The mass violence being perpetrated in the state of West Bengal by TMC goons after their party’s landslide victory on Sunday has caught the attention of the nation – more so of Indian nationalists and staunch BJP supporters. Perhaps for the first time in the last seven years, there is a growing sense of discontent within the party’s support base regarding the BJP’s efforts to save its karyakartas from being killed, raped and harassed by goons of the ruling party in the state. The BJP’s lackadaisical attitude has convinced many that the safety of Hindus in general, in face of a hostile regime in Bengal, lies with them alone.
In such trying times, the need of the hour is for the Hindus of Bengal to unite. In face of a demographic invasion which under the next five years of a TMC rule will only get exacerbated, there is no other way for the state’s Hindus to protect themselves. A disunited house is easy to tear into, and usually, is among the first which is targeted by the enemy. As the institutionalised hostility towards the Hindus of West Bengal rises here on, the only strategy which the community as a whole must adopt is that of trying to unite itself not as a luxury, but as a desperate survival mechanism. As heartless as this might sound – to demand the unity of Bengali Hindus as a survival mechanism, it is the only thing that can keep bloodthirsty mobs of the other side at bay.
The unity among Bengali Hindus in West Bengal, going forward, must be such that if one Hindu household in a colony, or rather, para is attacked, all people must stand up as one and answer the aggressors unitedly. There is no other way about it. Hindus should stop depending on a particular government to protect them and realise that their only defence is a united front. Singularly, every Hindu protecting only themselves or their families will always end up falling prey to the mob culture in West Bengal. To counter that, Hindus must themselves unite and become a force to be reckoned with. The mentality of someone ‘else’ being attacked thereby not necessitating ‘your’ reaction or outrage must be trashed by the Bengalis.
It is widely known that Hindu culture is best manifested where the society lives like a joint family. The concept of joint families is what formed the soul of bhāratavarṣa. We even read accounts of the Hindu society as one, which has widely declined in modern India. As a result, we now see Hindus being hounded and attacked by just about anybody. The best example in recent days is the political violence in Bengal where Hindus are being wildly harassed and targeted for merely their political choices.
Had Bengali Hindus nurtured the concept of joint families, especially in the urban pockets of West Bengal, no mob would have dared lay their hands on them. However, this is no time for retrospectively sobbing about something which could have been done. The only remedy which Hindus in Bengal can come up with immediately is to unite. Currently, they are not united. Also, they need to give up their fear of the TMC and take it head-on instead. Of course, this is easier said than done, but it must be done nonetheless. Hindus cannot eternally be victims of TMC, or for that matter, any party in the state which uses violence as a tool to ride to power.
Hence, it becomes an absolute need of the hour for Hindu Bengalis to realise that their future in West Bengal under the current regime is far from bright. Close to 450 Hindus have been forced to flee to neighbouring Assam fearing persecution by the TMC. Could the Hindus of Bengal not rise up against the state government and make it known that such an exodus of Bengali Hindus from their own state will not be tolerated? They most certainly could have. That they did not should become a reason for them to wake up to the calamity facing them in the eye.