Malda violence: Nitish backs Mamata, calls for communal harmony

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday backed his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in wake of the Malda incident and said he believed that the TMC boss was supportive of communal harmony.

“It is an incident of Bengal, I am working in Bihar. It is difficult for me to know in depth the details of all that is happening around the world. But I think there should be communal harmony everywhere and I think Mamata ji is also a woman who holds similar views,” he said.

Violence broke out in Kaliachawk last week when some Muslim groups called a meeting to protest certain remarks allegedly made by a Hindu leader in Uttar Pradesh about the Prophet. The BSF vehicles were set on fire when the security forces tried to intervene.

Several vehicles on the national highway were set on fire by the angry protestors, who also attacked the Kaliachawk Police Station.

Banerjee claimed that the incident was not that of communal violence, to which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted strongly and accused her of trying to play vote-bank politics. They also accused the TMC chief of protecting her party goons involved in the smuggling of fake currency and drugs. (ANI)