Ground report from border and Muslim dominated areas of West Bengal

The majority in the bordering villages are Muslims. There is a terrible imbalance in the demographics in these villages and there are also many Muslims who migrated from Bangladesh.

For the last seven days, I have been staying in West Bengal. Every year for 10 to 15 days, I go to the villages-towns-cities adjacent to Bangladesh. This time too, I visited cities like New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Islampur, Malda Town, Murshidabad etc., villages and towns situated adjacent to them. The land in this area of West Bengal is very fertile. The water is only at a depth of 20 feet. There are three crops in a year. Gardens are abundant. Green vegetables, mango orchards, tea gardens, maize and a fine variety of paddy crops add to the beauty and prosperity of these areas. After visiting these areas, your perception of West Bengal will change. If Kashmir is the paradise of India, then its lush green gardens, clean natural environment, favourable weather etc., give it a special beauty.

The markets here are crowded and vibrant because hundreds of small villages are attached to and dependent on each market. So there are limitless business opportunities here. The only problem is the law and order situation and changing demographics. The condition of cities is as normal as in other states of the country, but there is a terrible imbalance in the demographics in the villages. There is a majority of Muslims in most of the villages and small towns. There are also many Muslims who migrated from Bangladesh. Due to their abundance, local Hindus migrate to other cities or safer places. Migration is a big problem for Hindus. They have to run away even if there is a slight difficulty and challenge. Organized and sponsored violence incites them to flee. The spread of violence instils fear in them. Astonishingly, the attackers spread this violence more than the victims.

The result is that the Hindus migrate, leaving behind even their real estate, farming, business, etc.. After their escape, with great planning and skill, some Muslims share their land, take gardens, take care of the house. They also give their share to the land-owner on time. But this sequence hardly lasts for two-four years. After that, they get ownership rights on those lands at throwaway prices, get them to their names by showing the fear of possession of the house, etc. After trading out the local Hindus, they have sole control over the day-to-day trade. The area of Malda has been famous for mango orchards. Most of these mangoes, orchards, fruit, and vegetable markets are now controlled by Muslims. Stopping this migration is essential for a border province like West Bengal. The biggest problem of Hindus is migration and self-forgetfulness.

The demographics of rural conditions have a ratio of 70-30 in some areas. I also went to Muslim areas. In some places, influential people of Muslim society hosted me. I also got to meet their children, women and girls. A Muslim provided a Fortuner car and a driver for me. He insisted me to go to the countryside by that car, as there would be a different effect, and people would gather. I was surprised that even living in the village, he was living a luxurious life. A local Muslim has over 125 madrassa-schools-professional institutions. He has also opened many hospitals. I also went to several madrasas, religious schools for Muslim girls, nursing and pharma colleges. I was surprised to see that madrasas, schools, and nursing-pharma colleges are running with great infrastructure in areas just adjacent to Bangladesh. Every year around 50 young people from those madrasas go to Saudi Arabia for religious studies. Most of them become imams and bukharis. Muslim youngsters between the age of 7 years to 30 years take training in those madrasas. Money comes to them from all over the country. Saudi Arabia does the funding, and they take maximum benefit of all the state government schemes. Their entire system works to take advantage of government funds and schemes. What one cannot get done even in several months and years, they get it done in just a few days. It was also astonishing that there was an abundance of Muslim officials in the police administration in most of those border areas. This seems impossible without colluding with the power system. I also interacted with Muslim girls and women. Some of them were seen working on the computer, and some tried to explain to me about their "Mazhabi Taaleem", some told and showed me the work of lab and herbal plants. They held football and volleyball matches during my visit to the madrasas. Most of the youths were wearing kurtas over t-shirts and lungis. There were more than 5000 such children there. I interacted with more than 100 trainees. Girls and women were more inclined towards science and technology than "Mazhabi Taaleem", but there was terrible fanaticism among the youth. Over a while, bigotry is possible among those girls too.

When I came to know a Muslim family, they proudly told me he is a father and his 3 wives have in total 39 brothers and sisters apart. When my friend asked, "Do you have 3 children?" he proudly replied – "No, 6". Again, fewer children are considered a "Gunah" in our society. It does not have any bad effect on the health of our wives due to "Allah ke Fazal", and after the death of my brother, I have adopted his child on paper as well. The decreasing population of Hindus and increasing population of Muslims is the problem of the whole country, and it is the biggest problem in these areas especially. One can't match them on the population-force front. And if you have given such advice even by mistake, then you will be declared backwards by the Hindu society in an instant. The girls and women of Hindu society will first raise the flags of rebellion against you. But none of their men and women had any guilt about it. I also asked a woman if she had found it difficult to raise these 8-8 children. She laughed and said that all moments pass, this is the custom for them, and on average, they have 6-8 children. If we do not fight on this front, we have lost the battle of numbers. And the biggest challenge in the battle of this front is to convince so-called educated Hindu women.

One more thing is worth noting. A Muslim told me we do not charge any fee for these children studying in Dini Talim or Madrasa-Pharma-Nursing. Those who are capable pay a fee of 1000 rupees per month. At first, he kept avoiding the question "Where does the money come from?" but on my repeated asking, he said that the rich Muslims of the Gulf countries, Kerala and the country give him charity. They did not say that this charity or zakat is only to change the demographics and legitimize Bangladeshi Muslims. But among us Hindus, people do not want to withdraw money from our pockets too soon for our Dharma-Kaj. Forget about education, those who are capable want to make their child a convent educated Christian Englishman. As for Muslims, Islamic education is first and foremost. If we Hindus simply boycott the convent and do not send our children there, some sanskars & values can be saved. But no one is ready. Speaking English is becoming the only measure of our progress.

However, I sought time to meet the local BJP MLA-MP. With great difficulty, on contact, I came to know that the MLA of Malda Town lives in Delhi only after winning the election. She visits the area once a year. The local workers have no complaints with the BJP, but the unavailability of the winning candidates hurts them a lot. So much so that they are making up their mind not to elect him again and more to his surprise when a TMC leader asked for an appointment with me. He reached my hotel to meet me on my hesitation. He has been mayor. His wife is still the winning candidate. There is a flurry of change among the local Hindus. They want the BJP to win so that the winds of development flow in these areas, capital comes, the industry comes, making a place for itself in the minds of the people on the development front is a big achievement of the BJP, but it is a big failure of the BJP leadership to not provide qualified candidates. Even among the Muslims, people accepted it in a suppressed tongue that better development takes place under the BJP rule!

BJP is a ray of hope for West Bengal. People know and believe that only BJP can change the picture and destiny of West Bengal. But the local Hindus need a grassroots leader, who works on the ground, fights for them, and passes the benefits of various government schemes down the line to the common Hindu voter. The real problem of BJP, West Bengal, is that they do not have leaders to fight on the ground. If the BJP finds such leaders, then Hindus will vote for them along with a few Muslims, too. But unfortunately, most of the BJP's winning leaders do not even spend time in the region, stay outside the state, are more interested in the politics of Delhi. They come under the influence of the central and provincial leadership.

And yes, all of us also should not propagate the violence of West Bengal so much that it becomes a self-goal. I said above that the spread of violence encourages and undermines resistance, creates unnecessary fear and apprehension, and encourages migration. It breaks the morale of the grassroots and combative common youth who take the front in the war. Lastly, increase your visit to West Bengal. Spend a few days in its villages-towns-cities, only a few days of the year. If you know Bangla, it will be more useful.