KOLKATA — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting with the imams, muezzins, and religious leaders from the Muslim community in the state on April 16 to prepare the blueprint on how to oppose the recently promulgated Waqf Amendment Act.
The venue of the meeting will be Netaji Indoor Stadium in central Kolkata.
Firhad Hakim, the West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister and the Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, will also be present at the meeting.
Recently, at a programme of the Jain community in Kolkata, the Chief Minister gave a subtle message to the Union government that the Waqf Amendment Act will not be implemented in West Bengal.
He also described the Waqf Act as an “attempt to snatch others’ property”.
“Just as no one has the right to snatch my property, similarly, I too do not have the right to snatch others’ property. In West Bengal, I will never allow that. In West Bengal, the people from the minority community are almost 33 per cent of the population. Always remember that your Didi is there to protect you and your property. Our mission should be — ‘Jio Aur Jine Do (Live and let live)’,” CM Banerjee said on Wednesday.
Political observers feel that the proposed meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium on April 16 will be an extension of the Chief Minister’s proclamation as regards the Act and the involvement of the imams, muezzins, and religious leaders from the Muslim community had been done to ensure that future movements on this issue take a bigger shape in the coming days.
Haikm, on Friday, told media persons that West Bengal is fortunate to have a Chief Minister as a result of which the interests of people from all religious communities are protected in the state.
“In West Bengal, there is no question of misrule arising out of attempts to divide people on the basis of religious beliefs. Our protests against the Waqf Amendment Act will continue,” he said. –IANS
