PTI, KOLKATA, APRIL 13, 2025 : As photographs and videos of people purportedly from violence-hit Murshidabad district in West Bengal surfaced on social media, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday cried conspiracy, claiming those visuals were fake, while the opposition BJP alleged that people are fleeing as “religious persecution is real” in the state.
At least three people were killed, several others injured, and a number of shops torched after protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent in Suti and Samserganj blocks of Murshidabad district. Hundreds of people have reportedly started fleeing those areas since the violence began on Friday.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose and party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that the BJP is flooding the internet with fake photos and videos of violence and arson, passing them off as incidents in West Bengal. Sharing a post of the state BJP containing photographs depicting violence during nine Hindu festivals “in West Bengal,” Ghose claimed in an X post that none of those incidents happened in the state, and listed the actual locations where they occurred.
“This is BJP’s campaign of lies, communal polarisation, and politics of incitement,” she alleged and urged the police to take necessary action. Ghose added, “The violence in Murshidabad has been deeply unfortunate. The Bengal government is clear—no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands, and violence will be met with strict punishment, irrespective of the community or religious identity of the perpetrators. However, the BJP, at the moment, is engaging in the politics of religious polarisation and incitement.”
According to Kunal Ghosh, the photographs in question depicted unrelated incidents that occurred in places like Assam, Lucknow, Jalandhar, and Karnataka. “Political parties that cannot win democratically are indulging in such plots to disturb peace,” he said, further alleging that the BJP was misusing central agencies to amplify unrest.
The TMC leaders’ remarks came in response to BJP’s accusations that radical elements have been emboldened under the TMC’s rule, leading to targeted attacks on Hindus in Murshidabad. “More than 400 Hindus from Dhulian, Murshidabad, driven by fear of religiously driven bigots, were forced to flee across the river and take shelter at Par Lalpur High School, Deonapur-Sovapur GP, Baisnabnagar, Malda. Religious persecution in Bengal is real,” West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said in a post on X.
“Appeasement politics of TMC has emboldened radical elements. Hindus are being hunted; our people are running for their lives in their own land! Shame on the state government for allowing this breakdown of law and order,” he added, urging the Central Paramilitary Forces deployed in Murshidabad, along with the state police and district administration, to ensure the safe return of the displaced people.
Holding that it cannot turn a blind eye to reports of vandalism in parts of West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court on Saturday ordered the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Murshidabad district. A special bench comprising Justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury was constituted by the Chief Justice to urgently hear a petition filed by Suvendu Adhikari seeking the deployment of central forces in the district.
BJP West Bengal state president Sukanta Majumdar, alleging that a particular community was being targeted by the protesters, claimed on Saturday that internet and other communication systems had been suspended in the affected areas, leaving the victims of violence without any means to convey their plight. He also questioned the connection between the opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Act and the alleged targeting of homes, vehicles, and shops belonging to a specific section of people.
Several vehicles, including police vans, were set on fire; shops and houses were vandalised; stones were hurled at security forces; and roads were blocked as violence rocked the district on Friday, officials said.
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have been imposed in the violence-hit areas, and the internet has been suspended. Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have also been deployed in strife-hit areas including Suti, Dhulian, and Samserganj in Murshidabad. Police have arrested over 150 people in connection with the violence.
