West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday warned against forced religious conversions and cow slaughter in the state, while announcing a ₹ 242-crore relief package for flood-hit Malda district.
If anything similar takes place during my tenure, you won’t find anybody worse than me. One such incident was registered in Kaliachak-I block in the district. That was the last. Adhikari also issued a warning against the slaughter of cows. “We will not tolerate any religious conversion anywhere. We will stop love-jihad and land-jihad. Wee have handed over land to the BSF (for construction of border fences). No one should harm a ‘Gau Mata’. The River Ganges enters West Bengal through Malda.
In May 2022, the Calcutta high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe an alleged case of forced conversion in Malda. “We will implement the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950. Adhikari on Thursday also announced a relief package of around ₹ 242 crore for flood-hit Malda district in north Bengal. He said that the state government will provide compensation to more than 24,500 families whose houses were totally or partially damaged. With Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the state, starting next week, the chief minister also said that the government would provide a kit comprising clothes, mosquito nets, tarpaulin and food for five days to around 5,000 families, which have been badly hit.
Addressing a government programme in Malda, a Muslim-dominated district which shares a border with Bangladesh, Adhikari said, “Will you stop religious conversion in Malda? Will not allow a single fly to sneak in,” he said. I am making this clear,” the chief minister said. Adhikari said that the state government was trying to come up with a permanent solution to prevent the recurrent problem of erosion caused by rivers in the district.
