BJP national president Amit Shah, who is on a three-day visit to the state, today accused West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress of unleashing violence against BJP workers in the state and urged human rights organisations to speak against it.
"Today, I met the family members of the victims of political violence in Bengal in the last six months... All this happened because they did not support the ideology of the ruling Trinamool Congress," Shah said.
"I want to ask the people here -- is this Rabindranath Tagore's Bengal? Is this Swami Vivekananda's Bengal? No one has the freedom to play a part in any political party other than the Trianmool Congress," he said.
This kind of violence was perhaps not seen anywhere else, the BJP president said.
Several people were killed, many injured and their property destroyed, he alleged, targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led government in the state.
The BJP chief said development could not take place in Bengal under such circumstances.
He urged human rights organisations to report political violence against BJP workers in the state.
Human rights champions should report on Bengal violence
Taking a dig at human rights "champions", Amit Shah today asked them to come out of Delhi and report the "violence" perpetrated on his party activists in West Bengal by the ruling Trinamool Congress.
"I would like to appeal to human rights champions across the world, that whenever and wherever something happens, for hours the voice of human rights (activists) are heard. They should take some time out, and report the political violence in Kolkata, Basirhat and Birbhum," Shah told mediapersons here after meeting victims of alleged political violence in the state.
Describing the scale of violence as unmatched in the world, the Bharatiya Janata Party chief said his party leaders and workers were being murdered, "their limbs were being broken, and their houses and shops set on fire".
"Are these not human rights violations? Just because someone is attached to a political party, someone's husband or brother or father is murdered. Is this not human rights violation," he asked.
Shah hoped his voice would reach the "human rights champions".
"I hope my voice will reach the human rights champions, and they will come out of the lanes and by lanes of Delhi, visit the far-flung remote areas of Bengal, and try to bring these incidents to the notice of the world outside."
Shah tells Bengal BJP workers: Spread awareness about PM's schemes
Amit Shah on Tuesday asked the West Bengal party leadership to work towards spreading awareness about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental schemes at the grassroots level in the state, a senior party leader said. "Amitji has asked us to spread the news and benefits of PM's developmental works. He said every person...in cities and far off villages in Bengal should get the benefits of Modiji's wave of development," BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha said on the sidelines of the party workers meeting at the ICCR.
"He also asked the party activists to intensify the party's booth-level engagement programme in the state," Sinha said.
According to the state BJP leader, the party president met 100 victims of the Trinamool's political violence and expressed his concern about the current situation in the state. "Amitji met the victims today and heard their grievances. He felt sorry about their situation as nowhere else in the country political violence of such magnitude is witnessed," Sinha added.
