Hindus in Murshidabad will face atrocities again, if CAPF deployment is withdrawn: Bengal LoP

Kolkata, April 19 (IANS) The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday expressed apprehension that the Hindu population in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district might be attacked again, once the central armed police forces (CAPF) currently deployed there are withdrawn.  

Murshidabad was on the boil for the entire last week following communal violence and a riot-like situation there, after protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent. The CAPF was deployed on April 12 following an order of a special division bench of the Calcutta High Court.

Adhikari participated in a protest rally on the issue at Bhabanipur in South Kolkata on Saturday. While addressing the rally, he expressed apprehension that the Hindu population at Murshidabad would come under attack once the CAPF deployed there is withdrawn.

Incidentally, the elected legislator from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“Once the CAPF deployment is withdrawn, the Hindus will not be able to survive there. So the requirement is that the CAPF deployment is continued there for some more months. At the same time, the National Investigation Agency should be entrusted with the task of probing the violence there. What is required there now is strong action,” LoP Adhikari said.

Earlier in the day, when Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and the members of the delegation of the National Commission for Women reached the troubled pockets in Murshidabad, there were demands from the local people, especially the women, for setting up permanent CAPF camps in the area to ensure their future safety.

Speaking on the occasion, Adhikari said that special arrangements should be made so that the Hindu population residing in the villages close to the international borders with Bangladesh are provided with licensed firearms for the sake of self-respect. “The Hindu population there will survive only if that is done,” he added.

The BJP leader also said that his party would take responsibility for the restoration of the property owned by Hindus and Hindu temples, which have been vandalised at Murshidabad following the violence.