Baduria communal clashes: Rajnath Singh seeks report from West Bengal govt

An 'objectionable' post by a Class X student on Facebook on Tuesday had triggered violent clashes between two communities of the Basirhat sub-division, leaving several shops vandalised, houses ransacked, police vehicles torched and roads blocked by mobs.

• By: Express Web Desk
• New Delhi | Updated: July 6, 2017 11:46 AM IST
3 min read

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Express Photo/Prem Nath Pandey, File)

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to submit a report on the communal clashes that broke out in North 24 Parganas yesterday. Further, Union Home Minister was apprised of the situation in the riot-hit area by Governor K N Tripathi, reported news agency PTI. The Centre, on an appeal from the Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday, had deployed three companies of paramilitary forces to the Baduria region to bring the situation under control. An ‘objectionable’ post by a Class X student on Facebook had triggered violent clashes between two communities of the Basirhat sub-division, leaving several shops vandalised, houses ransacked, police vehicles torched and roads blocked by mobs.

“Governor K N Tripathi had a telephonic conversation with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and had informed him about the clashes in North 24 Parganas district. They had a detailed discussion about the present situation in the area,” a Raj Bhavan official was quoted as saying by PTI.

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The incident had led to a war of words between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. Accusing Tripathi of ‘threatening’ her over the phone, Banerjee had said, “He (the governor) is behaving like a block president of BJP. He should understand that he has been nominated to the post… He talked big on law and order. I am not here at the mercy of anyone. The way he spoke to me, I once thought of leaving (the chair).”

This prompted Rajnath Singh today to tell both Mamata and Tripathi to resolve their differences.

Meanwhile, the BJP claimed over 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families in the region. Alleging the state police failed to bring the situation under control, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also in-charge of the state, had urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene. “Over 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families. Bombs went off at many places and information of Hindu sisters and daughters being raped have been received,” he wrote. Vijayvargiya also claimed there was a possibility that ‘outsiders’ were involved in the case, given the area’s proximity to Bangladesh.

(With inputs from agencies)

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