From now on, times of riots; until elections

Bengal and Bihar have been broiling in a conspiracy hatched by the Sangh Parivar forces to turn the Ram Navami celebrations into a communal riot.

Murder and arson have been continuing endlessly even after a week since the Ram Navami. The clashes in different areas have so far claimed the lives of 12 persons. Homes of hundreds and means of their livelihood have been torched. In our country, religious celebrations and rituals becoming a tool for riots during the time of elections are turning into a norm. Even before the Ram Navami, the Sangh Parivar leaders had deliberately prepared the breeding ground for this despicable ploy through provocative speeches. Despite the legal ban, they arranged processions all across Bengal where participants including children were armed with weapons. More than sixty rallies were held in a week in Calcutta city alone and majority of them ended by igniting the flames of riots. It was state BJP president Dilip Ghosh who was in the forefront of violating law by participating in the Ram Navami rally armed with a sword. A case has been registered against union Minister and BJP’s MP from Asansol - Raniganj area, Babul Supriyo under non-bailable sections for igniting the clashes. He had publicly threatened to skin alive the local residents (Muslims). Instead of tackling the planned communal propaganda through legal actions, Mamata's defence by pushing Trinamool workers into the streets in the name of Ram Navami rally and the cunningness to politically use the religious celebration, helped only to inflame the riots and not to extinguish it. It was the New Year celebration as per the Hindu calendar that paved way for communal riots in Nawada, Bihar. The communal clashes in the wake of Ram Navami celebrations have made the districts of Aurangabad, Samastipur, Shahpur and Nawada insecure. Arijit Shashwat, son of Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s has been arrested for igniting communal riots in Bhagalpur district.

From now until the coming Lok Sabha election, cities and villages are likely to be in unrest and in an atmosphere of riots. As an air of election air is building up in Karnataka, communal frenzy is also on the rise. It was the BJP's MP Pralhad Joshi who courted legal action by comparing the Muslim-majority Sadarsofa area to Pakistan, and publicly alleging that mosques in Hubballi have unauthorized stock of arms. And it was the BJP in Karntaka that justified the heinous act by online news portal postcard.news of converting a motor accident of a Jainmonk into an anti-Muslim riot. These are the political follow up acts of an outfit with first hand experience of ensuring seats of power in human blood. Ministers and officials, who are bound to perform constitutional duties, become direct participants in the incendiary political moves for dominance. During the visit to riot-affected areas, Bengal's Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was particular to avoid Muslim-populated areas. And by his response to the pressmen that one should learn to respect religious festivals, he was implicitly becoming an advocate of the rioters too. The fact that he could not see or comfort Imdadul Rashidi who had lost his son can only be because communal politics is deeply entrenched in the echelons of power. And Rashidi was an Imam of a mosque in Asansol who had called upon the people with these words, “I want peace. My boy has been taken away. I do not want any more families to lose their loved ones. I do not want any more houses to burn, I have already told the gathering that I will leave Asansol if there is any kind of retaliation. I told them that if you love me, you will not raise a finger”. But unfortunately the culturally tall words rich in spirituality, of the imam who lost his son through an assassin's knife, are likely to end up as a mere dream. In parallel will remain as such, the helplessness of the Indian Muslim, who became a second class citizen before law and authorities, and who became sacrificial birds on path to power. As long as a government with prejudice for one section continues, Indian streets on festive nights will see tears of turbulence instead of smiles of joy. In that guilt, the accused will not be religion or its followers, but none other than politicians and leaders.