New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The statement by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Md Nurul Huda, in which he backs Mamata Banerjee’s decision not to resign, while attacking the BJP, comes just days after the Intelligence agencies had warned of possible provocations in West Bengal.
Huda goes on to urge Banerjee not to accept the Assembly election results, but also to declare West Bengal as an independent nation.
The agencies say that the statement is not just a one-off. It is strategically planned and is aimed at something bigger.
In the elections that were held in Bangladesh, the Jamaat won a majority of its seats along the border with West Bengal. The agencies had then warned that the Jamaat, which has the backing of the ISI, would look to instigate tensions in West Bengal.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that the demands for declaring West Bengal independent have been a long-standing ploy of the ISI. A few years back, the agencies shut down a planned movement that was aimed at declaring Murshidabad independent of West Bengal.
The ISI has been in touch with several hardliners from the Jamaat and has been instructing them to create trouble in West Bengal. These persons want to start a movement like how they did in Jammu and Kashmir, the official said.
The official added that the plan is to run a campaign stating that the West Bengal elections were stolen and that there is no democracy left.
The ISI hopes that this would become a mass movement, and this would help them keep the state on the boil, the official also added.
Another official said that prior to and even during the elections, the ISI-backed elements had come up with several plans to cause disturbances in the state. They did try to run false campaigns that tried to suggest that the BJP would try to steal the elections.
The process, however, remained stable owing to heavy security in the state. Even the false campaigns did not work, as a large majority of the people consolidated and came out and voted, another official added.
In order to disrupt peace and harmony in West Bengal, the ISI-backed elements are also looking to derail India-Bangladesh ties. The relations have largely improved following the elections, and Tarique Rahman took over as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. This has not gone down too well with the ISI, and it wants to derail this at any cost. Such statements by Huda are part of that larger plan, an official said.
Such a statement by the Jamaat leader should not be viewed as a one-off statement. These persons would continue to create communal disharmony and political instability.
Officials say that they are keeping a close eye on the developments and would thwart any such attempt to incite violence and destabilise the state of West Bengal. Huda also went on to state that 170 Muslims from Bangladesh would support Mamata Banerjee if she announced Bengal’s separation from India.
The experts say that the Jamaat, at the behest of the ISI, has always tried to push this narrative. It wants to destabilise West Bengal and then move to the northeastern states.
Officials say that the ISI would want to keep the political tensions alive in the state. It would insist that such hardliners make provocative statements and keep the state on the boil at all times.
Currently, these hardliners are trying to speak about the election results. However, the long-term plan is to begin a mass movement whereby the freedom of West Bengal from India would be sought. It is very similar to what the ISI attempts in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, an official said.
–IANS
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