Anti-Hindu Atrocities in Hindu-Majority India's Hindu-Majority West Bengal State, 2017 & Before
Note: In general Hindu-majority Kolkata (Calcutta) and West Bengal state media, including dailies, influenced by anti-Hindu lobby censored the news yet most citizens of the world learned about the atrocities through secular and tolerant social media. While press in India usually do not disclose names of alleged offenders when they are minor, but not in this case. The name of a Hindu teenager was published who had supposedly offended Muslims as he allegedly mentioned that the Holy site in Mecca has a pre-Islamic origin, a fact that is available in many published Islamic sources, and in the Internet. While anti-Hindu Islamists went on murder, arson and rampage many secular Muslims protested these atrocities yet not the communal-left or the so-called "secular" parties of West Bengal. The areas witnessed anti-Hindu atrocities are Basirhat, Deganga, Baduria and other places, in east of Calcutta. Earlier there were also anti-Hindu violence in these areas, but neither the former ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist nor the current Trinamool Congress Party-run state governments prosecuted the Muslim arsonists, terrorists, killers and thugs. Many of the ruling elites of the Communist and Trinamool parties are of Bangladeshi-origin and have chosen not to live with their Muslim-majority neighbors in Bangladesh.
Here are a few of those reports:
Communal violence sweeps Bengal's Basirhat district after student's Facebook post 'disrespects the Prophet Mohammad'
By Anindya Banerjee and Mailonline India
Published:
17:43 EDT, 4 July 2017 | Updated: 18:38 EDT, 4 July 2017
Communal
tensions have flared-up once again in the Basirhat district in Bengal after a
supposedly disrespectful Facebook post concerning the Prophet Mohammad
began circulating online.
What began
as a protest soon escalated into a violent roving mob ransacking houses of the
majority Hindu community in the district.
It is
believed that dozens of businesses, houses, and at least six police vehicles,
were torched by a mob in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
Communal
tensions have flared-up once again in the Basirhat district in Bengal
The incident
began after a class 11 student posted a 'blasphemous' message on Facebook.
The student
in question, according to Indian news sources
- a Hindu, was arrested on Sunday night and prohibitory orders were enforced.
However, the
vandalism continued throughout Monday and Tuesday as the administration did not
inform people about the arrest, claimed Quazi Abdur Rahim, the MLA of Baduria,
where the incident happened.
Locals are
claiming that the police did nothing to help and in response the Union Home
ministry has now sent in nearly 400 paramilitary personnel to secure the area.
Eye
witnesses said many were beaten up, cars were torched
West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has had a troubled year so far (pictured -
effigy being burned by GJM supporters at a separate protest concerning a
different issue)
When TMC MP
Idris Ali reached the spot, his car was attacked. Speaking to Mail Today, Ali
said, 'I was there to pacify things, along with a Maharaj.
'But he used
''unparliamentarily language'' that made things worse. They threw stones at my
car. However, situation is under control now.'
Local
sources on the contrary said the situation is still far from normal and many
Hindus have fled from the affected areas. Blockades
are on in at least 60 places in Basirhat and incidents of police being beaten
up are also being reported. The Rapid
Action Force has been deployed as well. Tapan Ghosh, the firebrand leader of
Hindu Samhati said, 'The accused who is a minor is already apprehended. But it
was used as an opportunity to attack on Hindus.'
West
Bengal's Chief minister Mamata Banerjee however has blamed the BJP for inciting
the violence. Didi has
also alleged that the governor Keshari Nath Tripathi threatened her and accused
her of acting like a 'BJP block president'. The CM told
reporters in Kolkata, 'He telephoned me and threatened me. The governor
cannot threaten me. He should know that he is a nominated person. I have told
him that you cannot talk to me like that'.
West Bengal's 24 Parganas
tense following communal clashes over Facebook post
North 24 Parganas of West Bengal continues to be on
the boil after a blasphemous Facebook post by a 17-year-old student.
Indrajit Kundu | Posted by Bijin Jose
Kolkatta, July
5, 2017 | UPDATED 14:07 IST
After West Bengal Government imposed restrictions on social media and censored Internet, some, including secular Muslims, exposed anti-Hindu atrocities via telephone interview of victims:
www.youtube.com
পশ্চিম বঙ্গে
হিন্দু-মুসলিম দাঙ্গা !! কে দায়ী ?
