Amity and harmony quench communal unrest

Amid the growing violence and intolerance in India, people of Bengal are showing solidarity to suppress the evil designs of communal BJP.

So much so that the family of the teenager who posted an objectionable picture on his Facebook page that triggered communal tension and subsequent violence was saved by a Muslim neighbour Amirul Haque when violent attackers ransacked his house. An officer of Bashirhat fire service station, on condition of anonymity stated that during the agitation, local people of both the communities who have lived together for long came to rescue each other. “The communal tension was committed by outsiders. Local people were not involved. These people most of whom belong to lower middle class or lower class is not interested in violence,” said the fire brigade official.

Seba Das or Fahmida Begum, both residents of Baduria are not interested in communal violence. “We have more important work to do,” said Seba Das, a mother of three year old child. “Such incidents never happened here. We have lived peacefully side by side. We have celebrated EID and Durga Puja together. Why will we listen to outsiders who have vested interests,” said Rahim Seikh, a rickshaw puller of Baduria.

In Barasat, local people led a procession where about 250 people, consisting of people from both the communities assembled together at the Barasat railway station to protest against the communal tension that broke out in Baduria. “At first few of us took the decision of organising a road show against the Baduria incident and shared our plan on social media asking the civil society to join in this communal harmony march. We were overwhelmed at the response,” said Rabin Das, one of the conveners of the peace march and a resident of Barasat.

Another resident of Barasat, Masud Khan pointed out that the evil force is trying hard to malign the face of Bengal. “They want to make us fragile by dividing us. We are not going to fall in their trap. This evil force is polarising the society like the British did many years ago. They are spending lakhs on it,” said Khan who owns a grocery shop. “Both Hindus and Muslims are my customers who come together in my shop. The local newspapers are read by all. There is no animosity or venom. Our forefathers have lived together peacefully. So do we. Some communal forces are creating tension here. It cannot be tolerated,” said Sajal Barui who owns a tea stall at Baduria.

In another incident at Berachapa, Deganga area, local people of Muslim community protested and pushed back few outsiders today afternoon who had come with the intention of creating communal tension in the locality. Local MLA Dipendu Biswas was gheraoed by local residents asking him about his whereabouts when such an incident occurred. “He has failed in his responsibilities as our MLA,” said a youth who does not wished to be named.

Police administration arrested 40 youths yesterday who gheraoed MLA. CM Mamata Banerjee has asked Biswas to meet her at the TMC headquarter. CM Banerjee has urged local police stations to create ‘Shanti Bahini’ or peace force consisting of ten to fifteen local youths, students and peace loving residents in each locality. They would inform local administration of any suspicious people who might create trouble in the locality. The deadline of fifteen days has already been set.