On Thursday (August 18), former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. The author of ‘Virat Hindu Identity: Concept and Its Power’ heaped praise on the West Bengal Chief Minister, despite being aware of her recent anti-Hindu remarks and the plight of the Hindu community during the 2021 post-poll violence.
In a tweet, he remarked, “Today I was in Kolkata and met the charismatic Mamata Banerjee. She is a courageous person. I admired her fight against the CPM in which she decimated the Communists.”
The development comes amidst rumours about Subramanian Swamy, defecting to the Trinamool Congress. Last month, he praised the Trinamool Congress Chief for being an ‘intelligent leader.’ “We have to recognise talent even if we have ideological differences,” he had insisted.
In November last year, he met Mamata Banerjee and compared her with the likes of Jayprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Chandrashekhar, Rajiv Gandhi, and P V Narasimha Rao.
Post poll violence and anti-Hindu remarks of Mamata Banerjee
A staunch critic of the Modi dispensation, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had ignored the anti-Hindu antecedents of the West Bengal Chief Minister out of political convenience. The ‘Virat Hindu’ has compromised on his values to remain under the spotlight and it is not the first time he seems to be changing his ideology either.
Mamata Banerjee had courted controversy in May this year after she was heard saying, “Hum Kafir nahin hai“. While addressing a crowd on the occasion of Eid, she said, “Let them do what they want. We are not scared. We are not cowards. We are not ‘Kafir’.”
“We fight. We know how to fight. We will fight against them. We will finish them,” she continued. Netizens were in disbelief as the video went viral. Many expressed their concern over a sitting CM using the word in a public address, given that it is often used by Islamists to dehumanise non-Muslims.
Recently, she called for a ‘jihad’ against the BJP, a radical Islamist term that calls for the annihilation of the disbelievers of Allah. Mamata Banerjee later defended her remark by claiming that it meant ‘strong protest’ in Banga.
Under her leadership, goons associated with the Trinamool Congress wreaked havoc on Hindu BJP workers in the aftermath of the 2021 West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls.
In a statement, Hindu rights outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said, ” “More than 3500 villages and over 40-thousand Hindus, including our SC & ST brethren in great numbers, are badly affected by the violence.”
It pointed out how shops, houses, and crops belonging to Hindus were systematically destroyed in the post-poll violence. VHP highlighted that unspeakable atrocities were committed against women in the State.