Change in Demography: The Bengal Craft

On May 25 Sunanda Vashishth wrote an informative and insightful thread in Twitter elucidating how after “ostensibly laying down arms”, Yasin Malik, the genocide perpetrator of Kashmir got active help of Academia, Media and the intellectual circuit to recast his own image as a ‘Gandhian who believed in non-violence’. With this background information in mind, critical observation of West Bengal’s public discourse might help to descry a not-so-clandestine involvement of academia, media and the intellectual circuit of the State in an apparently premeditated Islamic conversion craft which appears to be consorted by Popular Front of India (PFI). A reasonable elaboration of this matter may appear relevant at a time when Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached bank accounts of PFI and Rehab India Foundation having collective balance of Rs 68,62,081 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. PFI is drawing people’s attention more and more as frenzied protest industry is flourishing in post 2019 Bharat.

In 2012, when the ‘Great Dictator of Bengal’ decided which newspapers would be stacked in public libraries for people to read and which newspapers won’t, ‘Kolom’ (pen) secured a place in her list. ‘Kolom’ (presently renamed as ‘Puber Kolom’) was owned by Ahmed Hassan Imran who was an Islamic hardliner having alleged link with Jamaat-e-Islami. He was allegedly involved in Sarada Chit Fund Scam too and was a founder member of the organization named Students’ Islamic Movement in India (SIMI). SIMI got banned in India for radical Islamic activities and subsequently evolved into PFI. SIMI’s founder member Ahmed Hassan Imran represented West Bengal on behalf of TMC in the Rajya Sabha. All these imply West Bengal is supposed to have a veritable link with PFI. The organisation seems to have a prominent presence on the ground of West Bengal conducting various operations including those murky ones that are facilitating silent change in Bengal demography. There are reasons to believe that PFI in West Bengal is functioning well in congruence with Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind. Moreover, in case of PFI, individuals seem to be working as the organisation. This is perhaps because organisations may be banned but individuals may remain operative.

Eminent Hindus of Bengal of different districts (especially of border-adjacent ones) associated with academia are appearing to deliver speeches on PFI platforms, being present in Islamic jalsas wherein the Muslim speakers delivering talks on life and messages of Prophet Muhammad are coming from PFI-background. Precise reason(s) behind Hindu teachers’ attending such Islamic jalsas need to be identified by the empowered authority. Apparently, Hindus’ participations in Islamic jalsas are meant to convince other Hindus about conversion. It seems a Bengal-specific model to facilitate radical change in the State’s demography. A web is  being spun as was spun in Kashmir according to Sunanda Vashishth.

In districts like Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, Hindu teachers’ attendance in Islamic jalsas turned almost a regular phenomenon. Raising objections against such attendance fetched ‘communal’ tag for certain teachers while such tags were pasted upon them not only by Islamists but also by a specific section of Hindus who call themselves ‘secular’. While the English word ‘secular’ means non-religious, post-partition India intended to mean ‘Islamic’ by the term. Indo-seculars, hence, are more ‘Islamic’ in spirit than ‘secular’. A deceitful environment is being created in West Bengal to drill in Islamic psyche in non-Muslims. West Bengal’s demography and Islamists’ antecedents suggest all these are parts of a larger action plan.

Bengal media appears to play an important role in the process. The news media writes passionate reports on change in Bengal demography portraying—

• n How the last rites of the last Hindu man of a village in Asansol got done by Muslims,
• How the age old Durgapuja of a place in Kolkata got arranged and organised by Muslims as there remained only 3 Hindu families in 2021,
• How Muslims guarded and protected the temple of Mother Goddess Balaichandi in a village of Birbhum as the village turned Hinduless.

The age old news Daily Anandabazar Patrika renders melodramatic portrayals of such incidents as instances of communal harmony tilting the index of eulogy towards the Muslims. It, however, doesn’t raise pertinent questions regarding whereabouts of the vanishing Hindus of the State which was historically & electorally created for Hindu Bengalis during partition of undivided India. At a time, when we are celebrating West Bengal Day on June 20, it needs to be reiterated that the core spirit of West Bengal was in its Hindu identity.

