The Mahal Empowerment Mission (MEM), an organisation of Muslim Jamaaths functioning in the state capital, on Friday decided to remove senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor from its Palestine solidarity event scheduled here on October 30.

The MEM of the Jamaaths from 100 wards in the city corporation, took the decision in the wake of the controversy over Mr Tharoor’s recent statement at a Palestine solidarity rally organised by the Indian Union Muslim League a day ago, in which he said the October 7 attack on Israel was a terrorist strike.

“We have communicated to Tharoor that we have decided to remove him from the programme,” MEM president Shajahan Sreekaryam told PTI.

Facing an intense social media attack, Mr Tharoor has issued a clarification, saying he has always been with the people of Palestine and he does not agree with the propagation of just one sentence from his speech at the IUML rally.

The IUML, a key ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, organised a massive rally in northern Kozhikode on Thursday, denouncing the reported indiscriminate killings of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of IUML supporters took part in the Palestine Solidarity Human Rights rally, inaugurated by IUML leader Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal.

Mr Tharoor, who was the chief guest, said innocent women and children suffered casualties, initially in Israel and subsequently in Gaza, and emphasised the imperative of ending this conflict.

In unequivocal terms, Mr Tharoor also condemned the attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, describing it as an ‘act of terror’.

The Trinamool Congress has labelled the arrest of its senior minister, Jyotipriyo Mallick, as “vendetta” politics and questioned the absence of action against BJP leaders who switched sides, facing corruption cases and investigations by central agencies.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick on Friday in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scandal in the state, according to officials from the central agency.

The minister was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following over 17-18 hours of questioning.

Leading the TMC’s response, minister Shashi Panja accused the BJP of attempting to silence opposition voices raising issues pertinent to people.

She said, “It is an attempt by the BJP to muzzle the opposition raising pro-people issues. The question is why corrupt BJP leaders and turncoats who have corruption charges against them are never summoned by the ED and CBI. The BJP is scared of the people’s movement launched by Abhishek Banerjee demanding clearance of MGNREGA dues. The weak and powerless BJP has engaged in witch-hunting.” Ms Panja alleged that the BJP had weaponized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI to arrest Mallick and contended that this strategy would face resistance from the people of Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Minister of Women and Child Development in West Bengal also questioned the timing of investigations, pointing out that they gained momentum when elections were approaching and conveniently tapered off once the polls concluded.

She asserted, “Why do investigations gain momentum, whenever elections draw near and then conveniently taper off once the polls are over? The BJP is misusing central agencies to pursue politically motivated witch hunts against the opposition.” In response, the BJP dismissed the allegations as baseless.

State president Sukanta Majumdar said, “The allegations against the BJP are baseless. The TMC, by making those allegations, is trying to divert attention from the truth that the entire TMC is neck-deep in corruption. If they have any complaints about the investigation, they can always move court.” Senior BJP leader and MP Dilip Ghosh indicated that Mallick’s arrest is just the beginning, hinting at further actions against TMC leaders and ministers.

He remarked, “The arrests of Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam and now Jyotipriyo Mallick in the ration distribution scam are just the beginning. Many more TMC leaders and ministers will soon be behind bars.” Mallick’s arrest marks the second instance of a TMC cabinet minister being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases.

Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school job scam.

In the past year, two other MLAs and TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal have also been arrested in connection with school job scams and cattle smuggling cases by central agencies.

After an outrage over the omission of Rabindranath Tagore’s name from plaques installed at Visva-Bharati to mark it being declared a global heritage site by UNESCO, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Friday said that the vice chancellor of the varsity has explained his position to him.

“Yesterday itself, I discussed with the VC of the Visva-Bharati (Prof Bidyut Chakrabarty). He explained his position. We both reminded each other that Gurudev symbolises the best in culture and tradition… Visva-Bharti without Rabindranath Tagore is like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark…” CV Ananda Bose, who is also the rector of the university told the reporters here.

The plaque was mired in controversy for not mentioning the Nobel Laureate’s name and instead featuring the names of the Chancellor (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and the Vice Chancellor (Bidyut Chakrabarty).

UNESCO granted World Heritage Site status to Santiniketan on September 17, following which a plaque was installed at the university.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also warned the central government to restore Rabindranath Tagore’s name on the plaque put up at the Viswa Bharati University.

“Santiniketan has achieved the UNESCO tag because of Rabindranath Tagore…He is the creator of Santiniketan and Viswa Bharti. Since it was Durga Puja, we kept quiet. If they do not restore Rabindranath Tagore’s name, our local people will protest holding Rabindranath Tagore’s photo,” Banerjee said, speaking at a press conference in Kolkata.