A totally different kind of non-cooperation movement is taking its shape in the Mamata Banerjee ruled West Bengal. Bengali Hindus, fed up with their opportunities being snatched away by illegal Bangladeshis have decided to silently boycott them, in turn, setting them in for huge financial losses.
Raas Mela is turning out to be a bane for Bangladeshi traders
Like every year, small and big traders were all set to garner huge profits by setting their products up for sale in the annual Raas Mela organised in the Cooch Behar district of the Northern part of Bengal. These traders encompass people from all over India as well as Bangladesh. However, as it turned out, Bangladeshi traders were in for a huge surprise.
Bengali Hindus refused to buy any product from Bangladeshi sellers in the Mela. According to a report by Rising Bengal, Bangladeshi traders were effectively chasing flies during the Mela as Bengali Hindus decided to boycott them as a symbol of protest against the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh during the recent Durga Pooja Mahaotsav.
Silent non-cooperation won’t allow Muslims to play the victim card
According to local Hindus, arranging Dharna and protests against the Bangladeshi traders was yet another option discussed by them. But, the community decided not to take a ‘pseudo intellectual’ root of resistance. The Hindus of the region opined that if they would organise any Dharna or any form of formal opposition, it would have been used against them by Muslims as they would start playing victim cards against them.
Muslims playing the victim card would invite people from urban-elite intellectual and secular classes to rally a media campaign against Hindus. Pseudo victimisation played by Muslims is the main reason behind Hindus using whispering campaigns. Under this campaign, words have been passed among the local Hindu community to not buy any product from foreign traders in the Mela. Hindus vowed that this year Bangladeshi traders would return empty-handed from the annual festival.
Raas Mela and Cooch Behar have Hindu Legacy behind them
Raas Mela is a 200-year old festival, organised annually by the district administration of Cooch Behar. It is organised by Cooch Behar Municipality in the Ras Mela ground near ABN Seal College. The Mela is a major tourist attraction which translates into Cooch Behar becoming a major economic hub of Bengal during the Mela. Bangladeshi traders are also allowed to sell their products to the majorly Hindu community of the district.
Over the years, the Mela which was supposed to be an event that would benefit local businesspersons has started to cater to Bangladeshi traders. Moreover, the local businesses providing fuel to the Mela are also being slowly replaced by businesses from illegal Bangladeshi flocking into the Mamata ruled state.
The dominance of Bangladeshis in the fair is in stark contrast to the on-ground historical truth of Cooch Behar. During the British era, Cooch Behar was ruled by the rulers of the Koch Kingdom, who are believed to be the descendants of Bhagwan Shiv. The district holds a legacy of being the maternal home of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. Except for a short interval of invasion by Aurangzeb, the district has thousands of years old Hindu history behind it.
Incessant Bangladeshi immigration is affecting Cooch Behar as well
As it happened with every other region of Bengal, Cooch Behar also started to take a secular turn. People (majority of whom were Muslims) displaced from Bangladesh started to take shelter in the district and over a period of time, they were provided local documents by various governments to replace their displaced identity with formal citizenship of India. The current Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government helped in exponentially increasing Bangladeshi immigrants in the state to garner more Muslim votes.
Read more: Under Mamata’s rule in Bengal, even Bangladeshis are getting MNREGA payment
Hindu voters and their taxes are being used against them by the Mamata government
The local voters and taxpayers are the ones who had to pay the ultimate price for their government catering to Bangladeshi needs. The Hindus who in turn formed a major chunk of vote banks in bringing Mamata to power ended up getting punished by them for their loyalty. It’s tough to say whether it was intentional, but Mamata’s Muslim appeasing immigration policy seemed to be designed to hurt Bengali Hindus.
Read more: As Amit Shah prepares to drive out illegal immigrants, Mamata Banerjee is making Bangladeshis regular citizens
The rural Hindus who have started this silent boycott are giving a clear message to Mamata Banerjee administration as well as their pseudo-intellectuals, liberals, leftists, and Islamists that they won’t be taking any secular messages from them. It’s time that the original Bengali spirit ingrained in the rural Hindus of Bengal should be heard rather than their urban elites who speak only to impress their Ivy League masters.