Prophet Controversy: Tension Prevails in Howrah, Murshidabad Districts of West Bengal

Kolkata: Different parts of the state have continued to witness protests and violence in the wake of the controversial comments on Propjet Muhammad by now-suspended and expelled BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal respectively. Vehicles were reportedly torched by protesters in Howrah, while the office of the sub-divisional officer was also attacked. People took to the streets in the Park Circus area of Kolkata as well.

Following the protests in Howrah on Friday, Section 144 of CrPc has been clamped in some areas and internet services have been suspended. Internet services were suspended in Beldanga, Rejinagar, and Shaktipur police station areas of the Murshidabad district as well.

Amina Khatun, 39, who is a teacher at an English-medium school and a resident of South Kolkata, told NewsClick, “There prevails competitive communalism between the state and the Centre. Today’s politics revolves around religion. This communal politics is only a smokescreen to veil important issues such as inflation.”

“All religions need to be respected and all religious leaders revered. Strict action should be taken against those who are trying to instil tension by defaming a religion. The protesters who are resorting to violence should be booked, but attention also needs to be paid to the reason for eliciting such violence. The minorities are being actively targeted by the BJP-led government and when they retaliate, people raise eyebrows,” she opined.

A Muslim religious leader, Kamruzzaman, while speaking to NewsClick, asserted that Sharma’s statement can not be separated from the BJP’s agenda. “She was the national spokesperson after all. The spokespersons are supposed to be the face of the part and represent the party’s political line,” he said.

“Till the time the Arab world did not protest against it, there was no condemnation or any action from the president of the party, the PM, or the home minister. The action that followed later was simply an eyewash. The BJP has been encouraging hate politics. To let its promise of ‘achche din’ materialise, it needs to discard its bulldozer politics that targets the minorities,” he added.

He also felt that the protests should be allowed continue, but without any road blockade. “We have urged all Muslims that their protests should not bring any distress to the people. But the movement will go on until the prime minister takes responsibility for the comment of his party spokesperson,” said Kamruzzaman.

Faridul Choudhury, a high school mathematics teacher, echoed the view that the comments such as Sharma’s are unwarranted – especially when people are facing “one of the worst economic crises”. 

“I am a Muslim by birth, but I would want to note that 2,000 years ago, when there was no organised religion, people lived more harmoniously. It is shameful that religion nowadays supersedes governance. This has been a more pronounced phenomenon since 2014,” he said.

CM rakes up controversy

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has raked up a controversy in the state, saying that those who want to protest on the issue should go to Delhi for protesting.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday in Kolkata, CPI(M) state secretary MD Salim condemned the Nupur Sharma incident and the fact that West Bengal Cm took more than two days to respond to the controversy.

Criticising the urban-centric mentality of the media and the governance in the state, he said that as long as the wave of protests had not hit the national highways or entered the  Howrah district, the media or the government did nothing about it.

Referring to the CM’s comments, he also said that the CM is banning protests in the state and is displaying islamophobia.

“Why should the people from the state go to Delhi to protest? If we stay in West Bengal, is it forbidden to say anything against the BJP government at the Centre?”  Md Salim questioned.