The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday slammed the INDIA block and the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal after two students from Bihar, who had gone to West Bengal for a SSC exam, were allegedly assaulted by a group of men in Siliguri. WB police have said that two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla questioned the law and order situation in West Bengal, asking if it is prohibited for any Indian to go to any state?
Poonawalla said, ” The people who make huge statements regarding the Constitution, who carry out the Bharat Jodo Yatra should answer if it is prohibited for any Indian to go to any state? “
“The (West Bengal) state government should take appropriate action but the question is, has Tejashwi Yadav spoken anything against the politics of addressing Indians as ‘Baharis’ in some states? The ‘Yuvraj’ of Congress bifurcates between outsiders and locals… DMK leaders insult the people of UP and Bihar, such an incident takes place in a TMC-ruled state, and Tejashwi Yadav is in alliance with them…,” Poonawalla added.
Poonawalla attacked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over his silence on the incident, “Tejashwi Yadav, who went to Bengal and campaigned with Mamata Banerjee, should answer what the government of West Bengal is doing… The West Bengal calls the people of UP-Bihar as ‘Bahari’ (outsiders)…”
Meanwhile, Siliguri Police have said that two persons have been arrested for allegedly threatening and heckling two CISF job aspirants from Bihar.
The police said two persons, identified as Rajat Bhattacharya and Giridhari Roy, were arrested on the charge of harassment, intimidation and assault on two persons from Bihar.
Earlier on Thursday, Union Minister Giriraj Singh criticized the West Bengal government over the incident. “Red carpet for Rohingya Muslims in Bengal and Bihar kid beaten up for taking exam? Are these children not part of India? Has Mamata government taken the contract of only saving rapists?, Singh posted on X.
Sharing the viral video of the alleged incident, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if it a crime to take an exam in West Bengal?
“The news of brutal assault on Bihari students in West Bengal is very unfortunate and condemnable. The Chief Minister of that state has once again insulted the Biharis, which cannot be tolerated at all. I want to ask Mamata Banerjee ji, is it a crime to take an exam in West Bengal? Will the opposition party leaders still remain silent? I want to ask the Leader of Opposition of Bihar, on what basis will you support the Trinamool Congress now. I request the Honorable Chief Minister Shri @NitishKumar ji to get the matter thoroughly investigated and take legal action against the culprits.” Paswan posted in Hindi.
In the viral video, two students can be seen sleeping in a room when a group of miscreants enter the room and ask the students where they are from. One student replies that he is from Bihar and is there to take an exam. Then they ask whether they could understand Bengali. When a student replied that they couldn’t, the miscreants began questioning them aggressively. The man questioned how he was allowed to sit for the exam if he is not a resident of Bengal. When one of the students attempted to explain that they had been assigned to the Siliguri exam center, he was repeatedly asked to show his domicile certificate. The students were forced to do the up-and-down punishments while holding their ears.