02-27-2013, 10:28 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-27-2013, 10:29 AM by G.Subramaniam.)
Dhimmi Sunanda Datta Ray
http://www.business-standard.com/article...672_1.html
My fear is that the riots reportedly sparked by the murder of a Muslim cleric in a south Bengal village following the February 12 killing of a police officer during a Kolkata college union election, and followed by the more grim Hyderabad bombings might further embolden the saffron brigade to project their hero, Narendra Modi, as the nationââ¬â¢s only saviour. West Bengal has been spared communal bloodshed in recent years but that doesnââ¬â¢t mean antagonism doesnââ¬â¢t simmer below the surface among people who revere Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the Hindu Mahasabhaââ¬â¢s founder, as Bengalââ¬â¢s martyred son.
Mamata Banerjee, who was reported saying ââ¬ÅGujarat can do riots, we canââ¬â¢tââ¬Â, cannot have overlooked the danger of Hindu stalwarts exploiting the tension. She is certainly right if she means West Bengal cannot afford an orgy like Gujaratââ¬â¢s pogrom in 2002, or that after the horrors of Nandigram, no state government can turn a blind eye to ââ¬â leave alone condone ââ¬â pre-planned violence against a particular community. But claiming that Bengalis are incapable of such enormities is relying too much on cultural tradition, while ignoring the social roots of crime.
Those roots flourish in the Garden Reach industrial suburb where sub-inspector Tapas Choudhury was shot dead. A deputy commissioner of police, Vinod Mehta, was also tortured and killed in 1984 in this derelict stretch of factories, slums and dockland. Neither murder was communal, though both victims were Hindu and Garden Reach is predominantly Muslim. The names confirm that. Sheikh Subhan is accused of pulling the trigger on Choudhury. Idris Ali, who murdered Mehta, himself died mysteriously during questioning in police headquarters. Some say Subhanââ¬â¢s real target was another local tough, Abdul Rahman. Others say it wasnââ¬â¢t Subhan of the Trinamool Congress who shot the sub-inspector, but the Congressââ¬â¢ Mukhtar. Taher Hussain, Churi Firoz, Mohammad Shakeel and Mohammad Raj are four other toughs now in custody. Mohammad Mohsin Hussain Sayed, also of Garden Reach, was arrested in 2006 as a Pakistani agent.
Subhanââ¬â¢s alleged accomplice, Mohammed Iqbal, Munna to buddies, a Trinamool Congress councillor, appears to have disappeared after Choudhuryââ¬â¢s killing. Much higher up the ladder, the episode (which has already cost Kolkataââ¬â¢s police commissioner, Ranjit Panchnanda, his job) casts a shadow on Munnaââ¬â¢s friend, West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, known as Bobby, who represents the area in the Assembly. A key figure in Banerjeeââ¬â¢s strategy of wooing Muslim voters, Hakim acts as party and government spokesman. Munna was his contact man during the Assembly election.
This is Kolkataââ¬â¢s rough and tough underbelly. Many men here go about their business honestly but many others run protection rackets or are in the extortion business. Some supply casual labour to the dying port. More have lately muscled into the cityââ¬â¢s booming construction business. They control unions in the port, shipyard, textile factories, brick kilns and what is said to be the worldââ¬â¢s largest kite-making business. Now, they want to take over studentsââ¬â¢ organisations as well. The railway workshop, wagons and sidings provide rich pickings. Poverty and ignorance breed lawlessness as Shanti Swarup Dhawan, West Bengalââ¬â¢s governor during the Naxalite upsurge, noted. He startled well-fed Rotarians by telling them if you force people to live like animals, they will behave as such.
Garden Reach is part of a bigger social, political and economic problem with international ramifications. But itââ¬â¢s worth asking why Muslims, comprising only 27 per cent of West Bengalââ¬â¢s population, account for 48 per cent of jail inmates. A partial answer may be found in the Sachar Committeeââ¬â¢s disclosure that Muslims hold only two per cent of government jobs. A Pakistani diplomat before 1971 when Kolkataââ¬â¢s Pakistani mission defected to Bangladesh, would mock that for all its secular intellectual culture, Bengal could trot out only one Muslim Indian Administrative Service officer.
No one doubts Banerjeeââ¬â¢s sympathy for the underdog. She sometimes sports a hijab and laces her conversation with ââ¬Åkhuda hafizââ¬Â and ââ¬Åsalaam aleikumââ¬Â. She has offered stipends to imams and official recognition to madrassahs to study Islam. But these token gestures donââ¬â¢t promise social or economic upliftment to a relatively depressed community. At the same time, they are likely further to antagonise Hindus who fear being swamped by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Resenting being disturbed by the azan call to prayer, they wonder where the money for the splendid new or renovated mosques sprouting everywhere comes from. The reported murder in a south Bengal village of Maulana Ruhul Quddus, maulvi of a city mosque, may suggest a dangerous backlash. As Nehru warned, majority communalism is the most dangerous.
http://www.business-standard.com/article...672_1.html
My fear is that the riots reportedly sparked by the murder of a Muslim cleric in a south Bengal village following the February 12 killing of a police officer during a Kolkata college union election, and followed by the more grim Hyderabad bombings might further embolden the saffron brigade to project their hero, Narendra Modi, as the nationââ¬â¢s only saviour. West Bengal has been spared communal bloodshed in recent years but that doesnââ¬â¢t mean antagonism doesnââ¬â¢t simmer below the surface among people who revere Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the Hindu Mahasabhaââ¬â¢s founder, as Bengalââ¬â¢s martyred son.
