KOLKATA: Lashing out at her opponents who accuse her of Muslim appeasement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said such people were neither friends of Hindus nor of Muslims.
"There are some people who accuse me of Muslim appeasement. I ask them whether loving Hindus means you have to hate Muslims," she said while addressing an Eid-ul-Fitr congregation on Indira Gandhi Sarani (erstwhile Red Road) here.
Banerjee said she respected and loved all communities and religions and was firm in her belief that India belonged to all, irrespective of faith, language and castes.
"Those who say I appease Muslims are friends of neither the Hindus nor the Muslims," she said, apparently targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party which has been the levelling the allegation against her.
The Chief Minister claimed that the NITI Ayog meeting, slated to be held on Saturday, has been deferred to Sunday following her protest. Banerjee has already announced she would attend the Sunday meeting.
She asked the Central government why the meeting was scheduled for Saturday when Eid was slated to be celebrated, and that she had earlier written to it requesting that the date be changed so that the meeting did not clash with the festival.