Creating controversy has been an old habit of BJP state president Dilip Ghosh. At a public meeting in West Bengal’s Nadia district speaking about public property being destroyed in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, he said, “Who do they think the public property that they are destroying belongs to? Their father? Public property belongs to the taxpayers. You (Mamata) do not say anything because they are your voters. In Assam and Uttar Pradesh, our government has shot these people like dogs.”
He also rebuked West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for “not opening fire and ordering lathi charge” on those who destroyed railway property and public transport in the state during the anti-CAA protests and said, “The government of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka did the right thing by opening fire on these anti-national elements.”
ANI reported of him talking about protestors who allegedly destroyed public property as saying, “You will come here, eat our food, stay here and damage public property. Is it your zamindari? We will bash you with lathis, shoot you and put you in jail.”
Dilip Ghosh, West Bengal BJP President: Didi’s (Mamata Banerjee) police didn’t take action against the people who destroyed public properties as they are her voters. Our govt in UP, Assam and Karnataka has shot these people like dogs. (12.1.2020) pic.twitter.com/iJegmRHXpx
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2020
He also said that there were two crore “Muslim infiltrators” in the country, whom Mamata Banerjee was protecting and called for identifying those “sabotaging the interests” of Hindu Bengalis.
It’s not just Dilip Ghosh, but a lot of other BJP leaders too have made inflammatory comments against protestors in the wake of the anti-CAA protests. For example, BJP Leader Kapil Mishra has made comments asking people to “shoot the traitors” and BJP UP Minister Raghuraj Singh saying that he will “bury alive the anti-CAA protestors of AMU”.
With such comments increasingly coming in from the ruling party’s leadership, it is evident who is trying to make a constitutional issue a communal one.