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www.youtube.com
সময়
এখনি ধর্মীয় উগ্রতাকে রুখে দেয়ার।
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Has Mamata's politics of appeasement backfired?
July 07, 2017 12:18
IST
Has Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee created a situation with dangerous overtones in Bengal?
In the six years that she has been in power, her detractors feel she has overplayed the politics of appeasement.
Payal Mohanka reports from Kolkata.
In the six years that she has been in power, her detractors feel she has overplayed the politics of appeasement.
Payal Mohanka reports from Kolkata.
An uneasy calm shrouds
West Bengal.
A state that prided
itself on maintaining communal harmony when violence scarred other regions in
the country is now seeing this ugly menace rear its head repeatedly.
Basirhat in the North 24
Parganas district is the latest, after recent communal incidents in Dhulagarh,
Malda and Nadia.
Social media is replete
with images and videos of one community blatantly taking on another in
Basirhat.
The trigger was an
offensive Facebook post by a teenager denigrating a Muslim shrine.
The police station where
the boy was detained was stoned and the mob demanded that the culprit be handed
over to them and tried under Sharia laws.
"It is unfortunate
that even after the boy was arrested mobs were allowed to run amok," says
a senior police officer.
"The signal was
clear: 'Don't shoot the protesters, don't kill as long as they are not killing.
Let the storm pass'," he adds.
"Then compensation
can be given to those whose homes have been damaged. This is unprofessional
handling of a situation," he emphasises. "You cannot allow one
community to terrorise another."
Has Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee created a situation with dangerous overtones in Bengal?
In the six years that
she has been in power her detractors feel she has overplayed the politics of
appeasement.
Muslims comprise 31 per
cent of Bengal's population.
A huge vote bank, the
chief minister has relentlessly wooed the Muslim community, going to the extent
of earmarking a monthly allowance for imams, appearing in huge hoardings during
Haj with her head covered and palms raised in prayer.
Her efforts paid off and
she came back to power in 2016 with a resounding victory.
But the scenario has now
changed. Once the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged at the Centre in 2014 it began
to eye Bengal, a state where the BJP were virtually non-existent till then.
In the last three years,
the BJP has been stealthily building a base in Bengal where it sees a huge
opportunity.
Brimming with confidence
and all set to establish his party's footprint further in the state, BJP
President Amit Shah declared during a trip to Kolkata in May, 'Bengal is ready
for change.'
Mamata Banerjee's
platter of woes is near full. After months of seeming apathy, the Central
Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have suddenly displayed
a burst of energy and once again begun summoning senior Trinamool Congress
leaders involved in the 'Narada sting operation'.
As the demand for Gorkhaland gains ground and
the hills are ablaze in Darjeeling, the BJP is strident about the breakdown of
law and order in Bengal.
And now growing communal
unrest wracks the districts.
The BJP is poised to be
the sole political beneficiary of the troubled situation in Bengal.
Some go as far as to
insinuate the BJP's role in Banerjee's current troubles. A party that is
banking on anti-incumbency and consolidating Hindu votes in the state.
Mamata Banerjee's
Trinamool Congress is not the only party that has wooed Bengal's large Muslim
population.
The Congress and the Communist
Party of India-Marxist have done the same in the past.
"Vote bank politics
-- playing the communal card -- is nothing new in India. The Congress has
always done it," says BJP state executive member Shishir Bajoria.
"Unfortunately, in
recent times the Trinamool Congress is taking it to depths we have never seen
before," adds Bajoria.
While there was mayhem
in Basirhat, the chief minister took on Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
In the past there have
been differences between the state government and the governor, but never before
has there been an instance where an angry chief minister held a press
conference to vent against the governor who she claimed 'insulted, threatened
and humiliated' her.
Tripathi issued a
statement later saying he had called Banerjee about the deteriorating law and
order situation in the North 24 Parganas district.
"The chief minister
took on the governor with a view to divert attention from her administrative
failure and to further whip up Muslim passions and once again reiterate her
stance, 'I am with you'," says a senior state bureaucrat.
