Several areas in Muslim-majority Murshidabad, including Suti, Dhulian, Jangipur and Shamsherganj, have witnessed violent protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act that spiralled into communal violence, sparking the exodus.
'It was planned in such a manner that it was made to look like a communal incident.'
'People are tense. The morale of the perpetrators of the Kaliachak attack is very high.' 'People there fear that if the arsonists there could burn the police station today, they can burn the courts tomorrow; they will burn the collectorate.'
The situation remained tense but peaceful during the day, amid heavy police deployment in the area.
Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in West Bengal's Malda district on Thursday morning. Sarkar, popularly known as Babla, was shot multiple times from close range by bike-borne assailants at Jhaljhalia More area. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the killing and blamed the callousness of the Malda SP. Two contract killers have been arrested in connection with the murder.
A Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was shot dead and two others, including a local committee president, were critically injured in a gun attack in Malda district, West Bengal, on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the Kaliaganj area when TMC workers were attending a program. Police suspect factionalism within the party could be behind the attack, while senior TMC leaders blame external forces. The killing comes less than a fortnight after the murder of another TMC councillor in the same district, adding to the tension in the area ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections.
'My party men discouraged me from visiting Kaliachak because all kind of people were part of the mob and they feared that someone could shoot at me.' 'Criminals were involved in burning the police station and then attacking Baliadanga to give it a communal colour.'
A three-member fact-finding team of the Bharatiya Janata Party, that was going to visit the violence-hit areas of Malda district in West Bengal, was detained at the Malda railway station.
India's Muslims need to assert their educational and economic upliftment and political empowerment rather than be provoked by communal remarks, says Mohammad Sajjad, reflecting on the Malda riot.
The Malda riots occurred on January 3, a day after the Pathankot terror attack. Common sense must dictate that an attack on the nation deserves more coverage than a local riot, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
India on Saturday 'strongly pressed' the Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire in Sumy to ensure a safe passage for around 700 Indian students stuck there as it keeps focus on their evacuation from the war-hit city in eastern Ukraine.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare A H Khan Chowdhury was allegedly attacked during a Congress rally at Kaliachak in West Bengal's Malda district on Tuesday.
A member of the delegation said the home ministry is likely to send a team to the area.
In areas bordering Bangladesh, some have received strikingly high deposits in Jan Dhan accounts, said sources.
Mamata Banerjee said availability of land won't be a problem in Bengal as the state government has a land bank.
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