Bengal is another Kashmir where Hindus are specifically targeted, said JNU Professor Gobardhan Das who contested the West Bengal Assembly election on BJP ticket.
The Hindus who supported the Bharatiya Janata Party were facing huge backlash from the ruling dispensation, he added.
The Hindus were specifically targeted by Muslims in Kashmir and terrorised to flee in early 1990s.
Prof Das was sharing his first hand experience of contesting the polls in West Bengal in a virtual meeting organised by Prajna Pravah on Friday.
More than 25 BJP members and RSS volunteers have lost their lives since May 2. Many have fled to Assam to save their lives.
“The violence started in the afternoon of May 2 and is continuing till date. I was locked in my house with my family for three days,” said Prof Das.
Narrating his experiences, he said the TMC cadre was asking for fines from those BJP supporters who want to return and live in peace.
Explaining the cause of defeat of the BJP in Bengal, he said, “Muslims vote en bloc but Hindu votes are divided.”
The intellectual class of Bengal is very Leftists and the education system is responsible for that. Prof Das opined that this must change now.
Most of the victims of the political violence are Dalits but Bengali intellectuals are not speaking for them.
Lamenting today’s Bengal, Das said, “One can’t celebrate Durga Pooja and Saraswati Pooja without fear. Such is the fear.”
