No communal clashes but Onslaughts on Hindus have surged in Bengal

However late it is, people are discerning the worsening communal situation in Bengal fast and at the moment, this happens to be the only silver lining.  And this mood is being found everywhere whether it is in online social networking services or comment sections underneath any online news or even in marketplaces. At the same time, it is also true that issues pondered by these observers are nothing but tip of the iceberg whereas the malice is already deep-rooted. Press and electronic media in Bengal unlike Bangladesh prefer to skip the precarious subject and this vacuum leads to misgivings only. If government’s records are studied painstakingly, there are enough reasons to get worried. According to records, while the number of communal clashes were limited between 12 and 40 for five years at a stretch till 2012, it surged to 106 in 2013 and in the majority of cases, if not more, Hindus have been caught unaware and tortured. Not a single district is in the state where such baleful activities have not occurred yet. And in all these cases, both administration and police have been found highly partisan or favoring one community; either radical Muslims or assailants have been let off in all these cases. In a few cases, assailants have been brought before the justice too but thanks to the hollow reports of police, they have also been freed as soon as possible.  

Will it be fair to paint these incidents in the color of communal frenzy then? According to political pundits, it can’t be since in almost all cases there have been premeditated attacks of Islamists (backed by local administration) and Hindus have found themselves impromptu entirely. Hence, no resistance could be built up and Hindus along with their families were ravaged on the whole. It is worth to mention, such vicious attempts have both vitiated the atmosphere and also polarized Bengal on religious grounds.  And all these make Bengal as one of the most communally sensitive states in India.

Without doubt, Lefts were also found to pamper the minority Muslim community for the sake of votes but their assurances to better them remained in words only. Truly, there was no considerable development among Muslims during the 34-year long Left rule. However, Hindu SC/ST and OBCs with high caste Hindus do also shared the same fate simultaneously. The saga changed with the ascension of Trinamool Congress and their barefaced sycophancy to Muslims. Ranging from declaration of allowances for Imams or Muazzins, compensation of Rs. 2 lakh for each person (mostly Muslims) died in the infamous hooch tragedy in Bengal on 2011, bringing almost 99% of Muslims in Bengal under OBC category to a surge in pro-Muslim projects with schemes to assuming hijab and offering namaz in public by Mamata Banerjee, all issues have impacted the general life highly and also incited radical Muslims to wage recurrent onslaughts against Hindus. The gruesome incidents that happened on February 19, 2013 at Naliakhali and three other adjoining villages within Canning in the district of South 24 Paraganas following the murder of Moulavi Rohul Kuddus exposed the brutal reality. It was not any spontaneous attack or retribution but a designed anti-Hindu pogrom contrived by Islamists (enjoying confidence of local administration) to exterminate Hindus from the very areas racially. Partisan attitudes of police and administration against despoiled and maimed Hindus thereafter exhibited how political parties yield to radical Muslims for electoral benefits.

There has been no different treatment to Hindus till now and all political parties, not Trinamool Congress only, are culpable.  As a result, if Hindus are anxious seeing the writing on the wall and also fate of their coreligionists in Bangladesh, their reactions are apt and meaningful. Surge in attacks on Hindus and not communal clashes have polarized the state. Will there be any reflection of this in the impending Lok Sabha, 2014 election? Only time will tell.

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.