Do not hinder Durga immersion or stop Saraswati Puja, Shah warns Mamata
Kolkata, Aug 11: BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday warned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to hinder Durga idol immersion or the Saraswati worship in the state, saying his party activists will "bring down Banerjee's secretariat brick by brick" if such things ever recurred.
He said these festivals will be celebrated with full fervour if BJP formed government in Bengal.
"They (Trinamool Congress) do not allow the immersion of the Durga idols after puja. Saraswati Puja has been stopped in many schools in Bengal. Should that happen? Form a BJP government in Bengal, Durga immersion and Saraswati Puja will take place with full fervour. No one can stop that," Shah said during his rally at Kolkata's Mayo Road.
"Mamata didi, do not dare (to do such things) again. If you dare to do this next time, the BJP activists will bring down your secretariat brick by brick, but the Durga puja will take place at any cost," he said amid cheers from thousands of party activists.
The Durga Puja immersion processions were delayed over the past few years in certain parts of Bengal as Muharram rallies and the two events coincided.
Accusing Banerjee and her party of minority appeasement and vote bank politics, Shah asked the Bengal Chief Minister to tell the people what she was trying to achieve by stopping Saraswati Puja in the state and by settling Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state.
"There is a limit to doing appeasement and vote bank politics... there will be no Saraswati Puja in Bengal... Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators are allowed to settle here. What are you trying to turn Bengal into? Mamata must clarify this to the people," he said.
The BJP leader also accused the Trinamool Congress supremo of stopping a number of television channels from telecasting his speech.
"But I have full faith in our party activists. They will go to every village, every street and every household of Bengal to tell them about Trinamool's activities," he added.
Shah said he would tour all districts in Bengal and start an agitation to throw out the Trinamool Congress.
"Turn the pages of history of democracy. Whenever anybody has tried to throttle the voice of democracy, the voice of protest has amplified to reach the masses. In democracy, no one can throttle anybody's voice," he added.
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Pakistan escalating again, Indian response will continue: Foreign Secretary Misri
New Delhi — Indian defence forces successfully thwarted an attempt by Pakistan to target several military locations in Northern and Western India, a senior army officer confirmed during a special press briefing on Thursday.
Colonel Sofiya Quraishi, addressing the media on developments related to Operation Sindoor, said Pakistan had launched a coordinated drone and missile attack on the night of May 7 and 8, aiming at multiple Indian cities including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.
“These attempts were neutralised by our Integrated Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Grid and Air Defence systems,” she stated. “Debris recovered from different sites confirms the Pakistani attacks.”
Col Quraishi noted that India's earlier military response was “focused, measured, and non-escalatory,” and that no Pakistani military establishments were targeted at that time. However, she said, India had warned that any attack on its military installations would invite an appropriate response.
“Today morning, Indian Armed Forces responded by targeting Pakistan’s Air Defence Radars and systems at multiple locations. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system in Lahore has been neutralised,” she added.
In the same briefing, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh highlighted the increased intensity of unprovoked cross-border shelling by Pakistan.
“Pakistan has been using mortars and heavy artillery to target Indian positions along the Line of Control in sectors such as Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar, and Rajouri,” she said. “So far, 16 innocent civilians, including three women and five children, have lost their lives due to this shelling.”
She said India was compelled to respond in order to halt the artillery fire from across the border. “Our Armed Forces remain committed to non-escalation, provided this is respected by the Pakistani military,” Wing Commander Singh said.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also addressed the media, pointing to Pakistan’s contradictory stand on international platforms. He said that despite the terror group The Resistance Front (TRF) publicly claiming responsibility for the Pahalgam attack twice, Pakistan denied their involvement during discussions at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“Col Quraishi and Wing Commander Singh made it clear that India’s military actions are measured and focused only on terrorist infrastructure. Our intention is not to escalate tensions. We have not targeted any Pakistani military sites,” Misri said.
He further added, “Any further action by Pakistan, some of which we are seeing today, is nothing but escalation by Pakistan once again, and will be responded to and is being responded to appropriately.”
