Kolkata, Apr 14 (PTI) Appealing to everyone to maintain communal harmony in West Bengal, the Left Front on Monday said that protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act should be done in a peaceful manner.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose accused the state administration of not being properly active in controlling the situation “even as communal forces became active” at places in Murshidabad, where three persons were killed in the violence.

“The Left Front feels that the Waqf (Amendment) Act is unconstitutional,” Bose said in a statement.

He alleged that the amended Act had been brought to take away the rights of the minorities and to create division among the people.

Bose also alleged that the clashes were designed to divert attention from pressing issues in West Bengal.

“The Left Front urges people not to heed rumours and to maintain peace and harmony,” he said.

At least three people were killed and hundreds were rendered homeless in communal violence in parts of Murshidabad district, mainly Suti, Samserganj, Dhulian and Jangipur, on Friday and Saturday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

BJP president J P Nadda has said that the new law, which came into effect on April 8, would help utilise Waqf properties for the welfare of poor Muslims and women, adding it would free these assets from the control of a small but influential section of people and open them for the minority community’s overall benefit.

The BJP said in New Delhi that it will launch a fortnight-long public awareness campaign, aimed especially at Muslims, from April 20 to publicise the benefits of the Waqf (Amendment) Act and counter the opposition’s criticism of it.

Nadda accused the opposition parties of misleading Muslims over the provisions of the amended law as part of their “vote-bank politics”. PTI AMR ACD