Mamata Banerjee: Centre maligning Bengal over madrassas

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP-led Centre of maligning the West Bengal government over the madrassa issue.
The Centre, she told the assembly, was pursuing a “political agenda” and accused it of placing misleading reports in Parliament on madrassas being used for radicalisation and recruitment in two districts of Bengal. Instead of going with the report given by the state on the issue, the Centre placed a “report of its own in Parliament”, Banerjee said.
The CM’s reaction came days after the Union home ministry on July 2 said banned terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh was using some madrassas in Burdwan and Murshidabad for radicalization and recruitment.
Answering a question by TMC MLA Nargis Begum, the CM said: “On June 28, GOI (Government of India) asked us whether madrassas are terror camps. We replied that such questions don’t arise. How can they ignore our version and include their version? I am sorry to say the ruling party at the Centre, BJP, is maligning the state government. This is maligning an entire community.”
The CM further said the Centre was trying to discriminate against people on the basis of religion. “A terrorist is a terrorist and he or she cannot have any religion. So one should not try to term someone a terrorist on the basis of his or her religion,” Banerjee said.
She added that there was no freedom of press in the country, and her party was planning to bring a bill to protect mediapersons.
The CM also strongly protested the Centre’s refusal to change the state’s name to Bangla. “The resolution was passed in the assembly. Whatever clarification was required from us, we clarified. Still, they have not cleared this,” she said. Banerjee added that “Bangla language is the fifth largest spoken language in the world”.