West Bengal Assembly passes motion on maintenance of communal harmony

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly today passed a motion on the need to maintain communal harmony in the state.
The motion was moved under the rule 185 by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee, leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan and Left Front legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty.
The motion was passed unanimously in the house.
BJP MLA Swadhin Kumar Sarkar was scheduled to speak on this motion but he was not present in the house when this motion was moved in the Assembly.
The BJP has three MLAs in the 294 member Legislative Assembly.
"The country is going through a grave situation. Efforts are being made by the BJP-led central government to destroy the secular fabric of our nation. Since they have failed to deliver their promises, they are trying to create division among the masses," Mannan said while speaking on the motion.

"We feel that time has come. On the issue of communalism, we should all unite and fight against these divisive forces," Mannan said.

Mannan stressed though his party will fight against the policies of the TMC government in the state, his party would join hands with the TMC to fight communal forces.
"But when it comes to fighting communal forces we will stand united. Because the culture and the history of our state and country does not teach us to divide people on communal lines," Mannan said.
State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, while speaking on the motion, questioned why he is subjected to loyalty test when it comes to nationalism and patriotism.

"We are followers of the principles of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Swami Vivekananda. We don't need to learn nationalism and patriotism from the followers of Savarkar. Humanity and human values are much bigger than any religion," he said.
"Our country, our constitution teaches us to respect all religions. I would request everybody present here that let Bengal set a precedence and fight unitedly against the threat of communalism," Hakim said.
Sujan Chakraborty while speaking on the motion, highlighted the achievements of the previous 34-year-old Left Front regime in the state in tackling communal forces in the country.
"We should never let the communal forces spread their wings in Bengal. The divisive forces are trying to decide on what we should eat, what we should wear," he said.

"Who are they to decide it?" he asked.