The village of Chatra in Machhlandpur block was on the brink of communal violence between Hindus and Muslims on 6 July. A crisis was averted in the otherwise sleepy village, which is not very far from Baduria in Basirhat subdivision of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
Several Bangladeshi Hindu immigrants – who crossed over to West Bengal in the last 15-20 years – have settled down in Chatra, which is about 26 kms from the porous International border. When The Quint visited Chatra, several Bangladeshi Hindu immigrants said that since they were forced to uproot themselves from their villages in Bangladesh, they would not take it lying down in their new home in West Bengal.
Well on the course of being mobilised by the BJP, the Hindu immigrants will throw in their lot with the saffron party trying to unseat Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress government which won a thumping electoral victory last year.
Read : Basirhat Riot: B’deshi Hindus Embrace BJP in Bengal Border Village
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