"The governor was
not out of line," the bureaucrat adds. "He needed to make the call to
the chief minister.:
"Had he not
intervened, the violent situation would have escalated further."
- বৃহস্পতিবার ৬ জুলাই, ২০১৭
- ছবি: সংগৃহীত।
Thu
Jul 06 2017
আজকালের প্রতিবেদন:
‘রাজ্যপাল ঠুঁটো জগন্নাথ নন, বোবা–কালাও নন।’ ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল তথাগত রায় বৃহস্পতিবার একথা বলেন। এদিন কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে শ্যামাপ্রসাদ মুখার্জিকে নিয়ে একটি অনুষ্ঠানে যোগ দেওয়ার আগে তিনি সাংবাদিকদের বিভিন্ন প্রশ্নের উত্তর দেন। রাজ্যপাল ও মুখ্যমন্ত্রীর সঙ্ঘাত নিয়ে তাঁকে জিজ্ঞেস করা হয়। তিনি বলেন, ‘আমি রাজ্যপালের অধিকার সম্পর্কে জানাতে পারি। তিনি রাজ্যে কী হচ্ছে, তা নিয়ে সরকার কী করছে এসব জানতে চাইতে পারেন। পরিস্থিতি নিয়ে রাজ্যপাল পরামর্শ দিতে পারেন। মুখ্যমন্ত্রীর দায়িত্ব প্রশাসন চালানো, তার দায়ভার নেওয়া।’
বসিরহাট,
স্বরূপনগর, বাদুড়িয়ার প্রসঙ্গ এলে তিনি বলেন, ‘বাংলায় থাকার সময় আমি এ ধরনের ঘটনা নিজে চোখে দেখেছি। ২০১০–এ দেগঙ্গায়, ২০১৩–য় ক্যানিংয়ের নলিয়াখালিতে। অসুখ চাপা দিয়ে রাখা যায় না। অসুখ স্বীকার করতে হয়। না হলে অসুখ সারে না।’ রাজ্যপালকে বিজেপি–র এজেন্ট বলা দুর্ভাগ্যজনক ও কুরুচিপূর্ণ বলে তিনি মনে করেন।
ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল তথাগত রায়কে বিক্ষোভ দেখাল কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের কিছু ছাত্রছাত্রী। বৃহস্পতিবার বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের দ্বারভাঙ্গা হলে একটি অনুষ্ঠানে যোগ দেন তথাগতবাবু। তিনি আসার পর থেকেই দ্বারভাঙ্গা হলের নিচে বিক্ষোভ দেখাতে শুরু করে ওই ছাত্রছাত্রীরা। তৃণমূল ছাত্র পরিষদের রাজ্য সহ–সভাপতি তথা ওই বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ছাত্র মণিশঙ্কর মণ্ডল বলেন, বসিরহাটে অশান্তির ঘটনায় বিজেপি–র ভূমিকার প্রতিবাদ করছি আমরা। পশ্চিমবঙ্গের রাজ্যপাল কেশরীনাথ ত্রিপাঠী মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা ব্যানার্জি সম্পর্কিত যে বিবৃতি দিয়েছেন, তঁাকে টুইট করে সমর্থন করেছেন ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল। তাই এদিন তঁাকে ‘গো ব্যাক’ স্লোগান দিয়ে কালো পতাকা দেখিয়ে বিক্ষোভ প্রদর্শন করেছি।
ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল তথাগত রায়কে বিক্ষোভ দেখাল কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের কিছু ছাত্রছাত্রী। বৃহস্পতিবার বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের দ্বারভাঙ্গা হলে একটি অনুষ্ঠানে যোগ দেন তথাগতবাবু। তিনি আসার পর থেকেই দ্বারভাঙ্গা হলের নিচে বিক্ষোভ দেখাতে শুরু করে ওই ছাত্রছাত্রীরা। তৃণমূল ছাত্র পরিষদের রাজ্য সহ–সভাপতি তথা ওই বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ছাত্র মণিশঙ্কর মণ্ডল বলেন, বসিরহাটে অশান্তির ঘটনায় বিজেপি–র ভূমিকার প্রতিবাদ করছি আমরা। পশ্চিমবঙ্গের রাজ্যপাল কেশরীনাথ ত্রিপাঠী মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা ব্যানার্জি সম্পর্কিত যে বিবৃতি দিয়েছেন, তঁাকে টুইট করে সমর্থন করেছেন ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল। তাই এদিন তঁাকে ‘গো ব্যাক’ স্লোগান দিয়ে কালো পতাকা দেখিয়ে বিক্ষোভ প্রদর্শন করেছি।
ত্রিপুরার রাজ্যপাল তথাগত রায়
Note: The Hon. Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura State came to attend
an event in Kolkata (Calcutta). West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress Party
ruffians went to protest Roy’s appearance. His fault? Bharatiya Janata Party
volunteers came to help Hindu victims of Islamist pogrom.
(Translation of Aajkaal Daily Report: “Governor is neither helpless Lord Jagannath
nor deaf-and-dumb” [a Bengali proverb]. Gov. of Tripura Tathagata Roy said. On
this day he responded to questions by journalists before attending a meeting at
Calcutta University on Shyama Prasad Mukherji. Questions were asked on conflicts
between Chief Minister and Governor (of West Bengal). He said, “I can tell you
about the rights of Governors. He can ask what is happening in the state and
what steps are being taken by the government. He can advise on the situation. Chief
Minister’s job is to run the government. Take its responsibility.” Sickness
cannot be covered up. Sickness needs treatment. To say that governor is a BJP
agent is unfortunate is distasteful.
When the questions rose on places like Basirhat,
Swarupnagar, Baduria he said “while living in Bengal I have witnessed such happening
through my own eyes. In 2010 in Deganga, in 2013 in Canning’s Naliakhali.
Some
students of Kolkata University agitated against Tathagata Roy. On Thursday Mr.
Tathagata joined an event at Dwarbhanga Hall of Kolkata University. As soon as
he arrived some students started demonstrating downstairs. Trinamool Chatra
Parishad (Student Organization) vice-president as well as a student of the
university ManiShankar Mondol said we are protesting BJP’s role in the event. Through
a tweet he (Roy) supported statements given by West Bengal Governor Kesharinath
Tripathi on West Bengal (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee. That’s why we raised
black flag and gave ‘Go Back’ slogan.
(Sadly
though none of these protesters neither provided any relief to Hindu victims nor
asked for arrest of Islamist oppressors.)
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Here are a few incidents from prior years:
Basirhat, 2009
Hindu Temple Burnt, Kali Icon Desecrated and Vandalized in
Basirhat, West Bengal, India
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Hindu Samhati [hindusamhati@gmail.com]
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Sent:
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Thursday, December 31, 2009 1:29
AM
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33 year old Kali Temple Attacked and Burnt; Kali murthi stripped and
vagina blackened;
Torched Deity
At the
late hours of 16th December, 2009 some unknown miscreants (suspected to be
Islamic activists) entered the 33 year old Kali temple of Kankra village of
Kachua Panchayet, under Basirhat Police Station in North 24 Parganas district,
stripped the murthi, or icon of Mother Kali naked and burnt the temple. Before
leaving the temple, the miscreants even tied the throat of the stone made
murthi of the Goddess with a thick rope. The vagina of the idol was blackened.
Keeping in view to the nature of the crime and mixed population of the area,
one can easily understand that no Hindu can do such a heinous and
sacrireligious deed. The finger of suspicion is definitely pointed to the
Muslim community.
The
village of Kachua is a popular pilgrimage place because of the famous temple of
renowned saint Sri Loknath Brahamachari. Hundreds of thousands of devotees
visit this this Temple throughout the year. In this area where the Hindus have
become a minority, perhaps the next target is this Loknath Temple.
Hindus
became extremely aggrieved for this desecration of their temple and murthi. All
Hindus of the village cutting across party lines jointly put a roadblock and
demonstrated at Basirhat Police Station. At the time of demonstration, local
Communit Party of India (CPI) MLA Narayan Mukherjee tried to divert the issue
saying that the desecration of the murthi(icon) and temple must have been a
deed of a mentally misbalanced person. But the Hindus rejected the idea. Police
assured the Hindus that they will book the culprit. But till now no culprit has
been arrested.
A few
days before, the ornaments of the Kali murthi(icon) and other valuables of the
temple were robbed similarly. People lodged complaints to the police station.
