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By Anirban Sinha Roy: BJP’s National Vice President Dilip Ghosh’s recent comments on West Bengal’s Kurmi community has angered a section of the community. On Sunday, when the BJP leader was returning from a party program in the Bengal’s Jangalmahal area, a group of Kurmi activists had blocked his way.
They reportedly asked him about what he had done for the Kurmi community. The Medinipur MP told them that he had helped several Kurmi community members from his area before. He also reportedly used a harsh tone and accused a few Kurmi leaders of “spreading lies and exaggerating.”
Reacting to the controversy, Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar apologised for Ghosh’s comments on Tuesday. He was asked about Dilip Ghosh’s statement on the Kurmi movement during the Rozgar Mela program at Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in Salt Lake.
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He said, “I think Dilip Ghosh’s words are difficult to understand. Or maybe because of the way he said it, they felt bad. The matter should not be allowed to escalate. I apologise as a BJP state president.”
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ghosh said that there was attempt to mislead the Kurmi movement. He appealed to Kurmi leaders to prevent this movement to turn out like the Maoist movement did.
The protests by the Kurmi community regarding the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status began in April this year. The community also demanded for the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and for the recognition of ‘Sarna’ religion.
The organisations claiming to represent the interests of the Kurmi people are based mainly in the Chotanagpur plateau covering Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal.
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