Will shut illegal slaughter houses, stop love jihad in Bengal: CM
KOLKATA : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will shut all illegal slaughter houses and stop interreligious marriages for conversion (love jihad) in Bengal if it comes to power, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said at a rally in the poll-bound state on Tuesday.
Addressing party supporters at Gazole in Malda district, which has Bengal’s secondhighest Muslim population (51.27 % according to the 2011 census), Yogi accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and chief minister Mamata Banerjee of indulging in politics of appeasement while ignoring the nation’s security and also depriving the masses of the centre’s welfare schemes.
This was Yogi’s first visit to Bengal in the run-up to the eight-phase election that starts on March 27.
“Bengal cannot be sacrificed to the politics of appeasement. Cow smugglers are encouraged in Bengal. This is akin to playing with the nation’s faith. In UP nobody can kill cows. We will shut down all illegal slaughter houses in Bengal within 24 hours of coming to power,” said Yogi.
“We see love jihad in Bengal but in UP we have enacted a law to stop it. The politics of appeasement will have severe repercussions in Bengal in the coming days…..There is a ban on raising the Jai Sri Ram slogan in Bengal. In India we greet each other and start every work uttering Ram’s name. We say ‘Ram naam satya hai’ (Ram is the eternal truth) when we carry the dead for burial. What is the secret behind the TMC’s friendship with those who oppose Ram?” said Yogi.
“At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to give citizenship rights to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and people of other religions who arrived from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, why is the Bengal government hesitant to push back infiltrators? Why doesn’t it stop organised violence? … In UP we did not have a single riot in four years. Ruffians have been taught a lesson,” the UP chief minister said.
“In Bengal, there are restrictions on holding Durga Puja, and festive processions are stopped because of Muharram… Swami Vivekananda asked us to say proudly that we are Hindus. This was not a religious statement but a call to unit India,” said Yogi. He also accused the TMC government of failing to protect women and referred to the alleged assault on an 82-year-old woman on the outskirts of Kolkata on Saturday.
Accusing the TMC government of failing to generate jobs or providing welfare to the poor, Yogi said, “The Congress, Left and TMC governments have pushed Bengal back over decades. There was a time when youths from Uttar Pradesh and other states used to work in Bengal. Today, youths of Bengal look for jobs in UP. Our government has generated employment opportunities. Bengal can achieve that too under Modi’s leadership.” Hailing kar savaks from Bengal who went to Ayodhya in 1992, Yogi said, “I am thankful to those who are helping build the new temple.”
Bengal deputy parliamentary affairs minister Tapas Roy refused to comment on the allegations of Yogi but said the UP chief minister has failed to understand the message of Vivekananda.
“Adityanath does not understand the messages of universal brotherhood that Vivekananda sent,” said Roy.
Mausam Noor, TMC Rajya Sabha member and president of the party’s Malda district unit, raised the issue of crime against women in UP.
“Shocking polarisation by Uttar Pradesh CM @yogiadityanath in Malda at a time when his own pradesh is reeling with the heinous crimes. Shame on you for letting Betis down #BJPHataoBetiBachao #Hathras,” she tweeted.
The Congress, Left and TMC governments have pushed Bengal back over decades. There was a time when youths from Uttar Pradesh and other states used to work in Bengal. Today, youths of Bengal look for jobs in UP.
YPGI ADITYANATH, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh