In a contentious Facebook post, a man named Prasun Bhaumik who is sympathetic to TMC and claims to be a ‘theatre artist’ from Kolkata has warned people to refrain from complying with the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘light a Diya’ at 9 pm for 9 minutes on April 5.
The post in Bengali loosely translates as, “Whoever will switch off their lights on April 5 at 9 pm, we will mark their houses with chalk. Even if this is not done, all such addresses will be listed.” He ends his veiled threats with “Jai Bangla (Hail Bengal).”
A casual look through his timeline reflects his disdain for the Bharatiya Janata Party and the policies of the Central Government. The ‘theatre artist’ however comes to the rescue of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whenever anyone questions her stand. It is thus safe to conclude from his posts that he is a Trinamool Congress sympathiser, if not a supporter.
In the following post, Prasun Bhowmik writes a poem after being miffed over the statement of BJP State President Dilip Ghosh slamming Banerjee for “begging” ₹15000 crores from the Centre.
The Hitler Connection
It was a common practice in Nazi Germany to profile dissidents and Jews using identification marks. For instance, when the Nazis called for a boycott of Jewish shops on April 1 in 1933, they painted yellow stars of David on window panes. In a gross display of Anti-Semitism, they would also inscribe words such as ‘Juden’ as identification marks for people.
By 1941, it was mandatory for all Jews in the Reich, above the age of 6, to wear a badge which consisted of a yellow Star of David on a black field with the word “Jew” inscribed inside the star. This applied to all German Jews and Jews in Germany annexed territories.
In Nazi-occupied Budapest in Hungary, the Jews were forced to have the contentious yellow stars on their house. They lived under house arrest with little provisions. The purpose of such residences was to accommodate all Hungarian Jews in one place so as to make their deportation easier to Nazi concentration camps.
Conclusion
While goons of the Trinamool Congress threat, torture and even kill BJP workers at regular intervals, the veiled threat of “marking houses with chalk” is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s identification techniques. While Nazis were involved in racial profiling, a TMC sympathiser now wants to politically profile people and list their addresses. Last year, TMC politician Mahua Moitra had accused the BJP of being fascist while all points raised by her had an uncanny resemblance to Mamata Banerjee’s government in Bengal.
