TMC 'unnecessarily targeted in Parliament' over law and order situation in West Bengal, claims party; cites 'many instances of violence' in other states

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday said that West Bengal was being unnecessarily targeted in the Parliament despite many instances of violence taking place in other states. “We note, with surprise and worry, that the Parliament of India is increasingly being converted into a forum to discuss the law and order issues of West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh and some other states are witnessing spates of uncontrolled violence, West Bengal is being chosen for discussion,” said the TMC in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_6810241” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. PTI[/caption] It went on to add that the state government led by TMC was carrying out its duty to maintain law and order situation in West Bengal and while a few sporadic incidents might have taken place were being dealt with as per the law. “As is well known. Law and order is a state subject in the Constitution of India. It is for the government of West Bengal to discharge this constitutionally mandated function. While a few sporadic and isolated incidents happened in the state during and after the Lok Sabha elections, the state government has been handling these situations as per law.” “During the Lok Sabha elections, the law and order machinery was under the Election Commission of India in any case. Be that as it may, the state government is aware of its obligations and is discharging those obligations efficiently,” read the statement. “Also, more often than not, the Government of India is pushing its own obligations to the State. Managing borders, checking infiltrations through the border, etc., are responsibilities of Central agencies like BSF, SSB, CISF, SIB, Coast Guard, Customs, etc. There is a tendency to blame the state government for activities of the Central agencies. However, the Government of West Bengal is also pro-active in its supportive role,” it added. The statement added that there was a “communitarian” bias to the discourses taking place with regard to the state. “We also note with concern the over-generalised and communitarian bias of the discourses. To presume that all the Madrasas are preaching extremism or are taking resort to rhetorics of communal militancy is a misleading and dangerous presumption. Our discourses in the Parliament should be more nuanced, sensitive and truthful,” added the statement. “To summarise, the Parliament and the Government of India should avoid politicised discussions with a focus on only one State, and should desist from a fallacious communitarian bias inherent in some sweeping generalisations,” TMC further said in the statement.