KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Monday extended Navratri wishes during her customary Eid speech while warning “red and saffron” politicians against using festivals as an excuse to foment riots.
“Their only plan is to incite riots and our only motto is to stop riots. They will flee on their own if we stop riots. Do not fall in their trap if you want to drive them away,” Mamata said during her Red Road Eid Namaz address.
The CM alleged communal riots would be used as a pretext to impose central rule in Bengal. “Today is Eid.Navratri is also going on and we extend our wishes.Common people do not indulge in riots, political parties do. The red party (Left) used to talk big about secularism. Now red and saffron (BJP) have become one. But let them be,” Mamata said.
The CM asserted it was the majority’s duty to protect the minority, and the latter’s to stay together (with majority). “This is our tradition,” she said. She said that she would not let anyone distort the country’s secular ideology.
