Is ongoing post-poll violence in Bengal an offshoot of Mamata’s legacy politics?

Experts in the recent past warned of foreboding “Demography is Destiny”. Despite the wise counsel, Indians chose to disregard it. Then the Bengal Elections happened. Political analysts across the board propounded various postulates for the unstoppable electoral triumph of TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee. Mamata’s landslide victory for a third time in a row winning over two-thirds seats amid poor or insignificant economic development, lack of employment opportunities and communal fissures surprised many. In this make or break kind of election for Mamata, Left and Congress drew blank and the newly formed pan-Islamic front ISF managed a single seat and BJP which was confident of forming a government ended up with 77 seats. The results point to an unequivocal vote consolidation. In fact, Muslim vote consolidation has instrumental for Banerjee’s stupendous victory.

Just moments after the election results were declared, BJP’s Arambagh’s office was reduced to ashes, Suvendu Adhikari’s car was attacked, BJP karyakarthas were chased, hunted and murdered. A sudden burst of violence gripped the state. The callous response of the state machinery, law and order agencies seemingly indicated as if there was an unsigned agreement to unveil a pogrom on political rivals.

Even during the election campaigning, the incumbent party supremo made secret of her intentions in several videos that appeared on the social media including an open threat to political challengers. But the brutal murder of hapless citizens for exercising their basic constitutional right of choosing and voting a political entity of their choice has sent shock waves across the country. Though political violence isn’t uncommon in Bengal, the current episode of pogrom which hovered on the margins of political terrorism has been a rude shock to everyone and especially to BJP. Having clinched the reigns for the second time with a brute majority, people had high expectations from the party to defend, protect and save them from these political killings.

But the abject apathy and helplessness expressed by the party in the dire crisis left them dejected and disappointed. Besides BJP the offices of other political parties were raided and destroyed. Barring strong worded tweets, not a single party worth its grain came out openly to condemn this macabre of violence unleashed on the citizens of Bengal, mostly Hindus. Hailing the restoration of Democracy in Bengal, Congress party has brazened it out and preferred to remain a mute spectator. While the inaction of BJP warrants a detailed discussion, the stoic silence of all political parties and their ecosystem to the grievous murder and massacre of BJP workers who majorly included Hindus should be a cause of concern.

For eons, selective outrage and filtering the events through communal prism has become order of the day reaching its zenith in the Modi regime. The caustic condemnation has always been reserved for the Hindus irrespective of the genesis and repercussions of the events. But the post-election violence in Bengal with all the makings of an insurgency must be investigated and quelled with brute force and authority if needed.

Under the garb of secularism, Indian authorities have lived in a denial for a fear of angering the minority, which by no account can be deemed as minority with their population touching 200 crores. Muslim population in Bengal which was 12% at the time of partition has reached 30% in some districts. Finding the Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration as a potential vote bank successive political leadership turned a blind eye to their unrestrained infiltration disregarding the impending consequences on the delicate social fabric and national security. In Murshidabad, Muslims are the dominant population making up for close to 70%.

As the Muslim population began to swell, riots, restrictions on free speech and religion have become integral to society. Incidentally, the six Muslim majority districts of Bengal- Malda, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Uttar Dinajpur, Birbhum have turned into safe havens for Islamists and hotbeds for communal clashes. Thanks to Muslim population explosion which doesn’t follow family planning their votes are now a crucial factor in deciding the poll outcome of 100 seats.

Despite several alerts from the National Security Agencies, the government of the day refrained from imposing stringent checks on the nefarious activities emanating from these regions. On the contrary, apprehensive of falling foul with Muslims, parties heaped special privileges, financial sops to win their favour.

Leveraging the vote bank, the community began penetrating all the agencies- political processes, law enforcement and media. Together, these developments have heralded Bengal into a state where curbs on religious practices and freedom of speech have become a regular feature. Already, some regions in Murshidabad are given into implementing the doctrine and religious practices of Shariah. Change in demography has slowly but inexorably changed the socio-political attributes of the state.

