Newslist

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has slammed the West Bengal government once again, accusing it of “doing nothing” to stop atrocities against women of Sandeshkhali in Bengal.The Home Minister was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the imposition of President’s rule in Manipur. His statement on Bengal was in a direct response to TMC MP Derek O’Brien’s remarks on violence against women in Manipur.

Amit Shah Slams Derek

Shah accused the opposition of selective outrage and politicising sensitive issues. He said, “I did not want to do politics on such a sensitive issue, but I am surprised at the way the opposition has spoken after so much violence in the last two years, I am surprised here that Derek O Brien ji got a little emotional on the condition of woman.”The Home Minister added, “Derek Sir, here there was caste violence, both communities clashed in a face to face, in this many woman were mistreated. There was nothing in Bengal, for years hundreds of sisters were mistreated in the middle of the night, your government did nothing, did nothing. Nothing was done in RG car also. You cannot answer to the misbehavior that was done by a leader of your party, whom then you had to suspend.”

Calls for Restraint

On the issue of Manipur, Shah said “Sir, these were all ethnic conflicts which sometimes took 5 years, 2.5 years, sometimes 7 months and each time hundreds of people were killed, but I can check the records and tell you that BJP members did not do this thing of trying to politicize the issue. Sir everyone had said that we have sympathy for Manipur, there should be peace. In this way by making political taunts, they have rubbed salt on the wounds of Manipur.”

Shah Defends President's Rule

Commenting on the President Rule that was imposed in Manipur Amit Shah clarified “We did not impose the President's Rule (Manipur) to fall the government, like Congress used to do. On February 11, the CM resigned, and everyone claimed it was because Congress was going to bring the No Confidence Motion. I want to clarify that there was no No-Confidence motion against that government because Congress did not have enough members to bring such a motion. After the resignation, no party proposed a government, and in that situation, it was decided that a President's Rule would be imposed. There had been no violence for months before the resignation and till today. A myth should not be created that the President's Rule was imposed because we were unable to handle the situation.”

Congress Era in Manipur: Shah’s Take

Drawing a contrast with the previous Congress government in the state, Shah said “Seven years ago, the Congress government was there in Manipur... There was a curfew for 225 days a year... 1500 people were killed in encounters... There is a difference between racial violence and naxalism, and the ways to tackle both of them are different... Violence between two communities is different from the violence against the state.”