Jai Shri Rong!
As Indians immersed in an adrenaline rush after defeating Bangladesh in a World Cup match, Didi congratulated India and appreciated the efforts of Bangladeshi players bringing a sheepish smile on nationalists’ faces.
In February, 2016, Business Standard reported [2] that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called for restoration of the district magistrates’ former rights to grant citizenship which, in effect, may facilitate further immigration from Bangladesh.
A dangerous situation may arise in the country if Mamata Banerjee’s demand for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants, mostly Muslims, living in India for more than five years is conceded.
Any attempt to give citizenship to Bangladeshi illegal immigrants may seriously jeopardize the political, social and economic life of the country as well as its security scenario too. India, being a developing nation, is not in a position to accommodate a religious section from another country which don’t add to economic growth of the country but possess a possible economic and security threat.
The worrying situation is not a visible shift in population based on religion, but a high growth rate of population on the constituencies bordering Bangladesh.
Recently, after huge win of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, many political parties have taken a paradigm shift to appease Hindu votes. Examples include, Akhilesh Yadav’s announcement to install deity of Shri Krishna in Saifai, Rahul Gandhi’s surprising visit to countless temples in Gujarat and now, Mamata Banerjee visiting hermitage and speaking of temples’ renovation.
[3] During her Gangasagar visit, she spent time at Kapila Muni’s ashram. Moreover, she has set up boards to renovate Tarapith, Tarakeswar and Kalighat temples. After taking a holy dip at Gangasagar, Mamata spent time with the chief priest Gyandasji there. She promised “I will come to this place again.”
Mahant Gyandas is same priest from Hanumangarhi, Ayodhya who promised to grant funds to build a mosque within the premises of holy place, praised Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh and opposed construction of Ram janmbhumi temple in Ayodhya as per ongoing efforts.
These ongoing efforts maybe a little tough to contain BJP and Hindu votes when the facts speak just the opposite. As Kapila Muni Himself speaks to His mother Devahuti:
ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram
tasya bhinna-dṛśo mṛtyur vidadhe bhayam ulbaṇam
– (Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.26)
As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.
(Translation by a Bengali saint Srila Prabhupada)
Durga Puja
And this differential outlook, mentioned by Kapila Muni, was petitioned during Durga Puja of 2016, when Justice Deepankar Dutta mentioned:
“There has been a clear endeavor on the part of the State Government to pamper and appease the minority section of the public at the cost of the majority section without there being any plausible justification……… The administration has failed to take note of the fact that Muharram is also not the most important festival of people having faith in Islam. To put it curtly, the State Government has been irresponsibly brazen in its conduct of being partial to one community, thereby infringing upon the fundamental rights of people worshipping Maa Durga.” [4]
A similar feud appeared during last Durga Puja of 2017. “Slit my throat but no one tells me what to do,” a defiant Mamata Banerjee declared today after a court said her government in Bengal cannot ban the immersion of Durga idols on Muharram and cancelled the unusual restrictions that she had ordered on grounds that there could be trouble. “You are exercising extreme power without any basis,” the Calcutta High Court said in sharp comments on the order banning immersions after 10 pm on September 30 – when Durga Puja ends – and on Muharram a day later.[5]
Hiding Ram – Probably in the heart!?
Rainbow in Bengali is “Ramdhonu” and it means Lord Ram’s bow. But from January, 2017, students learning Bengali in the state of West Bengal will know Ramdhonu as “Rongdhonu” which means bow of colours, thanks to the cry of secularism. Also, the word ‘aakashi’ i.e. color blue was replaced by the Urdu word ‘aasmaani’. This act of the government also witnessed a huge social media outrage from Hindus across the nation criticizing the act.[7]
Stiff with entry of prominent Hindus in the state
Mohan Bhagwat
CM Mamata Banerjee, who supports beef in state, had reportedly cancelled an event in September, 2017, in which Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat was scheduled to take part, at a government-owned auditorium in Kolkata. RSS leader Jishnu Bose today alleged Bhagwat had to attend a program of Sister Nivedita Foundation but permission was denied. [8]
Amit Shah
On the very next day, Mamata Banerjee government denied permission to BJP to hold an event which was to be attended by Amit Shah. State BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu claimed that the party had submitted two applications to state government-run Netaji Indoor Stadium to book the hall for September 10 or 12, according to Indian Express report. He alleged that the authorities asked him and other party leaders to collect the confirmation letter on August 30. “However, on that day, they said the stadium was unavailable for booking till Durga Puja,” Basu was quoted as saying by IE. The BJP leader has said, “Trinamool Congress is scared of BJP and that’s why it has denied us permission. [9]
This was not the first time that Bhagwat’s event has been cancelled. Earlier in January, Kolkata Police had denied permission to hold another RSS rally. In January, RSS had moved Kolkata High Court on Friday and acquired permission to hold a rally in Brigade Parade Grounds after Kolkata police did not give approval.
The BJP leadership also came down heavily on the state government and alleged that an “undeclared Emergency” prevailed in the state.
Ajit Doval
During Burdwan blast, NIA team led by Ajit Doval was also denied entry and investigate on October 3. The terror module was linked to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), Bangladesh. Mamata Banerjee termed NIA probe by centre as ‘meddling by the Centre’ and Burdwan blast ‘engineered by RAW’. Whereas Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina lauds NIA probe into the blast.
