BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari comes under fire for falsely accusing Kashmiris of ‘suspicious activity’ in Bengal

Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, has faced severe criticism after a video shared by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday allegedly showed him chanting “Hindustan Murdabad” instead of “Pakistan Murdabad” during a protest outside the Legislative Assembly.

The protest, held in response to the brutal killing of Hindu tourists in Pahalgam, saw Adhikari and BJP leaders burning Pakistani flags while chanting “Hindustan Zindabad” and “Pakistan Murdabad.”

However, the TMC released a video showing Adhikari mistakenly shouting “Hindustan Murdabad,” which was quickly corrected by fellow protesters.

Despite the correction, the TMC used the incident to attack Adhikari, labelling him a "traitor" and posting the clip on their official Facebook page, writing, “Preaching love for Hindustan and Hindus but harbouring anti-national poison in the heart. The mask has been removed.”

The party leaders too joined in. Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Minister Shashi Panja said, "Nationalism is not a costume that you wear on stage and take off backstage.” 

Medinipur MP June Maliya sarcastically remarked that the truth about Adhikari has been exposed.

Additionally, Adhikari faced backlash for falsely claiming that two Kashmiri individuals had installed a “NanoBeam 2AC compact wireless network bridge” at a house in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas, alleging it was a high-speed, long-distance connectivity device.

The police later clarified that the two individuals were engineers from Madhya Pradesh. The device in question was just part of the Jio AirFiber network installed at their home, stated Baruipur Police District in a statement.

Debangshu Bhattacharya, the state president of Trinamool’s social media & IT cell, took a sarcastic dig at LoP Adhikari. “First and foremost, Kashmir is an integral part of India. Being a Kashmiri and residing in any other part of the country is not a crime. In fact, those who are making a fuss about it are, in essence, endorsing Pakistan's claim,” he said. 

“Should we not laugh? The image he has shared as a 'nano beam' is actually the internet receiver of Jio Fiber Plus,” he added.

Following the attack on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam, LoP Adhikari has expressed strong outrage. TMC has accused him of communalising the incident. He claimed to have told the wife of Bitan Adhikari, a Kolkata resident killed in the attack, that "like Israel finished Gaza, we will finish them."