Left to resist attempts to disrupt harmony during BJP's rath yatra

CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra on Wednesday said the Left Front will resist any attempt to disrupt communal harmony in West Bengal during BJP's three 'rath yatras' in the state in December.

The BJP has plans to organise three rath yartas in the state in the last month of this year.

"If there is any attempt to instigate people, if there is an attempt to engineer riots during the 'rath yatras' organised by the BJP, the Left parties will not sit idle.

"There will be fierce resistance from the secular and democratic people of the country. We have not forgotten the memory of the BJP Rath Yatra in 1990, led by the then BJP president L K Advani," Mishra said at a rally organised by the BPMO (Bengal Platform of Mass Organisation) floated by various Left organisations.

Describing the BJP and the Trinamool Congress as the two sides of the same coin, he called upon all "democratic forces to fight the fascist TMC in West Bengal and the fascist BJP at the Centre".

Mishra said the ruling dispensations at the state and the Centre were "taking away the rights of common people and have imposed undeclared emergency".

He described "Narendra Modi as the head and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the tail of the same coin at Centre and vice-versa in the state".

Referring to the clash in Islampur where two youths died over appointment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers in a high school, the CPI(M) leader said the students of the school were greeted with bullets. "The chief minister who was away in Milan (Italy) had issued a statement saying that the firing was carried out by outsiders," Mishra said.

"We are not against recruiting Urdu and Sanskrit teachers. But if the students ask for Bengali teachers should that not be paid heed to? And if outsiders had indeed opened fire, why could not the police arrest any one till date.

"This shows the CM can only try to divert attention from a raging issue and suppress facts," he said.

Mishra questioned the violence over formation of boards in panchayats and asked why the TMC was yet to decide the name of the 'sabhadipatis'.

Coming down heavily on Banerjee, the CPI(M) leader said after coming to power, she had said 10,000 madrasas will get approval.

"But The number of government approved madrasas remain 235, all of which had been approved during the Left Front regime," he said, adding that this shows Banerjee's "overtures to minorities were hollow".

About the condition of farmers, Mishra said while the TMC government claimed their incomes have increased three-fold, it cannot cite one example in this regard.

On the blast at Nagerbazar in the city, Mishra told reporters that the CPI(M) wanted an impartial probe under court supervision.

"We do not believe in the CID or SIT formed by the state government, neither do we believe in CBI as it is under the Centre. The Nagerbazar probe should be conducted under court supervision," he said.

"How could so many explosives be stockpiled at a place?...The state government seems to be least bothered despite so many tragedies taking place in the state," he said.

Referring to the incident of Majerhat bridge collapse last month, he asked, "If the CM blames the PWD department, how come she absolves the PWD minister of the responsibilities? Why doesn't she fire the (PWD) minister?"
Speaking on the Medical College fire, Bose said, "While fires may break out anywhere in the world, the successive fire incidents in our city have thrown up certain facts of mismanagement and failure."