Mamata Banerjee on Monday said nobody should think India would sit about having a lollipop when external forces attempted to occupy the country’s territory as she jeered at remarks by a section of politicians in Bangladeshi that Bengal, Bihar and Odisha belonged to the neighbouring nation.

“You will occupy Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and we will sit sucking on lollipops? None of you has that kind of himmat (audacity),” said the Bengal chief minister to table-thumping applause and uproarious laughter from the Treasury benches in the Assembly, where she brought up Bangladesh for the fourth time in 12 days (once on November 28 and twice on December 2, before Monday).

She was responding to incendiary remarks from across the border that Bangladesh had rights over what used to be the sultanate or subah of Bengal (extending in the 18th century from Bihar’s Hajipur in the west to Myanmar’s Mrauk U in the east) for centuries till British colonisation of south Asia and the Partition in 1947.

Mocking those making such statements now, Mamata said: “Stay calm, stay healthy… may you find peace.”

The Trinamul Congress chairperson was trying yet again to blunt the BJP’s bellicose attempts to maximise electoral gains here from such statements by leaders there.

“Those thinking of politicising this should remember that it will eventually hurt your states too, and your friends there,” said Mamata, after appealing to — without attempting to conceal her displeasure with — a section of the media in Bengal regarding their inflammatory coverage of the Bangladesh situation.

“This is not Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan that we will ban you or have you arrested…. I humbly request you. A lot of misinformation, disinformation, fake videos are in circulation,” she said. “A certain political party is responsible, trying to start a fire. I appeal to everyone, they must stay wary.”

Mamata once again condemned the alleged torture of minorities in Bangladesh and asserted that no particular religion perpetrated such crimes, only a handful of anti-social elements therein, calling them a “burden on society”.

“I am thankful that while on one hand, Hindus are protesting, on the other hand, imams (and muezzins) also held a press conference (in Calcutta on Sunday) to unequivocally and vehemently condemn the atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh. They spoke in favour of the safety and security of the minorities there,” said the chief minister.

“This just goes to show that Bengal is first when it comes to being an example of secularism. Many minority groups here said they wanted to hold protest marches condemning what is going on in Bangladesh,” she added.

The Trinamul chief said many from Bangladesh are keen to cross into Bengal, given the current situation there, hoping that the BSF and their bosses were watching.

“Those with a lot of money have been arriving via planes or trains, but the poor are unable to do so. We don’t control the borders. Let them (the Centre) figure it out,” she said.

“We have no connection with the politics of Bangladesh, they are a separate nation. We don’t wish to comment on their kind of politics. But here, we diligently adhere to and respect secularism, democracy, and our Constitution,” added the chief minister.