Muslim Cleric Dictates Bengal Chief Minister to Block Salman Rushdie’s Visit to Kolkata

Are we in a civilized state?

It’s official now – Bengal Chief Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, was wholly instrumental to block the visit of Salman Rushdie, internationally acclaimed author, to Kolkata and she acted thus on the dictation rather than advice of an Islamic cleric, Maulana Barkati, Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque. And this has been claimed by none except the Imam himself while there has not been any approach from the Bengal government or CM’s office yet to nullify it.

On the word of Imam, "I spoke to Mamata Banerjee when she was in Darjeeling. Just one day before Salman was to come ...He was supposed to come in the morning. I got to know the night before. She said don't worry, I won't let him come. You don't worry. Ours is a secular state. It will remain secular. Mamata said he was a shaitan."

This statement has been rocking the mainstream media and hence, it can’t be termed as a mere fabrication of Hindu activists, hounded by the same government time and again.

The truth behind the entire development has been strengthened by Sultan Ahmed, Trinamool MP, who without any qualms stated, "If the West Bengal government stopped him from coming, then I congratulate the government, I congratulate Mamata Banerjee." Idris Ali, All India Minority Forum president and Trinamool Congress leader who played a key role in expelling Taslima Nasreen from Kolkata in 2007, said, “the chief minister wants communal harmony in the state. I congratulate her, the police and the administration for taking proper decisions in maintaining peace”.

Perhaps the entire development makes a staunch secularist (who believes at least that secularism denotes a doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations and a truly secular state has no business with any religion in particular) ashamed and also believe that everything in contemporary Bengal is moving towards a wrong direction and is ruining its own political fabric steadily.

The unfortunate incident brings forth another reality too – how a Chief Minister can stoop for own political benefits – to go for Muslim appeasement blatantly disregarding constitutional duties.

Even if Salman Rushdie has lashed out the Bengal government, it will definitely fail to make Ms. Mamata Banerjee, Bengal CM, realize her own gigantic blunders. She is in the chair for bettering Muslims only while others in the state, let alone Hindus, will have to remain high and dry.

We are in a weird democracy where democracy is guaranteed to all constitutionally but the political power (to implement it perfectly) rests with rouges, rascals, freebooters and certainly shameless appeasers to Muslim radicals.  

Hindu Samhati regularly monitors and reports violations against Hindus in West Bengal. We also work with both governmental and NGO agencies for proper education on protection and ensure remedies to the Hindu populace as per prevailing law of the land.