Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged “Hindu brothers and sisters” to protect Muslims during the holy month of Ramazan.
The appeal was issued ahead of Hanuman Jayanti, scheduled on April 6, and against the backdrop of sporadic communal clashes in the state during the Ram Navami celebrations in Howrah and Rishra in Hooghly.
“I would like to put our people on alert for April 6. We do respect Bajrangbali. But they (the BJP) may have plans to create riots,” Mamata said, seeking to sensitise people about the saffron camp’s polarisation agenda.
The chief minister not only instructed the state administration to be vigilant to thwart any attempts to create communal disharmony but also appealed to the people at large to help the minority community.
“There should not be any atrocities against Muslims in the month of Ramazan. My Hindu brothers and sisters will protect them and save them in every village. They are a minority. They should get justice,” Mamata said at a programme in Khejuri, around 120km from Calcutta, in East Midnapore.
With her appeal, the Bengal chief minister touched upon a topic that B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, had broached in the immediate aftermath of India’s independence when the country was reeling under communal conflict.
Referring to the growing fanaticism against minorities in the turbulent days after Independence, Ambedkar had said: “… the minorities in India have agreed to place their existence in the hands of the majority…. They have loyally accepted the rule of the majority, which is basically a communal majority and not a political majority. It is for the majority to realise its duty not to discriminate against minorities.”
Against the backdrop of the strife in parts of Bengal over the past few days over Ram Navami — a festival that was never part of the cultural legacy in the state and was imported by the saffron camp since it became a potent force after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections — Mamata’s appeal to the majority community assumes significance.
The chief minister took care to explain the various facets of intolerance witnessed in the past few days in the name of Ram Navami celebrations.
“We have seen riots in the BJP regime. I want to know why Ram Navami processions are continuing even five days after the festival. And that too with guns and bulldozers…. There have been instances of people dancing with guns,” Mamata said, referring to footage from the Ram Navami procession in Howrah on Thursday.
“They are entering minority areas…. They are setting fruit carts on fire,” she added, suggesting that deliberate efforts are being made by the saffron ecosystem to create a rift between the two communities.
Mamata was in Khejuri —adjacent to Nandigram, from where she lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikaroi in the 2021 Assembly polls — for a government programme during which she unveiled a slew of projects in the district and handed over benefits under various welfare schemes to a select group of beneficiaries.
Although Mamata began her address by describing the “relentless efforts” of her government to offer a better deal to the people of the state, she spent considerable time explaining how the BJP was trying to create disharmony among Hindus and Muslims.
Sources close to her said that the chief minister, who doesn’t follow a written script, probably spoke on the issue as she was receiving constant reports from the administration about the rising tension in various parts of the state after scores of saffron camp leaders hit the streets to capitalise on clashes over Ram Navami celebrations.
Several BJP leaders — both at the state and the central levels — spent the day talking about the RamNavami clashes, which the state administration managed to control without any loss of life, and criticising the state administration’s alleged policy of pampering “one particular community”.
From demanding the chief minister’s resignation to spreading the word about the Centre’s possible intervention in Bengal because of the “alleged deterioration “in the law and order situation”, the saffron ecosystem went on an overdrive to create an impression that the majority Hindu community was not safe in the state.
Such a perception is the menacing backdrop for large-scale communal violence, said a retired IPS officer.
“It is clear that the attempt is to create a sense of fear in the minds of the majority community so that they engage in violence…. This is a dangerous ploy. The chief minister did the right thing by trying to sensitise the Hindu community about its duties. The administration alone cannot tackle the challenge when all-out efforts are on to create riots,” said the retired officer.
