The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal has sparked a fierce political and religious row by officially designating Muslim-owned sweet shops to prepare prasad for the newly built Digha Jagannath Dham.
The directive, which emerged through a government notification issued to ration dealers in Suti Block 1 of Murshidabad district, lists four sweet shops tasked with preparing Gaja and Pera, traditional sweets considered sacred offerings to Bhagwan Jagannath. Out of the four shops listed, three are owned by Muslims, prompting serious questions about motive, cultural insensitivity, and what critics call the government’s “obsession with minority appeasement at the cost of Hindu beliefs.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell head Amit Malviya led the charge, posting a copy of the official list on X, accompanied by a scathing indictment:
“Mamata Banerjee is trampling on Hindu sentiments with impunity! Sweet shops and ration dealers—majority of them Muslim—have been entrusted with preparing and distributing Gaja and Pera, sacred offerings of Bhagwan Jagannath. This is not a clerical error. This is a well-thought-out provocation.”
Mamata Banerjee is trampling on Hindu sentiments with impunity in West Bengal!
In the Suti 1 Block of Murshidabad district, sweet shops and ration dealers — majority of them Muslim — have reportedly been entrusted with the preparation and distribution of Gaja and Pera, which are… https://t.co/NVU921fPQ6 pic.twitter.com/zhnIRB4PL8
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 19, 2025
He continued, highlighting the contrast with Odisha’s Puri Jagannath Mandir, where non-Hindus are barred from even entering the Mandir premises in accordance with age-old traditions.
“In Puri, the sanctity of Jagannath is maintained with utmost devotion. Here, in Mamata’s Bengal, the sanctity is not just being questioned—it is being trampled upon. Is this how Hindu rituals are to be respected in a state where the majority is being pushed to the margins under the veil of secularism?”
Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari echoed Amit Malviya’s views, warning that the move reflects a larger pattern of the Trinamool Congress’s strategy of minority appeasement, often disguised as secular administration.
“First, it was the illegal OBC listing of Muslims to secure electoral gains. Now, it’s the outsourcing of sacred Hindu rituals to non-Hindus. This is not diversity—this is deliberate disregard for Hindu faith,” he thundered.
Suvendu Adhikari questioned whether local Hindu sweet makers, who traditionally prepare Mandir prasad across Bengal, were deliberately sidelined to create an artificial image of inclusivity: “This is Toshan 2.0, where centuries-old Hindu traditions are being manipulated to suit Mamata Banerjee’s electoral optics.”
From Murshidabad to Digha, Hindu religious leaders and devotees have reacted with palpable anger. Speaking to media, a local Pandit from the Digha Mandir precinct said: “This is not just about food. Naivedyam (offering) must be prepared by those who respect and follow sanatana dharma. Prasad is divine. If the one making it doesn’t treat it as sacred, what purity remains in the offering?”
Devotees from the region feel that their sacred rituals are being turned into administrative logistics, stripped of religious and spiritual context, and dominated by political compulsions.
Local residents of Raninagar, where the sweet shops are located, expressed shock that a Mandir rooted in deeply Vaishnavite traditions was now sourcing its prasad from shops with no ties to the faith. One resident noted, “Would the government ever dare assign Hindu Pandits to conduct rituals in a mosque or prepare niyaz? Then why is Hindu prasad being treated like a commercial item?”
The BJP also raised alarms that this pattern is part of a larger trend in Mamata Banerjee’s regime where Hindu festivals are diluted, Durga murti immersions are restricted, and Ram Navami processions are harassed, while state-sponsored iftars and madrasa funding flourish.
In 2024 alone, Bengal saw over 30 cases where Hindu religious processions were either denied permission, rerouted, or met with police force. Meanwhile, events connected to minority festivals received full state patronage and funding.
The Jagannath Dham Mandir in Digha, inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee in April 2025, was hailed as a major religious and cultural project aimed at boosting tourism and regional pride. Modeled after the Puri Jagannath Mandir, it was meant to reinforce Bengal’s spiritual heritage.
However, within weeks of its opening, the Mandir has become a flashpoint in Bengal’s polarized politics, with repeated controversies over Mandir management, rituals, and now, the most sacred of all — the prasad.
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