Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday tried to shift the responsibility of the Sitalkuchi incident to Mamata Banerjee, claiming that her allegedly inflammatory speech against the central forces had triggered the incident.
Shah, who also tried to play the communal card on the chief minister’s alleged selective mourning for the deceased, demanded her apology for the deaths.
Mamata has held Shah responsible for the incident and demanded his resignation.
Shah on Sunday said the deaths were “very unfortunate” and asserted that Mamata had tarnished the “tradition and culture” of politics in Bengal. “A few days ago, Mamata didi delivered a speech in Sitalkuchi where she asked people to attack the CISF, the CAPF... I want to ask her a direct question... Wasn’t your speech responsible for the death of the four persons? Had you not delivered such a speech, the persons who died would not have dared to attack,” Shah said Nadia.
“It is you who incited people that led to the firing. I hope you would apologise for the inflammatory speech,” he added.
On April 8, Mamata had at a rally in Cooch Behar said that people should “gherao” the central forces personnel if they tried to foment trouble or work in favour of the BJP.
The Election Commission had sought a report from the Cooch Behar district administration after the speech.
The BJP also lodged a complaint with the commission, terming Mamata’s statement against the central force as “seditious” and “anti-national”.
On Sunday, Shah blamed the Trinamul Congress chief for “politicising” the incident.
“Some unidentified persons attacked a polling station yesterday (Saturday). They tried to snatch arms from the personnel. In self-defence, the personnel had to open fire in which four persons died. This is quite an unfortunate incident. But prior to that incident, a person was killed by miscreants in that booth. The motive was to stop polling there. The miscreants attacked the CISF there and tried to loot their arms as well,” Shah said in Nadia’s Santipur.
He accused Mamata of “appeasement politics”, claiming that she wasn’t mourning the first death of a youth called Ananda Burman. “It is quite unfortunate that Mamata didi in her statement expressed condolence only for four persons. But she did not pay any homage to Ananda Burman. Even in death, she continues with her appeasement politics.”
Trinamul’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy rubbished the allegations. “People in Bengal have heard what Mamata Banerjee had said about the loss of five lives, not four, in Sitalkuchi. She mentioned the names of all and expressed her condolence for all. She does not need to learn lessons on political culture from Amit Shah,” Roy said.
He added that his party had demanded the arrest of BJP Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh for his saying that there would be more incidents like Sitalkuchi. He also said that till Sunday evening, 11,700 rallies had been organised by the TMC across the state, condemning the Sitalkuchi killings and demanding Shah's resignation.
The Congress's Bengal unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded immediate arrest of the central force personnel who opened fire in Sitalkuchi.
“It is quite horrible, the way common people were shot. The Election Commission failed to maintain law and order. Now it should at least arrest the personnel who killed those people," Chowdhury said in Basirhat.
Responding to Mamata’s demand for his resignation, Shah atrally in Basirhat South on Sunday said: ‘Didi, when people will ask me, I’ll resign. But you be prepared, on May 2 you’ll have to resign.”
