The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) held nationwide protests on Saturday in response to recent communal violence in Murshidabad, West Bengal, sparked by amendments to the Waqf law. The VHP has demanded the immediate imposition of President’s Rule in the state, citing a breakdown of law and order. The protests took place in various locations, including Murshidabad, Delhi, and Noida. The violence, which occurred last week, resulted in at least three deaths.
In Delhi’s Nangloi Chowk, VHP general secretary Bajrang Bagda led a demonstration condemning the violence in West Bengal. He accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of inciting the violence and claimed that when representatives from the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women attempted to visit Murshidabad, police blocked their entry and detained Hindus to prevent them from presenting their case.
Bagda further emphasized that President’s Rule was necessary to ensure the safety of Hindus in the state, arguing that the TMC government’s politics of Muslim appeasement had led to a collapse of law and order. In Noida, VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal led another protest, accusing the TMC of systematically oppressing Hindus in collaboration with Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators.
Bansal also stated that the violence in Murshidabad was part of a larger pattern of Hindu oppression under the TMC government. He called for immediate measures, including the fencing of borders in West Bengal, compensation for the victims of the violence, and a halt to land grabbing under the guise of Waqf. Additionally, Bansal demanded that authorities identify and deport Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators and take strict action against those responsible for the violence.
The VHP also expressed concern over the forced displacement of Hindu families in Murshidabad, with reports indicating that around 500 families had to flee their homes, seeking refuge in a school in Malda. The group has called for an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the events and a formal request to the President of India for intervention in what they described as a volatile situation in West Bengal.
