to protect it. We hit the streets when efforts were being made to introduce the NRC and NPR. Let me take the decision. Let me protest. You stay united,” she appealed to citizens.

This was the chief minister’s first visit to the riot-torn areas after the incident. Earlier in the day, she met some of the riot-affected families at Dhuliyan in Murshidabad’s Samserganj block. Each family was given a cheque of ₹1.2 lakh.

“Don’t fall prey to any provocations by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or by any other religious fundamentalist organisations. Don’t get incited and fight among yourselves... I don’t want to see any riots. I am against riots. We don’t want riots. We want peace,” she said.

“Rioters are roped in from outside (the state) in a planned manner and some of you fall prey to provocations. Please don’t fall prey. If you can give me your word, then ‘didi’ (as Banerjee is fondly called) will stand beside you. If you engage in riots, others may stand beside you, but ‘didi’ won’t... I want to see the light, not darkness,” Banerjee appealed.

The chief minister had on Monday accused the BJP of engineering the riots and also blamed the Border Security Force (BSF), saying that had the forces not opened fire, fresh violence wouldn’t have erupted on the second day.

“If the Centre introduces any law, it doesn’t remain in our hands. Despite our opposition, they forcefully clear it. Let them do so. As long as I am there in West Bengal, no one will get affected,” she said.

Meanwhile in Kolkata, senior BJP politician and leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari upped the ante against the Trinamool Congress supremo.

“The families of Haragobindo Das and Chandan Das, who were hacked during the riots, have refused to accept the money offered by the TMC government. Instead, they have moved the Calcutta high court seeking a CBI probe. Banerjee has offered ₹1.2 lakh each to the families who lost their houses and shops. They will also move court and get full compensation. Had the BSF not acted on that day, the state police would have come under heavy attack from rioters. The anti-Hindu chief minister didn’t visit the actual riot-hit villages. She addressed a gathering several kilometres away,” Adhikari said at a rally.

During the event in Suti on Tuesday, the chief minister also handed over a cheque of ₹10 lakh to Shehnaz Parveen, wife of Jhontu Ali Sheikh, a para commando of the Indian Army who was killed during an encounter at Udhampur in Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack on April 22. The state government also provided Parveen a job as a home guard in her hometown Krishnagar in Nadia district.

Banerjee, during the event, also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of 167 projects in Murshidabad worth more than ₹718 crore.