People's Democracy

'Bengal Is The Bastion Of

Communal Harmony And Amity'

B Prasant

Those who would compare Bengal, a bastion of communal harmony in the country with BJP-ruled Gujarat where genocide had taken place on the communal issue, were the enemies of the people, the society, and of the country. Thus said CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat in Kolkata where he had recently gone to speak at a discussion session on the impact of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in the national life.

Briefly referring to the events leading to the pulling down of the medieval structure at Ayodhya back on December 6, 1992, Karat recalled that the demolition happened despite a strong presence of the para-military forces, and in spite of the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao’s pledge to make the mosque safe from attacks.  The police, the para-military, the state administration looked on as hordes of men waving the saffron banner demolished the Babri Masjid.

Critical of the compromise struck always by the Congress on the issue of secularism, Prakash Karat said that secularism meant the keeping apart of State and religion, with the latter not being allowed to influence the former’s policy.  However, to the Congress, secularism connoted allowing every sort of religious belief to interfere with the State policies.  This was dangerous policy in a country like India.

Since the fascists and religious fundamentalists would never relent from their drive to make India a Hindu rashtra, the people must be on the vigil that the demolition of the Babri Masjid must never be repeated.  The speaker also pointed out how majority communalism gave birth to minority communalism and terrorism.  He was sharply critical of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for his having argued in favour of genocide on the Muslims while boasting that such genocide would happen again if found necessary.  Almost all files related to the Gujarat killings have already been closed.

Critical of the intellectuals who would compare Modi’s Gujarat with Bengal, Prakash Karat said that these individuals were not familiar with even the a-b-c of fascism and would not care about the attempt made in Gujarat during the riots to wipe out numberless poor Muslim families. By comparing Bengal with Gujarat, all the intellectuals succeeded in achieving was to dilute the concept and practice of fascism. BJP may not come back to office at the centre, after their defeat that was made possible by the relentless efforts of the CPI(M) and the Left, but the mass of the people, democratic-minded, secular people, must maintain an eternal vigil to allow harmony, peace, and amity to flourish across the country.

CAUTION AND

VIGILANCE

Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called for caution and vigilance while ensuring that the communal menace did not raise its head here in Bengal, ever. The cautionary note was especially pertinent in view of the volatile situation in some parts of the country.  The communal forces were always sniping at the realms of thought, behaviour cultural norms, education, and at the society in general.  It was always an imperative, said Buddhadeb, for the people ranged outside of the circles of political activities, to come and join the struggle against the forces of communalism of all kinds. 

After six decades of political independence, said the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, the country, and her people groaned under the widening rift between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots. There are reportedly 200 billionaires in the land, which is also teeming with millions of people sinking in the morass called poverty.  The problems faced by the Muslim community were complex and deep-rooted.

The best showcase of the pro-poor development of Bengal was the fact that 83 per cent of the land belonged to the poor, most of the beneficiaries belonging to SC, ST, the minorities, and the OBC. The Rajinder Sachar committee would not recognise that the development brought about by redistributive land reforms was much more in quality and quantity compared to the act of reservation for the minorities.

The Sachar committee also missed out while looking at Bengal, the development and modernisation of Madrasah education, and the rapid spread of education amongst the poorer sections of the Muslim community. The mass of the people of Bengal shall remain ever vigilant against all efforts at religious fanaticism of every form, fanaticism that can destroy the amity and harmony that exists among the people of Bengal for long, long years and now more than ever.