Rama Navami Violence: Why Hindus Fear Losing Religious Rights In Bengal

A lot of violence marked the Rama Navami processions in some pockets of Bengal, especially Howrah, Hooghly and North Dinajpur districts. 

The violence triggered a war of words between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP. The latter claimed that Rama Navami processions were attacked by Muslims, including stone-pelters harboured inside mosques. 

Muslims also attacked and torched shops and business establishments belonging to Hindus, alleged BJP leaders. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, on the other hand, blamed Hindus for the violence. She accused organisers of Rama Navami processions of not sticking to predetermined routes and entering what she termed were “Muslim areas”. 

Banerjee and her party also blamed the BJP for provoking the violence. She accused the BJP of getting ‘outsiders’ to create trouble and accused Rama Navami processionists of carrying swords and lethal weapons, and raising provocative slogans. 

The Bengal police, which does not enjoy the reputation of being an unbiased professional force, now stands accused of arresting mainly Hindus for the violence and arson that was perpetrated allegedly by Muslims.

The fallout of the violence that visited Rama Navami celebrations last week was the severe restrictions imposed on Hanuman Jayanti celebrations this week. 

The Calcutta High Court, through an order passed on Wednesday (5 April), directed the state to requisition Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). It also banned Hanuman Jayanti rallies in Howrah, Hooghly and North Dinajpur where prohibitory orders imposed after the violence in the wake of Rama Navami celebrations were in force. 

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by acting chief justice T.S.Sivagnanam and comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also laid down stringent conditions on Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. 

The Court allowed the state police complete discretion to allow or refuse permission for Hanuman Jayanti rallies and restrict the number of people allowed to participate in the rallies. 

The High Court division bench ruled that the police should lay down rigorous conditions on organisers of Hanuman Jayanti celebrations while granting permission for the celebrations. 

The Court also asked the police to make the organisers of Hanuman Jayanti processions liable for any breach of peace or damage to property, public or private, that may occur during or after the processions. 

The immediate fallout

The Bengal police gleefully followed the Court’s directive and imposed very strict conditions on organisers of many Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The police refused permission to many celebrations and allowed only a few. 

While the organisers of many Hanuman Jayanti celebrations were refused permission to take out the customary shobha yatras (rallies), the ones that the police allowed were severely curtailed. 

The police, acting on orders of Mamata Banerjee who is widely accused of pandering to Muslims and appeasing the minority community, curtailed the routes of the customary Hanuman Jayanti shobha yatras and even restricted the number of people allowed to participate in them. 

The organisers of Hanuman Jayanti celebrations who were allowed to take out shobha yatras were told that they would have to stick to routes determined by the police. And none of these routes ventured even close to what the chief minister calls ‘Muslim areas’. 

As a result, Hanuman Jayanti celebrations were a staid affair this year. The Calcutta High Court-sanctioned restrictions discouraged many organisers from taking out shobha yatras this year. 

For instance, the Howrah Kamal Sangha which has been holding Hanuman Jayanti procession, or shobha yatra, for many years now cancelled the procession this time. That’s because the traditional route of the shobha yatra passed near the trouble spots in Shibpur that witnessed violence in the wake of Hanuman Jayanti processions. 

A member of the Sangha told Swarajya that even though the traditional route of their shobha yatra passed three kilometres from the trouble spot, the organisers decided to cancel the event on their own in order to avoid any trouble. 

This provides an inkling of the fear that has gripped Hindus in Bengal--the fear of being blamed unfairly if things go wrong even for no fault of their own and of being prosecuted by a vengeful police force. 

Other shobha yatras were severely curtailed on orders from the police, thus robbing them of their essential pomp and circumstance. 

One such example is the shobha yatra organised by the Liluah Hanuman Bhakt Mandal. This 36-year-old shobha yatra, one of the oldest in the state, also used to traverse the longest distance of 18 kilometres from Liluah Hanuman Mandir in Howrah to Balaji Hanuman Mandir in Dum Dum. 

This shobha yatra used to pass through central and north Kolkata, some pockets of which are inhabited by Muslims. 

The police cut the route of this shobha yatra by 12 kilometres and limited the number of participants to just 150. Women and children used to participate enthusiastically in the shobha yatra, but this year’s procession had just a handful of them. 

Why this bodes ill for Hindus in Bengal

The police will use the violence in the aftermath of Rama Navami processions this year as an excuse to impose very strict conditions and restrictions on Hindu religious processions from now on. 

It can be said with certainty that no Hindu processions will be allowed to pass through Muslim-inhabited areas. Other restrictions will also be imposed on Hindu festivals to pander to Muslim sentiments and sensibilities. 

Bengal has already witnessed even Durga Puja immersion processions being restricted and disallowed from passing through Muslim-inhabited areas and even roads where mosques are located. 

Such restrictions are a throwback to the reign of bigoted Muslim rulers who imposed stringent restrictions on Hindu religious festivals. 

Aurangzeb, for instance, decreed that Hindus would not be allowed to take out any religious procession on a road on which a mosque is located. 

Though such restrictions on Hindu religious festivities should have no place in independent India, the fact is that similar and even more stringent restrictions are slowly being imposed on Hindus in many parts of the country, including Bengal. 

The Bengal government under Mamata Banerjee contends that the sentiments of Muslims will be hurt if Hindu religious processions pass by or through Muslim-inhabited areas or in front of a mosque. 

This presumption, and the consequent restrictions imposed by the state on Hindu festivities, triggers a sense of entitlement among many Muslims, and muscle-flexing and assertion by the community. 

But Hindus never object to Muharram processions where processionists carry swords and other lethal weapons. Hindus do not object to Muslims occupying public spaces regularly to offer namaz. 

And since Hindus are tolerant--and rightly so--and do not object to Muslim religious events, but Muslims do not reciprocate, the state imposes restrictions on Hindu festivities while allowing Muslims unfettered freedom to observe and celebrate their religious occasions as they deem fit. 

The Hindus are, thus, the losers. 

It can be said with complete certainty that from now on, more and more conditions and restrictions will be imposed on Hindu religious festivals and processions in Bengal. 

Hindus will be blamed for hurting Muslim sentiments if they (Hindus) route religious processions through Muslim-inhabited areas and roads where mosques stand. And if Muslims retaliate, the blame will fall on Hindus of Bengal. 

Sad and dangerous times, indeed, for Hindus of Bengal.