“What Bengal thinks today India thinks tomorrow”: This popular saying of freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale boasted Bengal’s cultural and intellectual richness, in the present context sounds no less than a “warning”. Imagine a sitting Chief Minister using a pejorative term used by a religious community to dehumanise others to boast about her bravery. Well, you don’t need to imagine, since this is the new normal, the new reality of West Bengal. On the 21st of July, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee while speaking at TMC’s ‘Martyr’s Day’ event said that she is not a Kafir and went on to equate Kafirs with cowards.
CM Banerjee said: “Jo darte hai wo marte hai, Jo ladte hai wo Kamyab hote hai, hum darpok nhi hai, hum kafir nhi hai, hum gaddar nhi hai.” (Translation – Those who get scared end up losing, while those who put up a fight achieve victory, we are not cowards, we are not kafir.)
Such desperation to prove her pro-Muslim credentials that Mamata Banerjee, voted and elected as the state’s representative by people of various religious communities, ended up declaring all of them except Muslims as “Kafirs” [infidels] and cowards.
It is pertinent to understand, especially for those labelled as “Kafirs” what exactly the term means before delving into why it is outrageous for a ‘democratic’ leader holding a constitutional post to use this jibe against her political adversaries.
“The word Kufr means to reject faith in God, God’s signs, the prophets, the Holy Scriptures and the Day of Judgment. One who does not have faith in the unity of God and does not have faith also in other sacred signs of God is a Kafir, according to the Quran. One who rejects faith in God or does not have faith in God is called a Kafir. A Kafir may also be an idolater who worships gods and goddesses. According to the Quran, they are those who have gone astray. There are about 350 verses about Kufr and Kafir. In the majority of the verses, Kufr is non-belief in one God and prophets of God and the Holy Scriptures. Kufr is also worship of idols and gods and goddesses other than God. In some of the verses, the word Kufr and its variations are used to mean ingratitude for the favours of God. It is natural that if someone does not recognize God or does not have faith in God, he will also not acknowledge God’s favours but will attribute the favours to his gods and goddesses,” this is how New Age Islam, an Islamic reformist organisation describes Kufr and Kafir. Here God without an “s” is used for Allah.
In a country where millions of Hindus who are polytheists and worship their deities using idols reside, a Chief Minister finds “Kafir” the most appropriate term to attack her political rivals. This, however, is not the first and certainly not going to be the last time Banerjee used this slur against non-Muslims.
Past instances when Mamata Banerjee when used ‘Kafir’ slur
On 22nd January 2024, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the Pran Pratishtha of Ramlala at Ayodhya Ram Mandir, a historic day of reclamation for Hindus, Mamata Banerjee issued a stern warning to those who support or vote for BJP saying that Allah will not forgive them and that only Kafirs fear, but those who fight they win.
“Ek bat yaad rakhna, BJP ko madad mat karna, BJP ko agar tum log madad karoge koi to Allah ki kasam aap logo ko koi mafi nhi karega hum to mafi nhi karenge.” (Translated – Do remember one thing, don’t support/assist/vote for BJP. I am swearing on Allah if you help/assist BJP, nobody would forgive you, let alone me.) “Jo Kafir hain, woh darte hain, Jo ladte hain, woh jeet te hain,” Banerjee said.
Irony died a painful death as Mamata Banerjee made these remarks at a ‘Sarv Dharm Sambhav’ rally.
Similarly, in May 2022, a video of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went viral on social media where she was addressing the crowd on the occasion of Eid. During her address, she said something that sounded like ‘Kafir’. She said, “Let them do what they want. We are not scared. We are not cowards. We are not ‘Kafir’ [possibly]. We fight. We know how to fight. We will fight against them. We will finish them.”
Who would have thought that the idea of respecting all religions emanates from labelling non-Muslims as Kafirs and cowards? The Quran and Islamic scholars say that anyone who does not believe in Allah, his messenger and the judgement day is a Kafir and his ‘sins’ are unforgivable. These Kafirs, who do not believe in Allah become Mushrikeens when they worship Gods other than Allah.
Islamic terrorists and ‘unarmed’ Islamists often use the term “Kafir” to subjugate Hindus and other non-Muslims as well as to justify their violent attacks on ‘infidels’.
Banerjee’s usage of ‘Kafir’ goes beyond mere political jabs. It is a potent symbol of religious exclusion and conflict. CM Banerjee’s choice of words is not incidental but rather a deliberate strategy to solidify her support base among Muslims by framing political battles in religious terms. The Trinamool Congress supremo knows that making such opprobrious remarks won’t trigger protests of the same intensity if anyone said something slightly critical about Muslims. The streets of India have witnessed widespread protests, effigy-burnings and violence over a Hindu woman and BJP’s former spokesperson Nupur Sharma for merely stating facts often mentioned by Islamic scholars and the Islamic texts.
Mamata Banerjee’s statements during such public events suggest that she is fighting against ‘Kafirs,’ positioning herself and her supporters as the true believers against an opposing ‘other.’ This language feeds into a larger narrative of religious and cultural conflict, which is particularly dangerous in a multi-religious society like India where the peaceful Hindu majority is perpetually subjected to scrutiny for their religious beliefs and customs, gaslighting in the event Muslims get offended over Hindus celebrating their festivals like Ram Navami in ‘Muslim areas’ and resort to stone pelting and violence. CM Banerjee’s statements alienate Hindus by casting them as the ‘cowards and infidels’ fostering a sense of exclusion and division in the land of Hindus, in the land of Swami Vivekanand.
