Passing statements without knowing Tripura's history, culture: State BJP Vice President slams Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on UAPA

Reacting to a tweet of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticizing the Tripura government for invoking the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against 102 Twitter accounts, State BJP Vice President Rajib Bhattacharjee on Monday said that the Congress leader is passing statements 'without having any idea' about the history and culture of the state.

"The person who has made the statement knows nothing about Tripura. Rahul Gandhi does not even have any idea about the history, culture of the state. Without having any connectivity, he is passing statements on Tripura violence," said Bhattacharjee.

He said Rahul Gandhi is making such statements at a time when the whole country is witnessing a 'Congress-Mukt' wave.

"I would like to thank Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for dealing with the situation very effectively. In a situation like this, when Bangladesh is located in close proximity to our state, an atmosphere of confidence has been built between both religious groups. And, people from both Hindu and Muslim communities co-exist in the state peacefully", said Bhattacharjee.

Reacting to the alleged malicious campaign in social media, he said, "in social media, a malicious campaign against the state was spread and later it was proven to be fake. People from both religious groups have come vocal against the false campaign. Rahul Gandhi, being a leader of such stature, should ponder before saying something whether his statements are going against the national interest or not."

Bhattacharjee's reaction came a day after the Congress leader in a tweet said, "Pointing out that #Tripura_Is_Burning is a call for corrective action. But BJP's favourite cover-up tactic is shooting the messenger. Truth can't be silenced by #UAPA."

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhattacharjee further said that minority communities are 'most' safe under the Modi regime.

"They should stop such campaigns otherwise people will repeat their mandate against them in the next elections", said Bhattacharjee.

Meanwhile, reacting to the issue, Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President Birajita Sinha said that all the cases registered under the UAPA should be withdrawn and accused the BJP of prompting the violence.

"The violence that shook the state recently is an act of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. You can protest. In Bangladesh Hindu minority people came under attack, we have also protested against this but atrocities should not be meted out against the Muslim minority people as a reaction in Tripura. Anybody can come here and do fact-finding, we went to the spots where we found that things stumbled back to normalcy and peace is prevailing all over. The cases that had been registered under UAPA should be withdrawn. It is a demand from the Pradesh Congress", said Sinha.

( With inputs from ANI )