Suvendu urges Bengalis not to visit J&K, draws sharp criticism from Trinamool Congress

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari’s appeal to Bengalis not to visit “Muslim majority” Jammu and Kashmir on Friday (July 11, 2025) evoked strong reactions from the Trinamool Congress, which said that the BJP leader was “speaking in the language of terrorists”.

“Don’t go to the places where Muslims are in majority. If you want to go to Kashmir, go to Jammu. Don’t go… They (terrorists) killed people asking about their religion. If you want to go, go to Himachal, we have Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, go to Odisha, the whole country,” the ANI quoted Mr. Adhikari as saying. In his remarks, Mr. Adhikari had said that he had met the families of residents of West Bengal who were killed in Pahalgam after ascertaining their religion, and Mr. Abdullah should have also visited the families during his visit to Kolkata.

The remarks by the BJP leader came a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat on Thursday. Ms. Banerjee, while maintaining that it was the Centre’s duty to ensure protection of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, urged the people of the State to visit the Union Territory.

‘Echoing terrorists agenda’

Taking to social media, the Trinamool Congress said that by discouraging the people of Bengal from visiting Jammu & Kashmir and warning them against travelling to certain tourist areas, “@SuvenduWB has shamelessly echoed the terrorists’ agenda. This is exactly the fear they wanted to spread and Suvendu handed them that victory”.

The ruling party in West Bengal asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar endorse “such undemocratic, unconstitutional, anti-federal, and divisive remarks”.

Trinamool Congress leader and Minister Shashi Panja said the BJP leader was endorsing “the narrative of Pakistan and Bangladesh”.

“The Union government itself had declared that normalcy should return to Jammu & Kashmir. But in light of this statement, what follows? Everything seems to have failed. You cannot issue a ‘farman’ telling tourists from Bengal not to visit Kashmir. Why is he so rattled by the visit of former CM Omar Abdullah to Bengal?” Ms. Panja asked.

The Trinamool leader wondered whether the newly-elected State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya endorses remarks of the Leader of Opposition. Mr. Bhattacharya, who took over as the State BJP chief earlier this week, had said that the BJP’s fight is not against minorities.

The Leader of Opposition, who on a regular basis calls for “unity of Hindus in West Bengal to remove Trinamool Congress from power”, had in the past called for doing away with all minority morcha units of the BJP, stating that Muslims do not vote for the party.

Besides the Trinamool Congress, the leaders of Left parties and the Congress have also decried the “communal” remarks of the BJP leader.