Mountains being made of molehills to discredit Bengal: Mamata

In the wake of a raging controversy over the alleged violent police crackdown on agitating Jadavpur University students, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said "mountains are being made of molehills" to discredit her government.

Many students of the university were hospitalised after police allegedly beat them up early Wednesday for laying siege to the vice chancellor's office seeking a fresh inquiry into the purported sexual harassment of a female student on the campus last month.

The crackdown has been widely condemned with students and political parties demanding the removal of vice chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarty.

"I urge that if you face any problems, then call the police. Do not take law into your hands. While people are doing a god job, there are efforts to discredit Bengal and give it a bad name.

"These days, petty matters are being highlighted. Mountains are being made of a molehill, efforts are made to incite riots," Banerjee said during a programme here.

Banerjee's comments were slammed by political rivals.

"She has not said anything new. Ever since she came to power, she has been trivialising things to shirk responsibility. When the entire country is outraged over the violent crackdown, how can the chief minister claim it to be a petty matter," CPI-M parliamentarian Mohammad Salim said.

"Be it the Park Street rape or her party leader calling for bombing police, everything has been a petty matter for the chief minister.

"If the police assault on the Jadavpur students is a petty matter, then let her apprise the people of Bengal what is a big matter for her. May be one day she will call the Saradha scam a trivial issue," state BJP president Rahul Sinha said.

State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too slammed Banerjee for the comments.