Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 21 (ANI): West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday hit out at the Kolkata Police for arresting BJP Minority Morcha state president Charles Nandi and his team while they were marching towards Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence.
“Shame Mamata Police Shame! Mamata Police have arrested the President of @BJP4Bengal
Minority Morcha; Shri Charles Nandi and his team members including prominent Muslim Leaders, who were peacefully marching from Hazra More to Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence,” Adhikari posted from his X handle on Wednesday.
The BJP MLA said the protest march was against Trinamool councillor Ananya Bandyopadhyay, who had made ‘hurtful comments’ against the Christian faith.
“They were protesting against the TMC Councillor Smt. Ananya Bandyopadhyay’s insensitive and hurtful comments towards the Sacred Institution of Church and Christianity. They have been taken to Lalbazar for no fault of theirs. I condemn this unlawful arrest and demand that they be released immediately,” Adhikari added in his post.
The protest by the Minority Morcha was significant as it came at a time when the party has been facing fury and protests from the ruling TMC over an alleged incident of a BJP leading hurling the ‘Khalistani’ slur at a Sikh police officer during a protest over Sandeshkhali.
The BJP, however, denied the charge and called it a ploy to deflect public attention from the alleged horrific incidents of Sandeshkhali.
He also attached a video of the BJP Minority Morcha state president in which he was seen claiming that the TMC councillor had insulted the Bible and used derogatory language against Fathers and Nuns.
“Councillor of Ward Number 109 insulted our holy book, the Bible, and all nations that follow Chritianity. On top of that, the language used against Fathers and Nuns have shocked us. We will register an FIR against Ananya Banerjee, demanding her resignation and her arrest,” Nandi was heard saying in the video.
“Tomorrow people of all faiths we will gherao and hold a protest in front of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence. Police can arrest us if they have any objection,” he added.
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said that the party will start a three-day protest in Kolkata from 11 pm to 6 pm against the events in Sandeshkhali.
“We will keep protesting. From February 26, we will hold a 3-day protest, from 11 pm to 6 pm. The protest will also be held in Kolkata for which we have applied for permission. Why has Shahjahan Sheikh (absconding TMC strongman and Sandeshkhali accused) not been arrested yet? Where is he hiding? Mamata Banerjee will have to answer,” Majumdar told reporters on Wednesday in Howrah.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Adhikari said that women in Sandeshkhali informed him that apart from facing physical violence, rape or sexual violence, they have also lost their right to vote since 2011.
“It (the atrocities) is not only restricted to physical violence, rape or sexual violence, they have even lost their right to vote. They said they had last voted in the 2011 Assembly elections,” Adhikari said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The BJP leader was accorded a rousing reception and treated to a petal shower as he arrived in Sandeshkhali, which has been on the boil after hundreds of local women came out on the streets, accusing fugitive TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan and his henchmen of sexual exploitation and excesses. (ANI)
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