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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti festival peacefully, and said while religion is a personal choice, festivities were an occasion for all to join in.
Her appeal comes on the eve of the festival dedicated to Lord Hanuman and within days of the state witnessing a series of violent clashes and vandalism in the industrial districts of Howrah and Hooghly during processions celebrating Ram Navami.
"Tomorrow is Hanuman Jayanti. I will urge everybody to celebrate it peacefully. There will be no problem if peace is observed. Bengal is the land of peace," Banerjee told reporters after inaugurating a new building for the Press Club in the sea resort town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, is on a four-day trip to the district.
”I say religion is a personal choice, while festivities are for everyone. We must see that we celebrate festivals together peacefully. We all must pray for peace irrespective of our religious identity. Let peace prevail around the world, in India and Bengal," she said.
Addressing a programme at Khejuri in the district on Monday, the chief minister had directed the police to be alert as she was apprehensive of violence during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.
Banerjee has been alleging that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is behind the recent incidents of clashes in Howrah and Hooghly districts during Ram Navami celebrations.
The TMC accused the BJP of conspiring to polarise the society for political gain, while the saffron camp claimed it was the ”appeasement politics” of the ruling party behind the incident.
On Tuesday, West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose rushed from Darjeeling to visit violence-hit Rishra in Hooghly district and take stock of the situation there.