Bengal govt to stop BJP MPs reaching Asansol
KOLKATA: A team of four BJP MPs is slated to visit Asansol in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district this weekend to take stock of the ground situation after communal clashes sparked during Ram Navami processions rocked the town.
The industrial township continues to simmer in tension caused by two deaths. The team, formed by BJP chief Amit Shah, was likely to reach Kolkata on Friday night. The visit will be planned after that as prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144, which prohibits the assembly and movement of four or more people, has been clamped by the Asansol administration. The ban on internet services in the township has also been extended till April 4.
A state government official, who did not wish to be named, said the MPs will not be allowed to visit Asansol or Ranigunj. “Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has clearly said the administration should not allow anything that can lead to more unrest,” he said.
The BJP has decided to send its national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain, actress-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, Rajya
› CM Banerjee has said the administration should not allow anything that leads to more unrest
A STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
Sabha member Om Mathur and Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand, Vishnu Dayal Sharma.
Asansol Lok Sabha MP and Union minister of state Babul Supriyo flew back to Delhi Thursday. He said the visiting team will prepare a report for the party.
West Bengal education minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee refused to attach any importance to the visiting team. “The visit has little significance. The government is determined to maintain peace and harmony at any cost.”
I WANT PEACE, SAYS IMAM WHO LOST HIS SON
The imam of a local mosque has appealed for peace and restraint, hours after his 16-year-old son was found dead in the riots that started after the Ram Navami celebrations last Sunday.
The body of Maulana Imdadul Rashidi’s son, Sibtulla Rashidi, was found on Wednesday after he went missing following a clash on Tuesday in Railpar area.
Rashidi has been performing the duties of the imam at Noorani mosque for about 30 years.
Rashidi made an impassioned plea to the people gathered at the Idgah Maidan where his son was buried on Thursday.
“My son has died, but I don’t want anyone else to lose his child. If you strike back, I shall leave this town,” he told the crowd.
“I want peace to return here. I have made the same request to the people who gathered on Thursday,” he repeated Friday.