By IANS,
Kolkata : Ahead of the upcoming festival season, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday urged people to maintain peace and harmony and warned against inciting communal tension.
“I do not want to see any riot. I would be rather dead before witnessing any such thing,” said Banerjee, addressing a gathering where loans and scholarships were given to students from the minority community.
“Both Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Zuha are very important festivals and we will not tolerate any attempts to incite communal passions. Offenders will be strictly dealt with,” she said.
The four-day Durga Puja, beginning Oct 21, will be followed by Eid Oct 27.
Banerjee said an additional budgetary allocation of Rs.350 crore had been made to the department of minority affairs and madrassa education taking the total budgetary allocation to Rs.1,000 crore.
She described as a “major achievement” the government’s decision to bring minorities within the ambit of reservation by including them in the list of other backward classes.