The coming islamic partition of India and what can be salvaged

[G.Subramaniam]

Hindu -



Prejudices of Partition alive in Bijnor's Bengali enclave



If you drive down from Muzaffarnagar, short of Bijnor city, a dust track on the right leads into a cluster of three villages, Khedki Hemraj, Nawalpur and Nawalpur barrage. At first sight, there is nothing much to distinguish these villages in western Uttar Pradesh, from those that surround it. Except for the fact that the pradhan of this gram panchayat is a Bengali — and while Khedki Hemraj and Nawalpur are entirely Bengali, Nawalpur Barrage is only partially Bengali.



Jaats support



How do they get on with those they describe as “non-Bengalis”? “We get on very well with the Jaats here,” says Subodh Biswas, “we are kattar (hardline) Hindus, just as they are.” Indeed, these Bengalis have nurtured, over the years, all the prejudices of Partition: “We may be small in number,” he continues, “but the Muslims who are in large numbers in this area, don't dare mess with us – the Jaats will come to our aid. In name, we are Bengalis, but we are part of the greater Hindu family.” This is integration, Bengali refugee-style.



Indeed, the fact that Kishore and his three predecessors in the job have all been Bengalis has much to do with the communal politics of the area. Earlier, the gram panchayats were arranged such that the pradhan here used to be a Muslim. After the horrific Hindu- Muslim riots in Bijnor in 1990, the configuration was changed, ensuring a separation of the populations along religious lines, and the tradition of a Bengali pradhan began.



These Bengalis may be Dalits, but they don't identify with Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): instead, they see themselves as one with other Hindus.



This has meant that their first preference, politically, is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).



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Apparently despite Bijnor district being 40% muslim, the Jats thrash the mullahs