West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the two-engine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of violence against migrant workers in their respective states. His comment comes amid increasing incidents of mob lynching in Bihar.
Referring to the alleged death of a laborer in Bihar, Banerjee said, “Yesterday a person was beaten to death in Bihar. Wherever there is a two-engine BJP government, migrant laborers are being tortured daily.” She also made sharp allegations against the BJP-led government for these cases, saying, “They are killing our people. Nothing can be worse than this.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of the proposed Mahakal temple in Siliguri and made similar allegations against the BJP during her address. The Chief Minister claimed that workers of West Bengal are often being targeted specifically because they speak Bengali.
“Bengali-speaking migrant workers are being harassed in BJP-ruled states. Migrant workers are living peacefully in West Bengal without any harassment. Why are Bengali-speaking workers being targeted elsewhere?… They are being beaten up in Assam, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi or Bihar,” he alleged.
He stressed that violence has nothing to do with religion, and quoted the words of Mahatma Gandhi to buttress his point. He said, “Beating people is not religion. Giving life is religion. Life means doing good and noble deeds while we live, as Gandhiji had said, ‘Ishwar Allah tere naam, sabko sanmati de Bhagwan’.”
Meanwhile, the Bihar State Minorities Commission earlier this month took strong cognizance of the increasing incidents of lynching in the state and directed to appoint a senior police officer as nodal officer in each district to maintain a peaceful environment.
The Commission in Patna expressed deep concern over the sad and worrying reports of mob lynching continuously emerging from the State and demanded prompt and effective action from the State Government. In this regard, Commission Chairman Maulana Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi sent a letter to the Chief Secretary of Bihar Government and the Director General of Police.
According to the Commission, it is clear from the viral videos on social media and news published in various newspapers and channels that mobs in many districts of Bihar are targeting people for violence by branding them as “Bangladeshis” on the basis of rumors and religious identity, which is highly condemnable.