Kolkata, Nov 29 (PTI) CPI(M)’s West Bengal state secretary Md Salim on Saturday accused the BJP and the TMC of playing the “religion card” to divide people and urged citizens to back secular, democratic Left forces to strengthen the fight against “fascism”.
Addressing a gathering of nearly 1,000 red flag-waving party supporters at Toofanganj in Cooch Behar district, Salim recalled that during the rise of communalism in the 1980s and 1990s, the Left had countered it with the slogan, “Na Hindu Rashtra, Na Khalistan. Ek Rahega Hindustan.” “There should not be any polarisation and we are all united,” he said.
“We all know there are temples, mosques, churches and other places of worship for respective communities. There are some people belonging to certain parties who raise the polarisation plank when elections approach. They are against the ethos and pluralistic traditions of Bengal and India,” he said.
He accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of enabling the entry of RSS–BJP in the state and claimed that Marxist patriarch and former chief minister Jyoti Basu had warned about her role in “paving the way for communal forces” when the Left was in power.
“Remember, Mamata was once described as ‘Maa Durga’ by the RSS when she was in the opposition,” he said.
“Mamata Banerjee and her men had coined the slogan ‘Lal Hatao, Desh Banchao,’ Salim said, alleging that the state has witnessed deterioration in law and order and corruption under the TMC regime and slipped to the level of “Uttar Pradesh and Bihar”.
Accusing the BJP and a section of media of spreading false narrative on infiltration from Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said, “They are scaring people by raising the bogey of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), deletion of names of minority citizens and those who crossed over to India decades back after Partition.” Calling for building a “new, self-reliant Bengal where youths do not have to migrate for jobs, industries invest again and school jobs are not sold,” Salim said CPI(M) workers had faced brutal attacks from TMC supporters but continued their democratic struggles. PTI SUS MNB
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