Tarakeswar temple in Hooghly district of West Bengal is a holy pilgrimage site for the Hindus. Thousands of devotees visit Tarakeswar temple every year to pray at the Jyotirlinga in the temple premises. The 288 years old Tarakeswar temple is also an important site for the Shaiva sect in West Bengal. Subramanian Swamy held talks with the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC leader Derek ‘o’ Brian in Calcutta. In her relentless pursuit of minority appeasement, Mamata Banerjee had caused controversy in 2017 with the decision to appoint Firhad ‘Bobby’ Hakim as the chairman of Tarakeswar Development Board. Firhad Hakim is the Urban Development Minister in the government of West Bengal and has had a notorious past. Firhad Hakim was one of the many Trinamool Congress leaders who were caught taking bribes in the Narada sting operation, the case is still being investigated by the CBI. Firhad Hakim also triggered a huge controversy when he described Garden Reach as “mini-pakistan” to media personnel of the Pakistan’s daily, ‘The Dawn’. The Dawn reporter Maleeha Hamid was reportedly told “Please come along and let us take you to mini-Pakistan in Kolkata.” by Firhad Hakim as the reporter accompanied him to cover the pre-election campaigning in 2016.
The appointment of Firhad Hakim as the chairman of Tarakeswar Development Board did not serve any other purpose than minority appeasement politics of Mamata Banerjee and TMC. Firhad Hakim had no prior experience in managing a religious trust, especially that of a Hindu temple. He has no idea of the needs of the devotees who come to visit the temples. His earlier remarks have also proved his anti-Indian and anti-Hindu mindset. It was, therefore, an ill-advised decision by Mamata Banerjee to appoint Firhad Hakim on this post. BJP leaders such as Subramanian Swamy and others had condemned this decision made by the TMC leader. Subramian Swamy had promised to set up a legal bench to challenge the decision of Mamata Banerjee government regarding the Tarakeswar temple.
Subramanian Swamy reached Calcutta today to discuss the matter of Tarakeswar temple with CM Mamata Banerjee. The nature and purpose of visit was more official than political in nature. The talks held in Nabana between Subramanian Swamy and Mamata Banerjee were a successful one. Mamata understood the concern of Subramanian Swamy and convinced him that there would be no interference in temple matters by the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department.
Swami had this to say after the talking with Mamata, “I am very satisfied with what was discussed and she was very clear and forthright. She said very clearly that as far as Tarakeswar Temple is concerned, the religious activities will be entirely looked after by the trustees but beautification of the nearby areas will be carried out by the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs department.”
This is another win in a string of successes by Subramanian Swamy related to temple cases. He had earlier freed the Nataraja temple from the clutches of the Tamil Nadu government by moving to the Supreme Court. The administration of the temple was given back to the priests after the SC ruling came in their favour in January 2014. Subramanian Swamy is also a petitioner in the Rama temple at Ayodhya case which is still ongoing in the SC. His past campaigns against 2G scams and black money are too well known and Mamata Banerjee took a wise decision to take heed the advice of Swamy.