In yet another shocking incident emerging from Bardhman in the state of West Bengal, some miscreants alleged to be TMC workers have vandalized a Pandal set up by BJP workers to celebrate Ram Navmi. At least four people got injured in the shameful and unfortunate incident. The police have started investigations into the matter. Meanwhile, the BJP has hit out at the TMC, alleging that the ruling party in West Bengal was behind the incident.
Ram Navmi celebrations, like any other Hindu festival, have been giving sleepless nights to the TMC and the CPM. The BJP has emerged as a new political force in the state and has revived the hope of a better political alternative among the repressed Bengali Hindus. This is why Ram Navmi celebrations have become the focal point of Bengal politics in the recent past. So much so, that even CPM planned to carry out a rally on the eve of the festival. The BJP had planned a rally on Ram Navmi, i.e. today. However, the Mamata government has continued the obnoxious practice of banning processions on Hindu festivals. The Mamata government used the excuse of maintaining communal harmony and peace for banning this rally. However, what one fails to understand is how this act of the alleged TMC workers who vandalized the pandal, will help her maintain communal harmony and peace in West Bengal.
There is another angle to this attack and Mamata’s insistence on blocking Ram Navmi celebrations on some pretext or the other. The state is headed for panchayat elections in the month of May. Mamata has become infamous among the Hindus for her repeated appeasement of the minorities, her incompetence in face of anti-Hindu riots and her dictatorial way of denying the Hindus their fundamental right to celebrate major festivals. The CPM has lost its support base in the state long ago, and it is only BJP which stands to gain in such circumstances. Therefore, the attack on the Pandal that the BJP workers set up, can be seen as an attempt to stifle Hindus and check the BJP’s growing popularity in the state. The way BJP managed to upset the left front in Tripura and score a landslide victory would have also sent alarm bells ringing for Mamata.
It is the fundamental responsibility of the state to provide protection to all its citizens and uphold their freedom. It seems the TMC government has abdicated this primary responsibility. This is yet another illustration of how unsafe Hindus are under the Mamata administration in the state of West Bengal. They are openly attacked if they attempt to exercise their right of freely professing and propagating their religion, and the government instead of bringing these hooligans to justice, decides to impose further restrictions on the Hindus of the state.
It is not for the first time that West Bengal has witnessed incidents of hooliganism by the workers of the ruling party, or that an attempt has been made to stifle the Hindus. Last year itself, Mamata had chosen Islam over Hinduism in a bid to impress her voter base, and she had banned Durga Puja when it clashed with Muharram. The TMC workers have a long history of attacking BJP workers. Last year in January, they had attacked a BJP office in Kolkata, and Mamata instead started blaming BJP instead of reining in the goons of her party. The intensification in TMC attacks however can be attributed to the fear in the rank and file of the party, of losing their position in the state. There is widespread resentment among the repressed Hindus in the state and a BJP upsurge in West Bengal is inevitable.