Kolkata, 18 August (H.S.) — Political tensions in West Bengal have escalated once again as leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) traded sharp accusations over the Rohingya issue.

Qasim Ali, a state committee member of the BJP Minority Morcha, triggered controversy during a party event in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas. Ali alleged that corrupt TMC leaders were protecting Rohingya infiltrators and warned that once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive begins, these leaders would be tied to trees, lashed with stinging nettles, and pushed into Bangladesh through the Ghojadanga border using bulldozers.

Ali’s remarks came after Malda district TMC president Abdur Rahim Bakshi accused BJP leaders of threatening to drive Bengalis into Bangladesh. In a counterattack, Bakshi had said he would personally drag such BJP leaders to Bangladesh by their hair and later apologize, claiming it was done “by mistake.”

Reacting to Ali’s statement, local TMC leader Abdul Vaid Dhali dismissed him as insignificant, saying, “Qasim Ali is not a major leader. His comments carry no weight. The BJP is using him to divide minorities. Instead of threatening Bengalis, the BJP should be condemned for how Bengali migrant workers are being harassed in BJP-ruled states.”

The heated exchange underscores the increasingly bitter rhetoric between the TMC and BJP as both parties intensify their attacks ahead of upcoming political battles in the state.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh