Religious Bengal!

Bengal has always been tolerant towards religion, though not overtly religious. I guess Bengalis succeeded in homogenizing culture and religion while always giving the culture a higher plane. Historically all religions thrived in Bengal, undisturbed. The State was the nest for Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Taoism, several branches of Christianity and Islam, Zoroastrianism etc., besides Hinduism. Atheists lived without being hounded by either society or the governments.

There began an undesirable change when the balance of partitioned and dislocated Hindu population from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh came in hordes. The partition was bloody and riotous and had taken a huge toll on the mind and people. The Hindu refugees were witnesses to gory killings and carried a deep hatred towards the other community.

The State reaped benefit from further disturbing society’s equilibrium by smuggling in lakhs of migrants, mostly minorities. They were controlled and became a loyal vote bank for decades. Mamata too placated the minorities and perhaps overdid it, much to the chagrin of the Hindu majority.

The rightwing BJP has taken full advantage of such minority appeasement and has countered Mamata to a great extent. The chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ is neither religious nor peaceful but is a challenge thrown to counter and dare TMC’s ‘Minority-first’ policy. The chant is symbolic of the angst of another serious ill, the joblessness! The disillusionment of the youth is no secret. Two distinct youth groups remain; one who toe the TMC and the other who are left out. The first group has become rich, running syndicates and ‘managing’ cut monies in every deal; they ride bullet motorcycles and live flashy lives. They exude raw power.

The left out had to do menial jobs and had no godfathers until the BJP stepped in. Soon Bengal raced to celebrate every Hindu God, from Kali, Durga, Lakshmi, besides lesser celebrated Ganesh and Hanuman. Mamata, sensing the adverse effect of her minority appeasement overkill, is now trying hard to undo the damage. She chanted some form of Durga stutis and visited 19 temples on the day of her filing the nomination. She perhaps reluctantly visited a Mazar to balance her sudden Hindu leanings, wearing a scarf as a headcover. She could not be seen with a Hijab anymore, at least not until this election is over.

Certainly, the sudden Hinduism embrace by the TMC is a dichotomy, which is sure to confuse Mamata’s voters. A clever politician like Arvind Kejriwal, too, has fallen into the trap of not offending the new rise of Hindu nationalism. He, too, is talking of creating a Ram Rajya and funding elders to visit the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. The wheels of the secularism juggernaut seem to have stuck in quicksand as the nation veers towards a religious route.

Most would not mind, simply because of the misconceived perception of an Islamic overrunning our State, their religion becoming majority etc. Will we be different from a few bigoted Muslim nations if we miss out on Hinduism’s fundamental, ‘Vasudhaiva Kudumbakam,’ ‘the world is one family?’

Religion must have no place in the Government and polls.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix