Bengal’s new politics of Durga puja and Muharram
, ET CONTRIBUTORS|
Updated: Oct 05, 2017, 12.01 AM IST
Till 2016, the people of Bengal were usually categorised as either ‘proand anti-Left’ or pro-Trinamool Congress. Not any more. The new boxes are designed to be ticked according to ‘Hindu’ or ‘Muslim’. The fight for political affiliation --always complicated by a combination of patronage, intimidation and muscle power -- was once between the dominant party and its challenger.
Even then, it was a political divide between the ruling Left Front and the challenger Mamata Banerjee. Between 2001and 2011, Banerjee used the godlessness of the communists to portray the Left as being disconnected from the people, while she propagated and strengthened her own folksy ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’ persona.
She made it a point to hop from Durga Puja pandal to pandal, while also wearing a chador and invoking Allah in public. This was a new politics of differentiation. Fast forward to 2017. The fracas over Durga idol bhashan (immersions) coinciding with Muharram as practised by Shias living in small pockets of Bengal is a case in point. Once community leaders of both sides in sensitive areas met and sorted out the modalities of conducting both the Hindu and Muslim rituals without the prospect of clashes.
This year, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) entered the fray. It declared that it would organise ‘300 Astra Pujas’ as part of Vijaya Dashami to ‘unite Hindus’. The original plan was to take out processions. Only later, after the matter went to court, was it decided to scale things down and confine the ‘show if strength to indoor worship.
Astra Puja, Ram Navami processions with sword- and trident- wielding participants, Hanuman pujas, Ganesh Utsavs are all part of 2017 Bengal’s sociopolitical pageantry. This year could well see a shift from the stability of a largely communally peaceful Bengal to the instability of a communally divided state. The not-so-unusual coincidence of Muharram-Durga Puja Bhasan was really a storm in a tea cup.
The political guarantees that made communal harmony characteristic of post-1947 West Bengal are now being challenged by the conditioned created by the Trinamool Congress and most recently exploited by the BJP, the latter expecting rich dividends by unleashing a communal polarisation project. And there are many more flash points.
Foiled for now, the Sangh Parivar as a whole will certainly look for occasions when it can use the successful formula of polarisation to make space for the BJP’s political ambitions in Bengal. By stirring the fear of being overtaken and overrun by Muslims – and projecting the chief minister as pandering to and appeasing Muslims, who remain a minority despite Bengal having the second largest Muslim population in the country (after Uttar Pradesh) -- the Sangh Parivar has become an important element in the popular discourse of politics, power and possibilities.
From being the ‘outsider’, an ‘upcountry, Hindi-speaking’ party, the BJP has made itself into a mainstream force that has taken root in Bengal. The BJP is now a political force in the state.
Even then, it was a political divide between the ruling Left Front and the challenger Mamata Banerjee. Between 2001and 2011, Banerjee used the godlessness of the communists to portray the Left as being disconnected from the people, while she propagated and strengthened her own folksy ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’ persona.
She made it a point to hop from Durga Puja pandal to pandal, while also wearing a chador and invoking Allah in public. This was a new politics of differentiation. Fast forward to 2017. The fracas over Durga idol bhashan (immersions) coinciding with Muharram as practised by Shias living in small pockets of Bengal is a case in point. Once community leaders of both sides in sensitive areas met and sorted out the modalities of conducting both the Hindu and Muslim rituals without the prospect of clashes.
This year, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) entered the fray. It declared that it would organise ‘300 Astra Pujas’ as part of Vijaya Dashami to ‘unite Hindus’. The original plan was to take out processions. Only later, after the matter went to court, was it decided to scale things down and confine the ‘show if strength to indoor worship.
Astra Puja, Ram Navami processions with sword- and trident- wielding participants, Hanuman pujas, Ganesh Utsavs are all part of 2017 Bengal’s sociopolitical pageantry. This year could well see a shift from the stability of a largely communally peaceful Bengal to the instability of a communally divided state. The not-so-unusual coincidence of Muharram-Durga Puja Bhasan was really a storm in a tea cup.
The political guarantees that made communal harmony characteristic of post-1947 West Bengal are now being challenged by the conditioned created by the Trinamool Congress and most recently exploited by the BJP, the latter expecting rich dividends by unleashing a communal polarisation project. And there are many more flash points.
Foiled for now, the Sangh Parivar as a whole will certainly look for occasions when it can use the successful formula of polarisation to make space for the BJP’s political ambitions in Bengal. By stirring the fear of being overtaken and overrun by Muslims – and projecting the chief minister as pandering to and appeasing Muslims, who remain a minority despite Bengal having the second largest Muslim population in the country (after Uttar Pradesh) -- the Sangh Parivar has become an important element in the popular discourse of politics, power and possibilities.
From being the ‘outsider’, an ‘upcountry, Hindi-speaking’ party, the BJP has made itself into a mainstream force that has taken root in Bengal. The BJP is now a political force in the state.