Anandabazar Patrika reported on May 23 that in a village of Sainthia, Birbhum Muslims were protecting the Mandir of Mother Goddess Balai Chandi. ABP reported communal harmony in it but avoided bitter controversies that Muslims guarding the deity were Hindus until recently. Another such report came in from Bengali Daily ‘Ei Samay’ on April 12 regarding a village of Bardhaman where too Mother Goddess Troilokyotarini was being worshipped by Muslims for many years while Troilokyotarini Mandir in Aushgram was existing for a few centuries. Mechanism of fast changing demography of West Bengal appears crafted as per an exclusive Bengal-specific model. It would be pertinent to mention here that Gulf Countries are reportedly sending hefty amounts on a regular basis to Islamic Clergy of West Bengal many of whom are the Islamic scholars of the State associated with organisations like PFI. Such Islamists are involving secular Hindus in their conversion craft. Such inclusion indicates higher probability of money-laundering in the process.

Anandabazar Patrika lauded efforts of a Hindu teacher of some Business Management School of Durgapur, Pashchim Bardhaman. The teacher, Udayan Moitra, has been eulogised by ABP as an ambassador of communal harmony who, in spite of being a faithful Hindu, observed all Islamic rituals with devotion. He goes to namaz, sings Islamic prayers, Nath Sharif, etc., in different gatherings of Muslims of the State. While Moitra’s story by ABP indeed rendered message of harmony, such message was too loud to be convincing.

Keeping in mind the antecedents of Islamists, Udayan Moitra, as portrayed by ABP appeared a messenger of not only communal harmony but also of Islam. Apprehending likes of Udayan Moitra as conversion motivators is no folly but awareness. It is wise to keep in mind that Bengal’s demographic distribution presently stands at a crucial juncture comprising more than 30 per cent Muslims and about 67 per cent Hindus of whom 10-15 per cent are urban and suburban seculars who by default act as Islamists’ apologists. Islamists in West Bengal, hence, are not likely to target this segment for a religious shift as they require such apologists for their own image management. Moreover, in attempts to convert subaltern Hindus of West Bengal’s districts, conversion enthusiasts are using a combination of Maulanas along with local eminent Hindus who belong to the above-mentioned secular segment. This implies that Islamists require the secular segment to exist intact helping them in their machinations. Presented by Anandabazar Patrika, the story of Udayan Moitra, hence, appears an attempt to manipulate the psyche of secular Hindus of Bengal in order to provide them with moral boost to participate in Islamic conversion craft unhesitatingly. Also, Moitra’s story has potential to make such Hindus feel guilt-free in doing so. The precise mechanism by which eminent Hindus are agreeing to take direct or indirect part in Islamic conversion craft is a matter of probe by the empowered authority (eg NIA) to find out the extent of money laundering and unlawful activities, if any, in all such cases.

Prominent political parties appear to be in unison designing roadmaps of sinister coalition between secular Hindus and suspicious Islamists. It would be relevant to mention here that CPM in Kerala recently urged to Kerala people for creating newer warfronts to fight against the central government which was crushing the religious terrorist forces. Thus, CPM Kerala openly implied in one of their promotional pamphlets that ‘religious terrorist forces’ must exist in the country. Engagement of secular Hindus of Bengal with radical Islamists needs to be viewed from such perspective too. It seems West Bengal CPM already created newer warfronts to protect religious terrorist forces by forming clandestine coalition with organizations like PFI. CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty was found sharing stage with a bigshot of Rohingya-import in South 24 Parganas, Mahammad Kamruzzaman who’s known to have distinct PFI-link. This person turned an Islamic intellectual before West Bengal Assembly Election, 2021 and was staging a discussion of Islamic intellectuals amongst whom Sujan Chakraborty was one. No one adequately knew the probable role of Sujan Chakraborty in an exclusive meeting of Islamic intellectuals as Chakraborty was neither known as an Islamist nor as an Islamic scholar.

It appears a web of Islamists, Leftists and Secularists is being ceaselessly spun in West Bengal just as it was spun in Kashmir to provide Yasin Malik the status of a Gandhian.

As Maldah district already turned Muslim-majority, conversion enthusiasts went more straightforward and unapologetic in their approach. While they are predominantly using Hindu teachers in other districts, State Police is being used in Maldah. IC of Kaliachak Police Station (who is a Hindu) was forcing other Hindus to convert. Once this had been reported via Social Media on May 15, a PIL was filed in Calcutta High Court. High Court ordered a CBI-NIA joint probe of the matter on May 20.

The Bengal-specific conversion craft must be intercepted and stopped as West Bengal’s core spirit lies in its demographic trait at the time of partition. Politics of Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s State can never overlook the demography issue while the objective of Bengali speaking Muslims appears to turn both parts of undivided Bengal arithmetically Muslim majority followed by genocides of those who would refuse to convert or flee.