Kolkata: BJP has repeatedly attacked Trinamool Congress (TMC) for its ‘appeasement politics.’
As a top leader of West Bengal’s ruling party triggered a fresh controversy with another controversial remark, the saffron party wasted no time in pouncing on Mamata Banerjee-helmed TMC.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, the Urban Development & Municipal Affairs in the state Cabinet and also a close aide of the chief minister, said recently that those who are not born into Islam are unfortunate and should be given ‘dawat’ (invitation) to convert to give ‘iman’ (faith, recognition) and please Allah.
“Those who are not born in Islam are unfortunate! They are born with misfortune. We have to invite them and bring them under the fold of Islam,” Firhad said during the ‘All India Quran Competition’ held at Kolkata on July 3.
“We need to spread Islam among non-Muslims. If we can bring someone on the path of Islam, then, we will prove to be true Muslims,” Firhad added.
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya said the Mayor’s statement is an open acknowledgment of TMC’s ‘underlying agenda’.
“The TMC’s penchant for extreme appeasement politics in West Bengal is an open secret. The party’s relentless appeasement politics has paid off, as evident from the successive electoral victories and subsequent post poll violence, which have emboldened the TMC, making it more audacious and haughty than ever. The brazen act of publicly flogging a woman by TMC’s JCB in a manner akin to Sharia Court punishment and the reprehensible defense by TMC’s Chopra MLA, Hamidur Rahman, asserting such actions are typical in a ‘Muslim Rashtra,’ have already incited a political maelstrom and bears the testament to the TMC’s ‘underlying agenda’,” Malviya wrote on X along with a video clip of Hakim’s controversial speech.
“Now, TMC heavyweight and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim openly acknowledged this ‘underlying agenda’, by brazenly advocating the conversion of ‘ill-fated non-Muslims’ to Islam to ostensibly please ‘Allah’. These flagrant incidents portend an ominous future, where the TMC’s policy of appeasement will intensify, heralding a day not far off when West Bengal is wholly converted into a ‘Muslim Rashtra’ under ‘Didi’s Anuprerona (Mamata’s inspiration)’,” Malviya added.
People who were not born into Islam are unfortunate. We have to spread Islam among those people (Hindus), who are not followers of Islam. Those who are born in Islam, will reach jannat.
– Firhad Hakim, Kolkata Mayor and TMC Leader; 3rd July at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, Kolkata.… pic.twitter.com/Nrc9Piz0cI
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 5, 2024
In his self-defence, Firhad said that everyone in Bengal knows he is a secular person.
“It was not a controversial statement… everyone knows I am a secular person. I give respect to all religions. I am not concerned about what BJP says,” Hakim told ANI.
He threw an open challenge to BJP to fight TMC politically.
“Come and fight against us in a Hindu area. If they can beat me, I’ll leave politics.”