That case too unresolved.
Basirhat
sub-division in West Bengal is border area with Bangladesh. It has become open
ground for Jehadi(Islamist) terrorists. The whole area of Basirhat Police
Station. became Muslim majority due to unabated illegal Muslim Infiltration
from Bangladesh. The illegal activities and atrocities upon Hindus have
increased simultaneously. The scale of torture upon Hindus has sharply
increased in recent times. The desecration of the sacred Kali temple is the
latest example. The aggrieved Hindus demonstrated in front of the local police
station and blocked the roads. Communal tension rose in the area and
RAF(special police force) was deployed to control the situation.
After Torching
Deity of Mother Kali before Arson
Deganga 2010 : Islamists' Gift to Democratic India
The destruction created by the Islamist nexus of West
Bengal was far more profound than what has been seen in the last sixty years in
the state. The obvious intention was to intimidate the Hindu population to
evacuate the area without physically killing a single Hindu. Millions of
Dollars of Hindu owned properties were destroyed, temples were desecrated, and
just as in the case of Kashmir, Hindus were asked to leave the 'land of
TituMir'
Noted scoial activist Debajyoti Roy toured the Deganga
area in September of 2010. We are providing this translation for readers to
understand the long range damage to the Hindu psyche that Deganga 2010 may
create.
Debajyoti Roy
The noted judge,
Honorable Gopaldas Khosla, in his book 'Stern Reckoning', mentioned about a
leaflet distributed by Muslim League in 1946. The leaflet stated: “Muslims must
remember that it was only a Ramadan month when Quran was written. It was only a
Ramadan month when Khudah permitted us to perform jihad. The battle of Badar
which the great prophet fought along with only 313 Muslims was won in the month
of Ramadan. It was also in the month of Ramadan holy great prophet established
heaven in Mecca after winning the city with 10,000 Muslims. He also founded
Muslim commonwealth. It would be a good luck for Muslim League that they have
the opportunity to start the fighting in such a holy month.”
In 2010, from 26th
to 28th of Ramadan month (September 6th to September 8th) a terrible torture
was inflicted on Hindus living in the areas like Deganga Bazar, Kartikpur
Bazar, Karmakarpara, Viswanathpur, Changdona, Aminpur, Khejuridanga and
Beliaghata in the east of Barasat. 70 percent of these Hindus are refugees
coming from the erstwhile East Bengal. Almost all inhabitants from Chattalpalli
came from Chattogram.
For the last forty
years there was a Durgapuja going on. On the road towards this locality from
the bus road, the Durga temple exists beside a plot of size around 2.75 acres.
Left half of this plot is used as a cemetery by Muslims of the area. According
to them, WAKF Board gave them this permission. Actually this plot was owned by
Rani Rasmani once. Then government took over it. There is a sixty feet wide
road on the right side of this plot. The residents of Chattalpalli area use
this road and the same road is used by devotees to attend Durga puja in the
temple.
The residents for
Chattalpalli asked for very little. They wanted to continue using the road on
the disputed land and hold usual Durgapuja outside this plot peacefully. But
Muslims of that area did not want that. We went to the attacked areas between
Beliaghata and Deganga bazar during 15th to 26th September of this year. After
we went to Chattalpalli, we came to know that almost all local Muslims wanted
to block the residents of Chattalpalli from accessing the plot by putting a
wall around the plot. As a result they could stop the ‘unforgivable sins of
idol-worshiping’ and encourage the Hindu Bengalis to leave their home.
On September 6th
(26th Ramadan) morning, nearly 1,000 Muslims started digging the perimeters of
the disputed plot so that they can construct the wall. The digging work was
completed within a short time. When Hindus protested Muslims started verbally
abusing and then began to assault Amal Kar, a Hindu resident. Suddenly, Haji
Nurul Islam, Member of Parliament of Basirhat came to the place along with
Ratna Roychowdhury, local leader of Trinamul Congress. Both sides complained to
them and Haji Saheb took some people to talk to the police officer in charge of
Deganga plice Station. After speaking to the officer behind a closed door he
went to Jame mosque which happens to be near the disputed land. There he
installed a microphone on the roof of the mosque after talking to the Imam and
his associates.