While framing political opponents as ‘Kafirs’ promotes intolerance and bigotry against Hindus and other non-Muslims in addition to dehumanising them, this bigotry has been mainstreamed in the TMC-ruled state. OpIndia has reported several incidents wherein the state government demonstrated its blatant favouritism towards Muslims and disdain towards Hindus. It was reported last year, that a Durga Mandir was found blocked and barricaded in Kaliachak town in Malda district of West Bengal. The development came a day before the Islamic month of Muharram. Before this, CM Mamata Banerjee imposed restrictions on the immersion of Durga idols in 2016 and 2017 to make way for Muharram processions. The burden of upholding the farcical ‘secularism’ lies on the shoulders of Hindus, since the state itself makes it a matter of “Us vs Kafirs” and deems Kafirs as cowards. Just imagine the outrage liberals and Islamists would unleash if a BJP leader says he/she is not a coward or not a Mleccha.
While there are numerous incidents, let’s discuss a recent incident to understand how the Islamisation of West Bengal is being normalised unchecked. TMC leader and a Cabinet Minister in the state government, Firhad Hakim derided non-Muslims as ‘unfortunate’ and openly called for their religious conversion to Islam. “Those who were not born into Islam were born with misfortune. If we can give them Dawat (call for proselytization) and bring Iman (Faith) in them, then, we will make Allah happy. We need to spread Islam among non-Muslims. If we can bring someone on the path of Islam, then, we will prove to be true Muslims by ensuring the spread of Faith,” said Firhad Hakim who is also Mamata Banerjee’s close aide.
When a state minister openly gives the call for converting ‘unfortunate’ non-Muslims to Islam to make his God happy, Mamata Banerjee calling BJP leaders or non-Muslims in general Kafirs is not shocking. Hakim has earlier called for the “Urduisation” of Bengal. In addition, he once called BJP leaders and the Central Armed Forces “Suar ke bacche” [progeny of pig]. It is widely known that Muslims despise pigs and even eating pork is considered “haram” in Islam.
No wonder a TMC MLA Hamidul Rahman’s alleged close associate Tajemul Haque alias JCB holds an ‘Insaf Sabha’ brutally assaults a woman in public and the TMC MLA justifies this Taliban-style flogging by saying that there are some ‘codes’ in a ‘Muslim Rashtra’. Apparently, in their heads and actions, the Islamists and their cheerleaders have already assumed West Bengal to be an ‘Islamic nation’ and it seems only an official declaration is awaited.
Mamata Banerjee celebrated ‘Khela Hobe Diwas’ on the same day the Muslim League launched ‘Direct Action Day’ to massacre Hindus
Even before declaring her political opponents as “Kafirs”, Mamata Banerjee had selected 16th August to observe ‘Khela Hobe Diwas’, the day which coincided with ‘Direct Action Day’ to launch her campaign to remove BJP from power in various states ahead of the elections. CM Banerjee had then said that the “Khela Hobe” slogan would now be used on the national stage and declared that “Khela” would now happen in all states until the BJP is removed from the country.
Incidentally, 16th August is the day when Muhammad Ali Jinnah called on Muslims throughout India to observe the Direct Action Day, also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings, when thousands of Hindus were butchered by Islamists of the Muslims Leagues on the streets of Kolkata. Two months after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept the West Bengal State Legislative polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced to commemorate her election slogan in the form of ‘Khela Hobe Diwas‘.
Mocking Hindus, dehumanising political opponents using Islamist slurs, and warning people that Allah will not forgive them, West Bengal under the TMC government has become opposed to its vibrant cultural identity.
Mamata Banerjee’s repeated use of the term ‘Kafir’ is not just a political statement but a significant threat to the social fabric of India. It reflects an unhealthy obsession with religious identity and an attempt to appease the Muslim voter base at the cost of broader societal cohesion. As the Chief Minister, her responsibility should be to unite the people of West Bengal and address their collective needs rather than resorting to such polarising tactics. This desperation to prove to the Muslim vote bank that she is one of their own and others are ‘Kafir’, does not exemplify her ‘secular’ mindset but the extent to which the TMC is willing to go to retain power. On one hand, Mamata Banerjee randomly recites Chandi Paath to fool Hindus on the other, exposing her Islamist sympathising mindset. This mindset is no different from Islamic terrorists who want to subjugate non-Muslims to turn India into a Dar-ul-Islam.
Ironically, from calling opponents Kafirs, Hindus “Hinsak” [violent] to calling Sanatan Dharma as “Dengue, Malaria” and calling for its eradication, the opposition parties and their leaders are deemed ‘defenders’ of Indian democracy and ‘idea of India’ and champions of constitution while the party following and respecting the democratic processes without slandering any religious community is labelled as ‘fascist, communal, bigot, and whatnot by the opposition friendly pens for hire and the extended ‘ecosystem’.
