No communal violence in Bengal under TMC rule: Governor

Crediting the Mamata Banerjee government with bringing all-round peace and development in West Bengal, Governor K.N. Tripathi on Thursday said no communal incident occurred in the state under the Trinamool Congress rule.

"The state has remained free from political disruptions during the last five years compared with the preceding five years. No incident of communal violence has been reported. All communities are living together in peace and harmony," Tripathi said in his address at the beginning of the 19th session of the assembly.

Incidentally, according to union home ministry records, at least 77 communal incidents were recorded in Bengal from 2012 to 2015 in which 20 people were killed.

As per details given by union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju in July last in the Lok Sabha, Bengal recorded 23 communal incidents in 2012 in which nine people were killed; in 2013, 24 such incidents were recorded in which one person died; and in 2014, six people were killed in 16 communal incidents.

Between January and July 2015, 14 incidents of communal violence were recorded in which four people were killed and 68 others injured.

Pointing to police infrastructural development, including setting up of 83 new police stations and five new police commissionerates, Tripathi said the crime rate in West Bengal had decreased by 60 percent during 2011-2014.

Tripathi also credited the Banerjee government for establishing peace in Jangalmahal- the Left Wing Extremism-affected areas of the state, which comprise the forested stretches of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts.

"In Jangalmahal, 404 civilians and 48 police personnel were killed in 2009 and 2010. However, during the last three years, no such incident has taken place there," said the governor.