It is necessary to
mention that Haji Nurul Islam promised to hand over the disputed land to the
Muslims and install a mike on top of the mosque if he would win the last
election. It is also necessary to mention that Kolkata High Court is yet to
declare a verdict on the disputed land and they have specifically ordered
against installing the microphone on the mosque.
It is not clear
where Nurul Islam went after he left the mosque. A large number of local
residents complained that he along with Ratna stayed inside the local police station
till 9 PM. Immediately after the Muslim festival of Iftar ended, a crowd of
nearly 2,000 Muslim activists carrying pistols, large knives, gasoline, and
acid attacked unarmed Hindus in Deganga and nearby areas. The political color
of Hindus did not play a role here. The sweet shop of CPIM supporter Kapurias
were attacked but so were the shop of dedicated TMC supporter Kanailal Gupta or
the politically neutral Gopal Mandal. Countless calls were made to local police
station immediately after the attack began, but none picked up.
We spent a long
time in the localities of Deganga Market, Kartikpur Market, Viswanathpur,
Khejuridanga village and Beliaghata. We talked to nearly 100 people for two
days. Among them were Khokan Saha and 5 other persons from Chattalpalli, Uttam
Saha from Deganga, Gopal Mandal, Arun Sadhukhan, Kanailal Gupta, Gopal Kapuria
and his elder son, Sajalkrishna Das, Kajal Das and many more. We talked to
Bimal Ghosh and Sarojit Das among 15-20 men and women in Kartikpur Market.
The shop that
Bimalbabu owned is damaged severely. But the shop owned by a Muslim who is
renting the place did not suffer any damage. A Muslim owned Mahima Vastralaya.
His shop did not suffer any damage. Rapid Action Force was deployed on 7th
September, 2010. The rampaging Islamists henchmen did not care about their
presence and burned four cars costing around 1 crore (around 250,000 US $).
Burned bodies of the cars were dumped beside the local police station in
Deganga. Many buses and trucks were burnt down. The Kali murthi (icon) inside
the main temple in Kartikpur was broken and the Muslim religious psychopaths
pissed on them.
Six Hindu houses
are completely burnt down in Khejuridanga, 1 km from here. The owners were
Abhilash Ghosh, Nepal Ghosh, Basudeb Ghosh, Badal Ghosh, Tapas Ghosh and
Harendranath Bakshi. These houses were attacked on September 8th. At that RAF
and army were marching through the main road. That morning local Maklukar
Rehman and Sohrab spread a rumor in the nearby Muslim locality that East Bengali
Hindus from Kartikpur are playing soccer with severed heads of the Muslims.
Then large groups of Muslim activists came out with the slogan of 'Naraye
Takdir-Allahoo Akbar' and attacked the police car that stood in front of Haren
Bakshi's house. They threw the car into the pond and began to beat the police
constables.
After seeing this,
ten members of Bakshi family ran a kilometer and sought shelter from the Muslim
locality. After getting refused, they went to nearby Daspara and a Hindu family
sheltered them. By then the home of Bakshis and six houses belonging to Ghoshs
were being burnt. The Muslim fanatics burnt down the house of a Muslim named
Ahad Ali in confusion. His wife Anwara Begam told us. Their home is literally small.
The brick house beside this small house belong to her in-laws and nobody set
fire to that house. There must be some motive in burning down Ahad Ali's small
house. Except this incident, not a single Muslim property was damaged in the
areas between Deganga and Beliaghata. Among the Hindus who suffered damage were
supporters of all political parties.
After Kartikpur, we
went to Beliaghata. We started from this place on September 26th. 2010. Bachhu
Kramakakr's house and houses of about 15 members of the Hindu- Dhali community
were burnt down. Hindu residents were beaten. Each house in this locality was
looted. The gates of each of the houses were broken after charging bombs. So
far it appears that Bachhu Karmakar suffered biggest loss in terms of money. He
is the biggest goldsmith in this area. One eye-witness told us that RAF guards
shot a Muslim youth named Sahabuddin when he tried to throw stone towards them.
But a rumor was spread that Bachhu Karmakar killed him using his licensed gun.
