Rijiju blames Mamata for violence as pleas seek court-monitored probe
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the anti-Waqf (Amendment) Act was not aimed at the Muslim community but was intended to correct “past mistakes” as he accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “inciting violence” in her state through her opposition to the implementation of the law.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath went a step further, saying “stick” was the only way to deal with rioters as he slammed Mamata for her “silence” while “Bengal is burning”.
Amid fresh incidents of violence in West Bengal, two petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking probe into the violence against Hindus in the state. While the first plea filed by advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha sought a court-monitored probe into violent incidents, the second by advocate Vishal Tiwari demanded a five-member judicial inquiry commission headed by a former SC judge to be set up to investigate the violence.
Rijiju, addressing mediapersons in Kochi, said the state government’s intention was to ensure that, in India, there was no provision for anyone to “forcibly and unilaterally” take away someone else’s land.
The Union Minister of Minority Affairs was in Kerala to meet residents of Christian-dominated Munambam village in Ernakulam district who had supported the amendment to the Waqf law.
Rijiju said the Waqf law was amended as certain provisions in it gave “unprecedented power and authority to the Waqf Boards”. “This is not targeted at Muslim community. It is to correct mistakes of the past and provide justice to the people,” he said.
Replying to a query on violence in various parts of West Bengal against the Act, Rijiju blamed Mamata, saying: “The CM is visibly inciting violence by asking people to protest and saying that she will not follow the law passed by Parliament.”
He questioned Mamata’s assertion that she would not implement the amended Act passed by Parliament. “How? How can she say she will not implement it? She is sitting in a constitutional position and the law is passed by a constitutional body,” he added.
Speaking at an event in Hardoi, Yogi Adityanath said: “You all can see how Bengal is burning but the CM is silent. She even calls the rioters messengers of peace. They have given a complete free hand to the rioters in the name of secularism.”
Adityanath said stick was the only treatment for rioters, as “laton ke bhoot baaton se kahan manne wale hain (those who respond only to thrashing don’t understand words)”.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police on Tuesday arrested two brothers for their alleged involvement in the murder of a man and his son during communal violence in Murshidabad district. With this, 221 persons have been apprehended so far.
Waqf pleas in SC today
The SC will hear on Wednesday a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. A PIL was filed in the SC on Tuesday seeking exclusion of Hindus from the purview of the present Act of 1995.
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