Since the turn of the century, governments began to acquiesce the demands of blasphemy and the Kolkata riots in 2007 against Taslima Nasreen has been first major signal of the pluralistic Bengal society yielding to intolerant factions. Unrelenting protests forced the state to call Army for help.

After Mamata took over as Chief Minister, she doubled up Muslim appeasement. Religious fundamentalism thrived. In response to homicide of a Mullah in 2013 in Naliakhali village, communally motivated people unleashed a wave of violence and burnt down over 200 Hindu homes and displaced 2000 people. Most of the riots were fomented and actively supported by SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and ISI. Investigation agencies during their raid on the banned outfit SIMI recovered a map of a separate Caliphate, Mughalistan for Muslims of India comprising parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of Northern India¹.

Mamata’s Muslim pandering is enabling the radical Islamist outfits, who are rooting for second partition of India to expand their foothold. Envisaged as a large corridor running through the Indo-Gangetic plain to include the Muslim majority regions of India, Mughalistan was developed by Mughalstan Research Institute (MRI), Bangladesh with the patronage of ISI and Bangladesh’s Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). It is believed to be a part of Zia-ul-Haq’s Operation Tupac, a grandiose plan to balkanise India².

Natural corollary of Muslim dominance has been targeted violent attacks on Hindus. The plummeting Hindu population in Bangladesh and Pakistan serve as prime examples. This thumb rule has no exceptions in West Bengal either where riots are common place especially in border regions. Hindu homes, places of worship and businesses are selectively destroyed raising “Naara-e-takbeer” slogans.

Offering a deeper insight about the repercussions of explosion of Muslim population to non-Muslim societies, Janet Levy in the article- “The Muslim Takeover of Bengal” in 2015, warned of serious implications³. Written in the context of the implications of a growing Muslim population in the non-Muslim societies, as a caution to European countries planning to offer shelter to Muslim refugees, Janet refers to the gradual transmogrification of West Bengal.

Since her ascension to power, Mamata has invested heavily in cultivating her vote bank through special allowances to Mullahs, regularising over 10,000 Saudi-funded Madrassas (indoctrination centres) built exclusive townships, hospitals, universities, colleges and hostels for Muslims. Offered subsidies and scholarship to Muslim youth. Under her watch the number of Muslim legislators has also increased. To earn their sympathies, she even recited the Kalima Shahadat, an Islamic conversion prayer amidst Imams.

The results are for us to see. Muslims vote along the lines dictated by Imams. Having won the favours of Imams, Mamata ramped home victory with thumping majority.

Under her regime, entire Hindu villages in Muslim majority districts are being targeted, terrorised and forced to convert. Hindu women are molested, raped forcing families to flee to safer areas for livelihood selling their lands and houses. Hindus temples are vandalised or destroyed, Hindu leaders are killed and festivals are not allowed to be celebrated. Hindu population is steadily depleting in the border regions. The demographics of the region are now being altered.

Bengal is now Kashmir in making. The well-orchestrated pogrom which is now passed off as post-poll violence against BJP workers is in fact a targeted attempt to persecute Hindus. Reports now indicate that Hindus across the party lines are targeted and that nearly 1 lakh Bengalis have fled since the eruption of violence on May 2^nd. Hemanta Biswa Sharma, BJP Assam leader took to twitter to inform that 450 Bengalis crossed over to Assam⁴. Incidentally, the ongoing post-poll violence is an offshoot of Mamata’s appeasement politics. 14 BJP workers are killed in these targeted attacks.

India’s partition in 1947, the forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and rapid Islamisation of Kashmir valley are grim reminders of how Islamic expansionism dictated by Islamic doctrines and augured by demographic dominance work. India has thus far paid heavy price for failing to learn lessons from the past and heeding to warnings. Unfortunately, Bengal which reeled under barbaric Direct Action Day is reliving the harrowing experiences through these periodic unremitting attacks.

Power greedy politicians and the secular lobbies are shamelessly offering cover to the fundamentalists perpetrating soft jihad in India. While Hindu unity can alone repulse and snuff out the roots of Islamic fanaticism, intellectuals must explore legal measures to curb the unrestrained appeasement. Above all, India must institute constitutional remedial measures outlawing any attempts to balkanise India.

 

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