The NIA had pointed out that 500 recognized and 4000 unrecognized madrassas were engaged in indoctrination, recruitment, training and sheltering of jihadis. [10]
Rakesh Sinha
RSS vicharak (thinker) and DU professor Rakesh Sinha became ‘wanted’ in West Bengal in 2017 when he posted a picture of him praying in Mahakal temple, Ujjain with his mother. The charges were inciting communal violence with his “provocative” post of temple visit. Sinha, had been exposing TMC over mishandling Basirhat violence where mobs of Muslim ransacked the town over a 17 years social media post.
Tajinder Bagga
A Delhi Bhartiya Janata Party spokesperson, Tajinder Bagga, who previously announced plans to visit Kolkata and take part in Durga idol immersion, claimed on twitter that he was detained at the Kolkata airport by police and sent back. The police mentioned that they had orders directly from the Chief Minister to accomplish this. [6]
A miffed Bagga later wrote an open letter, circulated on Facebook, and termed the event as political immersion of TMC.
Malda Riots
Malda district of West Bengal saw a violent reaction from Muslim groups to the hate speech by Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari.
The minority group was protesting against Tiwari saying his speech had derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed. Violent Muslim protestors got into an argument with the driver of the bus (NBSTC) and the next moment passengers had to get off the bus because the protesters set it on fire.
The protesters held tall green flags and marched on the National Highway (NH)-34 on Sunday.
Nearly two dozen police vehicles, including one belonging to India’s border-guarding agency Border Security Force (BSF), was set on fire and Malda’s Kaliachak police station was ransacked by a violent crowd in the Muslim-dominated Sujapur area in the district.
All the records that were stored in files and computers were destroyed. The violent mob also attacked the BDO office at Kaliachak-I, they went to Khaltipur railway station and squatted on the railway tracks in protest. When the police reached the spot to take control of the situation, a clash broke out injuring several cops on duty.
Due to the ruckus, the shops were shut down and Muslim protesters also looted some nearby houses. To tackle the situation, Rapid Action Force (RAF) was called.
Even after this huge mob violence, just ten people were detained and sent to a police custody of six days. [11]
Dhulagarh Riots
On 13 and 14 December 2016, infuriated Muslim mobs attacked and looted shops and houses of the local Hindus and set them on fire in Dhulagarh in Howrah district of West Bengal following an altercation on 12 December 2016 between processionists and local residents who observing religious rituals. The mob that was celebrating Milad ul Nabi can ready with bombs and attacked the local Hindu residents.
An FIR had been filed against a Zee News reporter Pooja Mehta and cameraperson Tanmay Mukherjee for covering the Dhulagarh riots, claims channel’s editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary. The FIR also includes the name of Sudhir Chaudhary. The action taken against them by Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has irked the veteran journalist. Expressing his disgust on social media, Sudhir termed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as ‘intolerant’ and accused her of using state machinery to suppress the voice of independent media.
“The FIR has non bailable sections which is enough to gauge their intentions to arrest me and my colleagues,” Sudhir said in his Facebook post. “Pooja Mehta is just 25 and got the taste of Mamata’s intolerance so early in life in the form of a non bailable FIR. This is what a young girl reporter getting to learn from a woman chief minister who claims to be the champion of democracy,” he further added.
Siddharth Nath Singh of BJP accused the minority cell of Trinamool Congress of actively engineering the riots. The BJP claimed attackers were brought in from outside to create trouble in the presence of Trinamool Congress MLA Gulshan Mullick. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha M.P. Roopa Ganguly had alleged that Gulshan Mullick was present when the violence was taking place. Roopa Ganguly said that attackers had also come from Metiabruz and other places.
Romance with Jamaat-i-Islami
The leaders of Bangladeshi extremist group Jamaat-i-Islami were openly canvassing for Trinamool in the 2014 elections. The absence of any strong legal actions against such demonstrations by the law enforcement machinery raises some serious questions about the integrity of the political leadership of the state. [12]
TMC MP Ahmed Hassan Imran has been in the eye of a storm for his alleged links with Saradha chit Fund Company and hardline Bangladesh Islamist outfit, Jamaat-e-Islami. TMC also sent Ahmed Hassan Imran to Rajya Sabha. The MP had joined terror outfit SIMI in 1977. [13]
Association with Imam Barkati
Mamata Banerjee’s association with motor mouth Imam Barkati, former religious head of Tipu Sultan mosque, had been on BJP’s target as the Imam made extremely controversial statements as low as giving rewards to anyone who shaves Prime Minister’s head. Imam Barkati has himself commented on having a hold over thousands of mosques within West Bengal which help float votes of minority in one direction.
Why a sudden shift towards Hindu appeasement?
BJP’s vote-share surge in the recent Sabang and Dakshin Kanthi by-poll suggest that the regular political narrative is being challenged.
Interestingly, BJP didn’t have much of a presence in these places. Yet, in Dakshin Kanthi, it came second, with increased vote-share by 12%. In Sabang, it secured 19% vote-share compared to 2.5% in 2016 assembly polls.
It seems PM Modi successfully integrating OBCs, SCs and STs into the Hindutva fold may have shaken Mamata’s minority resolve. Being an OBC himself, Modi has broken BJP’s image of being exclusively for upper-caste Hindus.
Now, Mamata Banerjee has risen to the challenge. Apart from renovating temples, Mamata is also upgrading tribal burial grounds and providing employment opportunities to middle-class youth in the reserved category.This may have compelled Mamata to bow but what about the tax payers’ money being diverted mostly towards budgetary allocations for madrassas and minority affairs? [15]
[11] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-malda-riots/1/563613.html
[12] http://www.huffingtonpost.in/abhinav-pandya/malda-riots-and-the-shock_b_9004020.html
