How Violence Against Hindus Became An Organic Part Of Politics In Bengal

Bengal is known for the intellectuals and spiritual saints of India that shaped the course of humanity is now witnessing violence and pogroms against Hindus and the political party that Hindus of West Bengal supported. In the latest elections conducted for the State legislative assembly Trinamool Congress won the elections amid the speculations by exit polls stating that TMC may loose the popularity that it enjoyed in the past owing to the emergence of Bharatiya Janata Party as the second largest party or principal opposition in state legislature. BJP which traditionally enjoys the support from Hindus across the country has been source of anxiety for the party cadres of TMC. TMC which is known for rowdy history used violence's as a means to threaten the people and stay in Power. In the post poll violence that took place in last one week many party workers who are predominantly Hindus belonging to the opposition BJP party were brutally attacked and killed for being part of BJP during the elections. Interestingly, media outlets in Anglosphere has conveniently ignored the violence's as they always did whenever there was a violence's against Hindus or incidents involving Hinduphobia.

Abhijit Sarkar a leader of the BJP’s trade union from Kolkata lost his life after he was allegedly attacked and lynched by the TMC mob. Just before his death, he came live on a Facebook to bring the incident to public knowledge. He showed how TMC’s alleged goons were vandalizing his house. He said his pet dog had been beaten to death by TMC workers. Before elections, a top rank TMC leader raised slogans like ‘Khela hobe, Bhoyonkor Khala Hobe’, which translates to ‘The Game is On dangerous One’. According to BJP, more than 140 party workers has been the victim of political violence. Since the election results were declared, the death toll reached 14 in West Bengal violence. PM Modi had called Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar expressing concern about the deteriorating law and order situation is West Bengal.. Indic Collective Trust has moved the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the Constitutional machinery in the State of West Bengal has broken down broken within the meaning of Article 356 in the State. When asked about the situation, CM Ms. Banerjee claimed that the Election Commission (EC) had taken the charge of West Bengal for the last three months and there was little she could do. However, soon after the ‘swearing-in ceremony, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar sent out a sharp message to the Chief Minister Ms. Banerjee over the post-poll violence in West Bengal. This is not the first time Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had expressed concerns regarding the law-and-order situation of West Bengal.

If we look back at the history of West Bengal’s political violence, there have been several jaw-dropping incidents. One of the most horrific incidents that is worth mentioning is the killing and burning of 16 sadhus and a sadhvi belonging to Ananda Marga at Bijon Setu, near Ballygunge, Kolkata in West Bengal, India, on 30 April 1982. Despite the attacks being carried out in broad daylight, no arrests were ever made. But this was also a time when a radical Left movement emerged from Naxalbari. With the aim of waging war against the State and winning power through the barrel of the gun, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) engaged in the “annihilation of class enemies”—which, translated into reality from theory, meant the killings of landowners as well as all those elements the party decided were serving the regime.

In fact, there is a popular term in West Bengal ‘Harmad’, derived from a Dutch word ‘armada’, which means pirates or goons known for their brutality. CPIM is now almost non-existent in West Bengal in terms of electoral politics, but it seems CPIM, left a legacy of political violence.

But there is more to it, recently there has been huge trespassing through the porous borders between India and Bangladesh, which might have altered the demography of West Bengal. There have been several reports that Bangladeshi citizens have been issued voter cards in West Bengal. Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP), the ruling party in India a few years back on December 12, 2019, showed interest to roll out the nationwide implementation of the NRC, which aimed to document all the legal citizens of India so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported. There were violent riots in West Bengal apparently and other parts of India against NRC implementation. TMC had firmly stood against the NRC implementation. BJP contested the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal and challenged the ruling party. This process of issuing voter cards to illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. started while CPIM was ruling West Bengal. In 2005, then opposition leader Ms. Banerjee, an opposition lawmaker, believed that "infiltration into Bengal has become a disaster now" and there were Bangladesh nationals on the voting list.

MilindParande, Secretary-General Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), said, “The Hindu community in West Bengal is scarred for life, and the state administration is sitting with its eyes closed.” Reports are coming from every corner in the state that the properties of BJP supporters are being destroyed. Several reports suggested that women were raped but the police have denied the claims. Other reports suggest many BJP workers were lynched to death by TMC goons. Milind Pandey added that TMC goons have been attacking properties belonging to Hindus, but the Police are sitting as mute spectators. “Over a dozen people have lost their lives. Countless houses, shops, temples, colonies, and business establishments have been destroyed in the state,”

According to a report by India Today, around 400 families of BJP workers amid post-poll violence fled West Bengal and took shelter in the neighboring state of Assam. Based on testimonials in online videos floating in social media, Hindus are being targeted selectively. After the exodus of BJP workers, mostly Hindus, a question is floating in social media, are we heading towards another Hindu genocide after Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of Kashmir in 1989, hopefully not. JP Nadda, BJP President compared the violence in West Bengal to Direct Action Day. Direct Action Day also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings, was a day of a nationwide protest by the Indian Muslim community announced by Jinnah, who said that he wanted “either a divided India or a destroyed India”

Author: Frederik Banerjee

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