The Malda attacks cannot also be brushed under the carpet for it was a clear attempt to overawe the Indian state by Muslim mobs that felt threatened by recent attempts to curb their illegal activities obviously for economic and anti-national ends. Having attacked a police station and a government office, the thugs will be hoping that they have managed to scare the daylights out of the administration, which will now be wary of taking further action against them. With elections just a few months away, Kaliachak is a message to Mamata Banerjee, who has left no stone unturned to appease Muslims in her state in order to grab their votes, that if she uses the law to hinder their activities, their vote may go elsewhere.
Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
