Kolkata: The ruling party of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Sunday, accused the main Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “inflaming communal tensions” in Murshidabad using “fake photos” while also accusing them of preparing a “bloodshed blueprint”.
TMC wrote on its social media account: “BJP’s entire propaganda machinery is churning out misinformation at an industrial scale, with no regard for truth or consequence. They’re flooding the internet with disturbing visuals ripped from other states, doctored, and dumped on Bengal to provoke violence.”
Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said: “It is incredibly disturbing to see the kind of fake communal narrative that the BJP is putting out in West Bengal right now…I just saw a tweet on their official handle which takes pictures from different parts of India and they are trying to show these pictures of conflict as if these are photos from conflict happening in West Bengal.”
“My only appeal to the BJP is if you have a valid political narrative to fight us, fight us on that. But please stop promoting communal disharmony in Bengal, please stop trying to light Bengal on fire,” Gokhale added.
Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh claimed that investigation into the circulated images revealed they originated from various incidents across different states, including anti-CAA protests in Lucknow, a house fire in Jalandhar and unrelated incidents from Karnataka and Assam. West Bengal Police also called out the “disinformation” on its X handle.
Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose assured: “The Bengal government is clear no one will be allowed to take law into their hands and violence will be met with strict punishment, irrespective of community or religious identity of the perpetrators.”
Trinamool also posted on X: “From Dibakar Gharami’s ‘arm yourselves’ remark, to @DrSukantaBJP threatening street violence, and @ArjunsinghWB vowing to import thugs from neighbouring states, @BJP4India is making coordinated attempts to ignite communal fire in Bengal. The people must recognise these agents of chaos.”
Kunal Ghosh demanded that the Union Government should remove Sukanta from his ministerial position. “…Given the way Sukanta Majumdar made those provocative remarks, he must be removed as Union Minister. Despite holding a constitutional position, he used the language of thugs,” Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, the Director General (DG) of the state police, Rajeev Kumar on Sunday visited the violence affected areas and took stock of the situation. He claimed that the situation is under control and requested people not to pay heed to any rumors. The state police authorities have sent 23 of its special officers to Samserganj to control the violent situation in Murshidabad while the figure of arrest reached around 150 on Sunday. Over 10 companies have been deployed to control the situation and prevent any violence.