West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the current situation of the country was grim and politics of isolation was going on. “The situation in the country is grim… The policy of divide and rule is not correct. The politics of isolation going on is also not correct,” she told at a gathering that observed Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at Kolkata’s Red Road.

 There were some “jealous people who create division among Hindus and Muslims”, and in the days to come “we will have to fight against forces that divide the country”.  While she did not name the BJP, she made references to the party’s electoral promise of “acche din [good days]“.  The Trinamool Congress chairperson assured the gathering that she would try to realise “real achhe din, not the “jhootha achhe din” (fake good days).

West Bengal presented an ideal example of unity between communities and would show the way for the rest of the country . “Be happy and have faith in me. I promise today till I am alive, I will fight for the cause of the people, whether they are Muslims or Hindus or Sikhs or Jains,” she asserted. She was aware of the nitty-gritty of festivals of the Muslim community and had written six books in Urdu, she pointed out. Referring to the names of Ministers in her Cabinet who were from the minority community, she stated that she wanted to take everyone along.  She urged the members of the minority community to emphasise on the education of children so that they could become IAS and IPS officers.

After the Eid prayers, the Chief Minister, along with party’s general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, visited the residence of Rizwanur Rehman, a 30-year-old computer graphics teacher in Kolkata, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances during the Left Front rule in September 2007.  Rizwan was pressured by the police and local politicians after marrying a daughter of a well-known Kolkata industrialist, and Ms. Banerjee, then in Opposition, had hit the streets demanding a CBI probe into the death.

Salim visits Anish Khan’s family

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Md. Salim, during the day, visited the residence of deceased student leader Anish Khan. A former SFI activist, Khan was found dead on February 19, 2022 and the family has been alleging that policemen barged inside the house and threw him out of the second storey house.

Mr. Salim said that from the start of a special investigation team (SIT) probe in the matter, he was convinced that the probe was an attempt to suppress the truth rather than unravelling it.

Salem Khan, father of the student, thanked the CPI(M) leadership for being with the family and reiterated that he wanted the CBI to probe his son’s death.

The matter is sub judice and the SIT has submitted a report to the Calcutta High Court.  

Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who is representing the family before the court, had submitted that the circumstances under which the death is considered “non-homicidal is extremely suspicious and ridiculous”.