Intelligence agencies have flagged a statement by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Md Nurul Huda — in which he backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision not to resign, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and urged Banerjee to declare West Bengal an independent nation — as part of a coordinated, ISI-backed long-term strategy to destabilise the state. The warning comes days after agencies had already flagged possible provocations in West Bengal following the Bangladesh elections.

What Huda Said and Why Agencies Are Alarmed

Huda urged Banerjee not to accept the West Bengal Assembly election results and went further by calling for the state's separation from India. According to officials, the statement is not an isolated outburst — it is described as strategically planned and aimed at triggering a larger destabilisation campaign. Huda also reportedly claimed that 170 Muslims from Bangladesh would back Banerjee if she announced Bengal's separation from India.

The ISI's Long Game in West Bengal

An Intelligence Bureau (IB) official said that demands for declaring West Bengal independent have been a long-standing ploy of the ISI. The official noted that a few years ago, agencies successfully shut down a planned movement that sought to declare Murshidabad independent of West Bengal. According to the official, the ISI has been in direct contact with several hardliners from the Jamaat, instructing them to foment trouble in West Bengal along lines similar to what was attempted in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

The plan, officials say, involves running a sustained campaign claiming that the West Bengal elections were stolen and that democracy in the state has collapsed — with the ISI hoping this narrative snowballs into a mass movement that keeps the state perpetually destabilised.

Bangladesh Elections and the ISI Connection

In the Bangladesh elections, the Jamaat won a majority of its seats in constituencies along the border with West Bengal. Agencies had warned at the time that the Jamaat — which operates with ISI backing, according to officials — would attempt to instigate tensions across the border. Prior to and during the West Bengal elections, ISI-backed elements reportedly ran disinformation campaigns suggesting that the BJP would attempt to rig the vote. Those efforts were largely neutralised, officials said, owing to heavy security deployment and a high voter turnout that reflected broad public consolidation.

India-Bangladesh Ties in the Crosshairs

Officials also pointed to a parallel objective: derailing improving India-Bangladesh relations. Ties between the two countries have improved following the Bangladesh elections, with Tarique Rahman taking over as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. According to an official, this development has not been welcomed by the ISI, which is now seeking to undermine bilateral relations at any cost. Statements like Huda's, the official said, are part of that broader effort.

What Agencies Are Doing

Officials stated that they are closely monitoring developments and are prepared to thwart any attempt to incite violence or destabilise West Bengal. Experts noted that the Jamaat, at the ISI's behest, has consistently pushed this narrative, with a longer-term ambition of spreading instability from West Bengal into India's northeastern states. The current focus on election results, officials warned, is only the opening phase of what could become a sustained campaign for West Bengal's separation from India.