Bachhubabu's shop
was looted and his house was burnt down for this baseless alleged crime. Only
the skeleton of the house remained. Luckily Bachchubabu escaped with his
family. He was missing for days. We managed to meet his wife on 26th of
September after much effort. She said, “We never had a gun in our house. We do
not have a gun even today. The rumor was spread to loot our shop and house.”
75 year old
Viswanath Ghosh was hurt. After entering his house the Islamist rioters hit his
mouth. He lost his teeth. After that one started to beat his son Jagadish.
Others started to beat the ladies after taking the jewelries from ladies. Each
room in the house was burnt down and damage can be estimated to around Rs. 5
lakh ($ 135,000 US).
We could not visit
most houses on the 15th September because of lack of time. But we could visit
Tapan Ghosh's house and Narayan Ghosh's house. The Muslim looters burnt down
Narayan Ghosh's car. All henchmen are local. Tarapada Ghosh, head of Panchayat
dominated by TMC and a teacher by profession also lived here. After many people
requested us, we spoke to him. He tried to put an insincere and failed defense
of Haji Nurul Islam. He agreed that the events of those three days were a
planned attack on Hindus by Muslims. We asked him that as a supporter of TMC
would you hold CPM responsible? He answered, “Why was the administration
inactive for last three days? From that aspect we hold left front government
responsible.” Next day, another member of Panchayat Mrs. Kavita Vaidya told us
by telephone that the Muslim activists tried to burn her family after putting
kerosene on them. They had to kneel down and beg for their lives to escape the
ordeal.
We went to all the
damaged houses in Dhali Para on 26th September, 2010. Mainly we wanted to learn
the truth about two news provided by a reporter Sukumar Mitra of Dainik
Statesman. The first news stated that Hindu ladies from Dhali para were given
shelter by Muslim ladies from the nearby locality. The news is not entirely
untrue. The brother of a local leader, who was unwilling to mention his name,
told us that it was part of the cruel plan. It was organized so that empty
houses could be looted and burned down without any difficulty and casualty. It
also served as an excuse to prove that local Muslims did not hate Hindus. The
fact that Muslism in Beliaghata collected and donated Rs. 3 lakhs (US $ 6,000)
to the Hindus who suffered loss is true as well. But there are deeper motives
in it. The total loss in Beliaghata is estimated to be a few crores (1crore = 250,000)
Spending only Rs. 3 lakhs was only an effort to silence the mouth of aggrieved
Hindus as much as possible. Those who understood it did not take the gift of
pity. One of them is Viswanath Ghosh. Among those who took the money was Sri
Paritosh Ghosh.
We found that
members of all Durga puja committees under Deganga thana got (police station)
together to attend a meeting in front of the temple in Chattalpalli. While
returning we heard that they will protest this heinous riot by not arranging
Durga puja this year. Few days back Muslims went to local police station and
threatened the officer in charge by saying that if the dug out part of the
disputed plot is not opened within 18 hours, the consequence will not be
pleasant. After that a police camp was organized in front of Chattalpalli Durga
temple.
The residents told
us that Maulana Siddikullah Saheb from Jamiyat-Ulema-A-Hind, a right wing
Islamist organization, organized a ‘peace rally’ using men full of 8/10 trucks
on September 22nd. The main slogan was” 'The sanctity of Deganga cemetery
should be preserved'. In addition to that, 'Bachchu Karmakar should be
arrested', 'Family of Sahabuddin should receive 5 lakh (500,000) rupees =
10,000 US $). 'The criminals should be punished' etc were among other slogans.
Among the guests they said were present were advocates of Dalit-Muslim unity
like Santosh Rana, Ravindra Debnath, Sukriti Ranjan Biswas and Sukumar Biswas.
But nobody could validate for us us whether they were present there or not. Because
everyone else were hidden inside the vehicles.
Immediately after
Id, Haji Nurul Islam commented to a reporter from Tehelka magazine: “I have
information that Yakub and Nitai from CPM were the main perpetrators of this
robbery”. We could not trace even a bit of a truth in it. Islam also claimed
that many Hindus who suffered loss celebrated Id with him that day. We failed
to verify that claim. But we came to know that TMC local leader Arup Biswas
accompanied 8-10 TMC supporters who went to Islam’s house to eat Sirni (special
food item of Id). None of these supporters are among those who suffered loss.
