Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jyotirmay Singh Mahato on Sunday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding that the border districts of West Bengal be declared “disturbed areas” under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), often criticised as a draconian law.
This comes in the wake of three people being killed in the violence over Waqf (Amendment) Act protests in the Murshidabad district of the state.
Mahato claimed that his demand to impose AFSPA in the bordering districts of Bengal, particularly Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, and South 24 Parganas, was due to alleged repeated communal attacks on Hindus. He expressed deep anguish over the situation in these districts and accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of facilitating targeted violence against Hindus.
“What we are witnessing on the ground is not merely sporadic lawlessness—it is sustained, targeted violence against the Hindu community, facilitated by political appeasement and administrative inaction under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime,” he wrote.
🔴 Bengal Burning. Hindus Bleeding.
— Jyotirmay Singh Mahato (Modi Ka Parivar) (@JyotirmayBJP) April 13, 2025
Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, South 24 Parganas—Hindus attacked, homes looted, lives lost.
TMC’s appeasement has failed law & order.
Like Kashmiri Pandits once, Bengali Hindus are being hunted.
📢 I urge @AmitShah ji to impose AFSPA under Sec 3… pic.twitter.com/7OCyOl3G4O
“In Murshidabad district alone, recent weeks have seen the looting and destruction of over 86 Hindu shops and homes, the murder of innocent civilians like Hargobindo Das and his son Chandan Das, and targeted economic sabotage such as the burning of betel leaf plantations in Jhaubona village,” Mahato claimed in the letter to the home minister.
“These incidents are not isolated. Similar unrest has unfolded in Malda, Nadia, and South 24 Parganas, where repeated communal riots, often aligned with TMC’s appeasement politics, have left the Hindu population vulnerable and voiceless,” he said.
The BJP MP alleged that there was a lack of transparency and law and order in the state, as, despite public outcry, senior BJP leaders were not allowed to visit the affected areas.
“The violence following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill further exposed the collapse of law and order. Armed mobs attacked Hindu households, government properties, and even police forces. The Calcutta High Court had to intervene and order the deployment of central forces, a rare step that reflects the state’s administrative failure,” Mahato’s letter reads.
He also compared the condition of Bengali Hindus in some parts of the state to the Kashmiri Pandits. “The fear, isolation, and targeted violence that Bengali Hindus in these districts are facing today echo the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of 1990. The tragic silence of the administration, deliberate targeting of a religious community, and propaganda-driven unrest are all too familiar,” he alleged.
