Violence erupted in Howrah and Hooghly during Ram Navami celebrations. Islamists pelted stones at the procession and vandalized both public and private property. Several Hindus were also attacked by the Islamists during the violence. While the Islamists went on a rampage against Hindus, one picture of a man brandishing a gun went viral on social media after which, he was arrested in Bihar.
While Hindus were being brutalised and their religious procession was being attacked, Mamata Banerjee blamed Hindus for the violence, saying that Muslims would not commit violence during Ramzan because they would be busy in their Namaz and Roza. TMC used this image of a man brandishing a gun to blame Hindus and the BJP for the violence, claiming that it provided proof that the unrest was initiated by the people taking the Ram Navami procession out. BJP, on the other hand, said that TMC was trying to shield Islamists and shifting the blame.
It is pertinent to note that no visual, image or video, shows Sumit Shaw indulging in any violence. This is the only image, based on which, TMC is claiming that Hindus initiated the violence.
The mother of the man, Sumit Shaw, spoke to the media saying that he had affiliations with TMC mostly. BJP shared the news snippet to say that TMC’s narrative had been exposed. “Sumit Shaw, the 19-year-old arrested from Munger, for flashing an illegal weapon, was closely associated with TMC MLA Gautam Chaudhary and attended their programs, claims his mother. Yet another instance of TMC planting their people, then arresting them to malign Hindus and BJP”, BJP tweeted.
Sumit Shaw, the 19 year old arrested from Munger, for flashing an illegal weapon, was closely associated with TMC MLA Gautam Chaudhary and attended their programs, claims his mother.
— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) April 5, 2023
Yet another instance of TMC planting their people, then arresting them to malign Hindus and BJP. pic.twitter.com/n1SludpLkw
The mother of Sumit Shaw said that he used to essentially do political work for money. He would join the rallies of the party that gave him money. However, he was close to TMC MLA Gautam Chaudhary and had attended several of his rallies.
TMC on the other hand dug up pictures of Sumit Shaw with BJP functionaries and posted them as proof to claim that he was close to BJP.
.@BJP4Bengal ORCHESTRATED VIOLENCE ACROSS BENGAL on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. We have said this before & we will say it again!
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 4, 2023
Sumit Shaw has been closely associated with BJP leaders. He was recently arrested for the violence.
These pictures speak for themselves 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/IeciAB0lec
It is a fact that Islamists went on a rampage against Hindus during the Ram Navami procession. It is a fact that politics plays very little role in such aggression and it is also a fact that Mamata Banerjee blamed Hindus for taking the procession out from a “Muslim area”. However, Sumit Shaw has today been made a political rallying point by TMC to make the aggression political instead of talking about the root of the problem – unbridled Islamism and minority street veto.
Be that as it may, Sumit Shaw and what his mother said reveals important aspects of the political reality of West Bengal. Here are 5 of them.
Politics in Bengal and ideology
One might believe that politics in West Bengal is closely tied to ideological moorings. With Bengal being a stronghold of communists for decades and then TMC taking over, claiming to fight against Hindutva, one might be inclined to believe that politics in West Bengal is driven by ideological considerations. While that may be true for a political party’s top brass, for the ground cadre, it is a career just like any other.
Sumit Shaw was clearly seeking a political career regardless of the political party, as revealed by his mother. She said he used to join the functions of whichever party was willing to give him money. She does reveal he favoured TMC, however, he was clearly a political cadre for hire. Such political enthusiasts are in all parties in West Bengal.
When the power shifted from the Communists to TMC, it was the very communist ground cadre that shifted their allegiance from CPIM to TMC. When BJP appeared to be strengthening itself in Bengal during the 2021 Assembly Elections, several leaders and ground cadres joined BJP from TMC. In fact, in Bengal, there is a rampant culture of “Para dadas”, which essentially means the local head goon. The local goon is often connected to a political party. Most of them are currently in TMC since it is in power. When the BJP appeared to be becoming a political force in Bengal, several of these local goons shifted to BJP. Currently, some of them remain in BJP while others have gone back to TMC.
Sumit Shaw had no political ideology per se. He was not ideologically tied to the BJP or the TMC. He was seeking a career and was willing to join any party that paid him, even though he clearly had an affinity towards TMC (as revealed by his mother). To use his presence to blame Hindus is a dishonest ploy by the TMC.
Violence a part of Bengal’s political culture
Why was Sumit Shaw in the crowd brandishing a gun? Was it because of his Hindu identity? Was it because of his political affiliation with either BJP or TMC? With what the mother said, it is extremely clear that Sumit Shaw was a political aspirant who would join any party that would give him the time of the day. What is the one thing that helps build political careers in West Bengal? It is certainly not political ideology. It is the muscle power one wields and their capacity for violence.