We used discretion
in investigating whether any political outfit was directly or indirectly
involved in the heinous events of those three cursed days. We have talked to
the supporters of Congress, BJP and TMC but they are not identifying any
political outfit as the main culprit. Not even CPM is accused. But we could
neither find any leader or supporter of CPM nor we saw any open CPM office.
If anyone went to
spot to investigate neutrally, he/she would realize that behind the events of
those three days there was no Hindu.
Among the victims
who went to local police station were Sarbasri Sujit Mandal, Harendranath
Baksi, Sujit Kumar Ghosh, Viswanath Ghosh, Jagadish Chandra Ghosh, Lakshmikanta
Ghosh, Subrata Kumar Choudhury, Sukumar De and Bikash Chandra Ghosh. Local
residents handed us a list that contained the names of sixty victims from
Beliaghata.
As per the latest
news, Abhilash Ghosh from Khejuridanga submitted a written complaint that
contained a list of fifty nine Muslim anti-social elements in Deganga police
station.
***************************************************************
Bengal’s madrasas under
scanner after Basirhat violence
Basirhat was swept by violence for several days after
Muslim mobs went on a rampage, angered by a controversial Facebook post by a
Hindu teenager.
india
Updated: Jul 16, 2017 07:11 IST
Snigdhendu
Bhattacharya
Hindustan Times, Kolkata
Hindustan Times, Kolkata
Basirhat was
rocked by communal violence over a controversial Facebook post by a Hindu
teenager.(Samir Jana/HT File Photo)
With the communal violence that rocked West Bengal’s
Basirhat having ebbed, questions are now being raised over whether unregulated
madrasas, locally called khareji madrasas, had a role in last week’s mayhem.
Basirhat in
the North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh was swept by violence for
several days after Muslim mobs went on a rampage, angered by a controversial
Facebook post by a Hindu teenager. One person was killed and several homes, shops
and vehicles torched before sanity was restored.
Stunned by
the scale of the violence, sections of locals have blamed outsiders for it. But
police say the role of unregulated madrasas, often viewed as breeding grounds
of radicalisation, cannot be ruled out. Under scanner are two in Ghoraras and
Kholapota of Basirhat and one in nearby Baduria. West Bengal has a long
tradition of madrasa (Islamic school) education. There are three types: Madrasas that are
government approved and funded, ones that are approved but get no funding and the
more common kind that operate without any approval and outside any regulation.
The
unregulated ones are more in number and more problematic, say police officials.
By last count, there are some 6,000 madrasas in West Bengal of which about 90%
are unregulated and beyond the government’s purview. Officials say the khareji
madrasas have mushroomed in recent times and Basirhat and adjoining areas have
no less than about 600 of them. Run by Muslim organisations and funded
privately, they impart religious studies and lessons in Arabic.
Studying in
such madrasas does not improve one’s chances of a job. Students can hope to
teach in similar places or may aim to be employed as clerics. Yet, they are a
big hit among the poorer sections since fees is as low as Rs 500 with free
meals and boarding.
Khareji
madrasas also came under police scrutiny after one of them was used for
imparting arms training to alleged perpetrators of the 2014 blast in Burdwan
district that left two people dead. A probe by the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) led to the unearthing of a flourishing ‘jihadi’ network.
Calls for
renewed scrutiny have once again grown, following the Basirhat violence. “We
have been long demanding modernisation of madrasa education system. These
madrasas are vulnerable to fundamentalist and jihadi infiltration,” said Biplab
Pal, a spokesperson of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. While some are
demanding modernisation, others want them closed down. “These unregulated
madrasas should be closed. Many that operate near the India-Bangladesh border
are used as centres of jihadi indoctrination,” alleged Sachin Sinha, Kolkata
secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
In 2002,
then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had voiced similar concerns. But
critics say administrations have been reluctant to order a crackdown as it may
be seen as an affront to Muslims who account for 27% of the state’s population.
But not
everyone agrees that they are rotten. “They provide basic education to Muslim
children from poor families. The students get education in religion and are
able to pursue religious career,” insisted Jamat e Ulema e Hind
leader-turned-ruling TMC minister Siddiqulah Chowdhury.
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