According to the Indian Constitution, India is a secular country where every person has the religious freedom to follow his/her faith. However, some incidents in Indian politics make people rethink secularism. The recent Draconian directive issued by Mamata Banerjee was an example of such an incident, which forces us to question what secularism truly is. Recently on 23rd August 2017, Mamata Banerjee declared a temporary restriction on Durga idol immersion after 6 P.M. on Vijaya Dashami (Sep 30) till the 1st October this year. The restriction was due to the Muharram, which is on 1st October, a day after the Dashami.
As expected Mamata was at the crosshairs of Public ire. And she buckled under pressure. When questioned by the Kolkata High Court, West Bengal Government said that it has decided that now Durga Visarjan can take place till 10PM in the night as against 6PM specified in the earlier diktat because of Muharram and Vijaya Dashmi occurring together. Many People and Organizations had registered sharp objections, and some even went to the court against the government diktat.
The Kolkata High Court asked the West Bengal Government – If people of Mumbai can celebrate Ganesh Visarjan and Vijayadashmi together, why can’t people of Kolkata do. Hence, the West Bengal Government was forced to increase the time limit to 10PM. The Next hearing in this case will take place on Monday.
It must be noted that a lawsuit was filed in Kolkata High Court against Mamata Banerjee’s draconian Durga Visarjan Diktat. It was filed after Mamata Banerjee’s tweeted on 23rd August that Durga Visarjan will be allowed only till 6PM as Muharram falls on the very next day. It was also specified in the earlier diktat that Durga Visarajan can resume only after 2nd of October
The Lawsuit was filed by Bar Association of India officers Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, Kuldeep Roy and Ricky Roy in which it was stated that Mamata Banerjee has a massive following amongst the Muslim Community and hence to appease them she is playing with the sentiments of the Majority Community. The lawsuit mentioned that such a diktat is unconstitutional and a clear-cut violation of Articles 14, 25 and 26. It also stated that such a move will further widen the communal divide between Hindu and Muslims.
This is nothing new in West Bengal. A Similar Diktat was issued by Mamata Banerjee last year and court to intervene. Court chided the state Government stating that it is an obscene display of Muslim Appeasement and misuse of Religion to further Political agenda. The court mentioned last year that Muharram and Vijaya Dashmi fell on the same day in 1982 and 1983 but there were no restrictions imposed and everything went on peacefully.