Mamata Banerjee, who was reported saying ââ¬ÅGujarat can do riots, we canââ¬â¢tââ¬Â, cannot have overlooked the danger of Hindu stalwarts exploiting the tension. She is certainly right if she means West Bengal cannot afford an orgy like Gujaratââ¬â¢s pogrom in 2002, or that after the horrors of Nandigram, no state government can turn a blind eye to ââ¬â leave alone condone ââ¬â pre-planned violence against a particular community. But claiming that Bengalis are incapable of such enormities is relying too much on cultural tradition, while ignoring the social roots of crime.
Those roots flourish in the Garden Reach industrial suburb where sub-inspector Tapas Choudhury was shot dead. A deputy commissioner of police, Vinod Mehta, was also tortured and killed in 1984 in this derelict stretch of factories, slums and dockland. Neither murder was communal, though both victims were Hindu and Garden Reach is predominantly Muslim. The names confirm that. Sheikh Subhan is accused of pulling the trigger on Choudhury. Idris Ali, who murdered Mehta, himself died mysteriously during questioning in police headquarters. Some say Subhanââ¬â¢s real target was another local tough, Abdul Rahman. Others say it wasnââ¬â¢t Subhan of the Trinamool Congress who shot the sub-inspector, but the Congressââ¬â¢ Mukhtar. Taher Hussain, Churi Firoz, Mohammad Shakeel and Mohammad Raj are four other toughs now in custody. Mohammad Mohsin Hussain Sayed, also of Garden Reach, was arrested in 2006 as a Pakistani agent.
Subhanââ¬â¢s alleged accomplice, Mohammed Iqbal, Munna to buddies, a Trinamool Congress councillor, appears to have disappeared after Choudhuryââ¬â¢s killing. Much higher up the ladder, the episode (which has already cost Kolkataââ¬â¢s police commissioner, Ranjit Panchnanda, his job) casts a shadow on Munnaââ¬â¢s friend, West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, known as Bobby, who represents the area in the Assembly. A key figure in Banerjeeââ¬â¢s strategy of wooing Muslim voters, Hakim acts as party and government spokesman. Munna was his contact man during the Assembly election.
This is Kolkataââ¬â¢s rough and tough underbelly. Many men here go about their business honestly but many others run protection rackets or are in the extortion business. Some supply casual labour to the dying port. More have lately muscled into the cityââ¬â¢s booming construction business. They control unions in the port, shipyard, textile factories, brick kilns and what is said to be the worldââ¬â¢s largest kite-making business. Now, they want to take over studentsââ¬â¢ organisations as well. The railway workshop, wagons and sidings provide rich pickings. Poverty and ignorance breed lawlessness as Shanti Swarup Dhawan, West Bengalââ¬â¢s governor during the Naxalite upsurge, noted. He startled well-fed Rotarians by telling them if you force people to live like animals, they will behave as such.
Garden Reach is part of a bigger social, political and economic problem with international ramifications. But itââ¬â¢s worth asking why Muslims, comprising only 27 per cent of West Bengalââ¬â¢s population, account for 48 per cent of jail inmates. A partial answer may be found in the Sachar Committeeââ¬â¢s disclosure that Muslims hold only two per cent of government jobs. A Pakistani diplomat before 1971 when Kolkataââ¬â¢s Pakistani mission defected to Bangladesh, would mock that for all its secular intellectual culture, Bengal could trot out only one Muslim Indian Administrative Service officer.
No one doubts Banerjeeââ¬â¢s sympathy for the underdog. She sometimes sports a hijab and laces her conversation with ââ¬Åkhuda hafizââ¬Â and ââ¬Åsalaam aleikumââ¬Â. She has offered stipends to imams and official recognition to madrassahs to study Islam. But these token gestures donââ¬â¢t promise social or economic upliftment to a relatively depressed community. At the same time, they are likely further to antagonise Hindus who fear being swamped by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Resenting being disturbed by the azan call to prayer, they wonder where the money for the splendid new or renovated mosques sprouting everywhere comes from. The reported murder in a south Bengal village of Maulana Ruhul Quddus, maulvi of a city mosque, may suggest a dangerous backlash. As Nehru warned, majority communalism is the most dangerous.