January 11, 2016
Malda: Trinamool Congress issues statement
Statement issued by Derek O’Brien, Chief National Spokesperson:
1. The situation in Kaliachak, Malda was tense, but never got out of hand. The police handled the issue tactfully. Thankfully, no deaths occurred, no injuries and 10 people have been arrested.
2. This was a ‘criminal issue’ but the BJP/RSS, as is their strategy, tried to turn it into a ‘communal issue’. They did this by trending hashtags on Twitter, sharing year-old photographs and posting irresponsible tweets with the help of their social media ‘army’.
3. The BJP/RSS were trying for the last one week to present, what I call, CIN 100: Communally Insensitive Narrative, 100 days before the State goes to polls. They follow the same tactic in all election-bound States.
4. The BJP team did not come here this morning for a ‘fact finding mission’. They came here for a ‘fuel the communal tension’ mission.
5. We now hear that this morning the leaders were now stating this was opium/fake currency issue. We have been saying all along this is a sensitive issue in a border town and not a communal issue.
6. Trinamool believes in working for people irrespective of community, caste or creed. Our track record of development for the last five years, across sectors, is there for all to see. Our focus is on development.