With what the mother said, it is entirely possible that Sumit Shaw brandished the gun because displaying his muscle power would further his political ambitions because that is the nature of politics in West Bengal. To say that his display of power is because he was attached to BJP is essentially trying to win a political argument by obfuscating facts and ground realities of Bengal.
What we know about Hindus and Ram Navami processions
Given that we already know how people change political parties in West Bengal and that ideological moorings don’t play a role in political careers largely, it is not beyond possibility that those who affiliate themselves with TMC or CPIM were also a part of the yatra. To claim that only BJP and VHP people participated in the religious festivity is saying that no ground cadre of the two parties identify themselves as Hindus and participate in Hindu religious festivals – a claim that is outlandish, given the reality of West Bengal.
It is a fact that only one individual – Sumit Shaw – has been arrested for brandishing a weapon during the Shobha Yatra. It was not a procession where Hindus were carrying weapons en masse, like religious processions of certain other communities. To assume that Sumit Shaw was from BJP betrays everything we know about Bengal and about what his mother said. Given that only one Hindu was present in the yatra with a weapon, clearly points towards the political motive of carrying a weapon and certainly not religious.
Liberals, their Hinduphobia and politics
Ram Navami and chants of Jai Shree Ram have been under Liberal and Islamist onslaught for years. Lord Ram has been a symbol of the Hindu Renaissance where for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Hindus united under one umbrella, one aim of rebuilding the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya which was demolished and desecrated by Mughal invaders. Recently, we have seen several lies being spread blaming Hindus for lynching Muslims when they refused to chant Jai Shree Ram. These cases have summarily turned out to be false with investigation pointing to no communal angle in these cases.
Ram Navami Shobha Yatras have come under attack year after year, with Hindus being brutalised at an alarming rate. Such attacks, especially when the procession passes through Muslim-majority regions, have become common in the last few years. For Hindus, Ram Navami remains one of the foremost festivals and a preeminently auspicious occasion in the Hindu calendar year. On this day, Hindus seek blessings from Lord Rama, provide food to the needy, perform rituals, and take out processions among other things.
The attacks are not just on the religious beliefs of Hindus but also an attempt to extinguish their resistance.
This is why absurd and irrational explanations are put forth by the Islamists and their allies in the Left ecosystem in their attempt to demonise Ram Navami processions. Instead of blaming Islamists living in ghettos, the Ram Navami processions are held responsible for the violence because they ‘dared to’ cross ‘Muslim areas’—arbitrarily created Muslim enclaves—where the mere presence of Hindus is enough justification for the Islamist attacks on them.
Whether by design or destiny, the attacks on Ram Navami processions are nothing but attempts to create grounds to associate violence with the festival and justify the curbs till it is eventually stopped altogether. This is what the Diwali festival faced when a posse of ‘liberals’ and ‘environmentalists’ ran motivated campaigns against it, associating it with pollution even though the bursting of firecrackers scientifically contributed an insignificant amount of pollution to the environment.
For that reason, it would be extremely easy for the Left and Islamist ecosystem to link this gun to Lord Ram and the man brandishing it to all Hindus. This is only an example of their inherent Hinduphobia and their nefarious designs to connect Hindu festivals with violence instead of blaming the true perpetrators of violence against Hindus – the Islamists. While they blame Hindus for violence perpetrated by Muslims to vilify chants of Jai Shree Ram and the religious processions, the same liberals would shield Islamists and never associate terrorism with Islam and the chants of Allahu Akbar, which are often raised when terrorists blow themselves up and murder scores of unsuspecting “Kafirs”. The two-nation theory, for example, where the Muslims claim that they are incapable of co-existing with Hindus because Islam is a separate nation and culture in itself, distinct from the ways of the “Kafirs” is entirely theological, however, they would much rather write it off to the political ambitions of Jinnah rather than call out the Islamic community for their supremacist, exclusivist ideas. On the other hand, the very liberals who call theological exclusivism political when it comes to Islam and the Muslim community would attach political violence to Hinduism because it suits their agenda of not only shielding the Islamists but also demonising Hindus.
TMC has turned Sumit Shaw into a symbol to vilify Hindus, shield Islamists and win political brownie points against BJP. BJP, on the other hand, is now left defending itself against these charges instead of talking about the failure of the Mamata Banerjee government in protecting Hindus, the malicious narrative of “Muslim areas” and the rampaging Islamist mobs. Shaw, in his attempt to win political points, perhaps did not expect to be turned into a symbol which would be used to blame Hindus while they were being brutalised. What is, perhaps, of utmost concern, is that in the political slugfest, Hindus who were tormented for days in Bengal will find no justice and the Islamists will continue to get emboldened because the State has become accustomed to dereliction of its duties in the quest for Muslim votes.
