BJP tribute to refugees at Marichjhapi

Kolkata: A BJP delegation visited Marichjhapi in the Sunderbans on Monday to pay tribute to Namasudra refugees, many of whom were killed in police firing during Left Front regime on January 26, 1979. The refugees had come from Dandakaranya to settle on the island.
Bengal BJP general secretary Agnimitra Paul, party MLA from Bongaon Ashok Kirtania and BJP OBC morcha secretary Sudip Das were part of the team.
“It was a silent murder in Marichjhapi. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had promised justice to the victims, but nothing has happened so far,” said Paul.
The visit came days after Union minister and Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur went on a mass contact programme to consolidate Matua refugees, mostly Namasudras spread across North 24 Parganas and Nadia, to pile pressure on the Centre to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Political observers saw the move as an effort to renew BJP’s links with Hindu refugees when a large section was dismayed over the delay in implementation of CAA.
Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh saw the BJP programme at Marichjhapi as a “strained effort” to shift focus from the party’s inner conflicts. “There is no context to BJP’s visit to Marichjhapi. They have never been a part of the movement against the massacre. They are trying to shift focus from the brewing discontent at Thakurnagar,” he said.