In the last five-six months, nearly 700 undocumented migrants have been deported from Delhi to Bangladesh as part of the Union government's drive against illegal immigrants.
Similar drive have been carried out in Rajasthan and Gujarat as well.
Bangladeshi influx is a reality but the Trinamool Congress, which has a record of pursuing Muslim appeasement, is looking the other way.
As battlelines are drawn for crucial West Bengal polls, Mamata Banerjee is back with her 'protest-politics'. She has thus intensified attack on the BJP and Central government alleging a systematic pattern of linguistic profiling, arbitrary detentions of Bengali speaking people and labeling them as "illegal immigrants".
The timing of her protest march is well planned as it came days before the Monsoon session of Parliament.
But she is ether evasive or silent on the issue of influc of Bengali Muslims. The vote bank matters.
Hence Muslim appeasement is also so important for Mamata's governance policies as well as electoral politics.
 |
| File snap : Mamata and support base 'Thou shall vote" |
Attacking the BJP at the protest rally, the Trinamool chief said, “I challenge you to prove that Bengali-speaking migrants are Rohingya Muslims. 22 lakh migrant workers from Bengal working in other parts of country, they have valid identity documents.”
But it is a known thing 'identity documents' are also forged and she is silent on this. Instead, her game is more dangerous - she is trying to give legitimacy to illegal immigrants by calling them 'pravasi - non-residential Bengalis or diaspora.
A few years back, there was a similar hue and cry over the CAA. The new law enacted in 2017 for the first time in years the 'Moditva' as a political phenomenon has been challenged by the religious minorities especially Muslims.
“For me as a youth and as a tribal from northeast, we are against immigrants. But we want a government that will not focus on promoting one religion and work against others,” said a Naga youth Neingulie Sakhrie during anti-CAA noisy protest of December 15, 2019 in the national capital.
Today many tribals and non-Hindus in northeast believe : “The people are permanent and an elected government either in Delhi or in Kolkata and ay other state is temporary. So no government has a right to enact a law that excludes Muslims,” said a Muslim student. But he also said the menace of Bangladeshi influx cannot be ignored as a passing thing.
Mamata protest: July 16th, Kolkata
In the meantime, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar says, "Mamata Banerjee is doing petty politics. The elections are approaching and the entire West Bengal is upset with her, especially the Bengali Hindus. After the Murshidabad incident, everyone has come together and wants to remove Mamata Banerjee. To bring a dent in Hindu votes, Mamata Banerjee has come up with the Bengali language point...
"We challenge Mamata Banerjee that the Parliament session will begin on July 21.
All the MPs from Bengal, BJP or the TMC, all should give one speech in Bengali in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. All the TMC MPs must be Bengalis since TMC is only in Bengal. We want to see Yusuf Pathan, Kirti Azad and Saket Gokhale giving a Bengali speech in Parliament. This will show how much Mamata Banerjee loves the Bengali language...".
Now, take things from other states.
Muslims in Gujarat have been more practical and more focused towards business and normal avenues of life. Perhaps unlike their counterparts in some other states, Gujarati Muslims have moved beyond the gory days of communal conflicts and have buried the past.
For their part the minorities have served the state of Gujarat well. In turn, they have contributed to the state’s economic growth and have been generally peaceful and law-abiding.
In contrast, in West Bengal, the involvement of Bengali Muslim youths in political violence is maximum. As BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya points out - there is essentially a case of "Marchhey Musalman, Morchhey Musalman (Both the perpetators of political violence are Muslims, and the same Muslims are victims)".
On the other hand Gujarat is always a state with a desire for upward movement and flight. The state model is replicated nationally and in many other statesand this is done not without merits.
Gujarat - we may also find - is a state that is perhaps more than a traditional invention. It is also reconstructed by imagination and several innovative works and of course by pioneering efforts of some individual leaders especially Narendra Modi.
People should develop an eye to "discover" how Gujarat is always marching towards greater glories braving certain contradictions and emotions.
Samik Bhattacharya shows Mirror to Muslims in Bengal
Traditionally, the three pillars of economic growth of Gujarat are agriculture, manufacturing and services. These sectors can only prosper in a peaceful state. We have to do a lot of thinking on the issue of attainment of peace and prosperity. On the national level, if we can achieve what Gujarat has achieved despite a brutal history of incidents of communal violence, nothing can stop us as a nation from scaling great heights in terms of development.
Tail piece : Misgovernance in West Bengal
In April 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had slammed the government of West Bengal by calling it fiscally irresponsible, among many other allegations.
The minister claimed that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal was allegedly withholding the benefits of central government schemes from the impoverished poor for political motives.
“Why are you (TMC) denying something to the common people for the sake of politics? Why are you denying Ayushman Bharat to the poor,” asked the minister furiously.
She accused successive state administrations in West Bengal of economic mismanagement, asserting that the state’s culture has become synonymous with syndicated crime and extortion.
With regard TMC’s allegations of the Union government withholding MGNREGA dues for Bengal, she questioned the feasibility of releasing funds “when there are 25 lakh fake job card holders.”
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment