A section of infatuated Bengalis actually believe, and also proclaim it aloud, that they are above caste and creed. But the fact is that they are the actors and factors behind the attack on the victim, Saraswati Karketta in the cultural highland of India.. The entire country – from east to west, north to south – is under a misconception that caste, tribe and community do not have any takers in the blessed Bengalidom!
 
However, the fact remains that till date, no voice from the civil society has been heard to condemn the ugly incident that led to the resignation of several faculty members of Rabindra Bharati University. It was left to the activists working with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to hold a demonstration and call upon the Vice-Chancellor after the news broke in a Bengali newspaper. [2]
 
On the other hand, in a joint statement, 231 accomplished academicians, from India and around the world, have strongly and unequivocally condemned the attack on Dr Saraswati Karketta and demanded justice for her at the earliest. They have .reminded that “Dr Kerketta is by no means an isolated incident, but in fact a part of a long tradition that continues unabated.”
 
One would immediately recall the tragedy that befell Chuni Kotal, a Lodha girl, the first in her tribe to graduate and to enroll for M. Sc [Anthropology] in Vidyasagar University, Midnapur. She committed suicide when faced with sustained and humiliating persecution on the campus by her teacher Falguni Chakraborti. Chuni had submitted written complaints to the authorities in the University against her harassment and her harasser, but without luck. Her death created an uproar which led to the institution of an Inquiry Commission under retired Justice S. S. Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court by the Left Front Government of Jyoti Basu.
 
The one-man commission concluded as follows: “On consideration of all the materials on record, we are constrained to hold, therefore, that the allegations brought against Falguni Chakraborty by Chuni Kotal were not sustainable and further that Falguni Chakraborty never practised nor had any reason to discriminate against Chuni simply because she was a Lodha. It may be that on a few occasions, Falguni Chakraborty took Chuni to task for being late or non-attendance or for some such reasons. These are mere trivialities which occur as a matter of course between the teacher and the taught without any personal involvement from either side.
 

“These trivialities were blown up beyond all proportions and transformed into items of complaint. On the basis if the findings arrived upon by us, we conclude that the behaviour meted out by Falguni Chakraborty was not such as to cause intense mental pain to Chuni and lead her ultimately to commit suicide.” [3]
 
So, the abuser was granted a clean chit and Chuni’s complaints of discrimination were treated as “trivialities” that had occurred between him and his victim and were not grave enough to cause Chuni Kotal to commit suicide! A news report subsequently appeared in the media that Lodha children had started dropping out of schools as they felt that they would meet the same fate as Chuni, if they followed in the footsteps of their first graduate! No elucidation needed as such.
 
Another case that comes to mind is that of a shoe-shiner’s son, who needed Calcutta High Court’s intervention to re-join duty! [4] Nakul Ruidas had been appointed as a teacher at Sukanta Smriti Bidya Mandir, Tarapur, District Bankura, after passing the required examinations conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission. Right from the start, he faced stiff opposition and prejudice from all sides because he was a Chamar whose ancestral profession was skinning, tanning, shoe-shinning, etc.
 
Once Nakul, after duly informing the school, had availed of sick leave. On recovery, he reported to school for his duty. The headmaster did not accept his joining report, for which no reasons were given. A newspaper report mentioned that Nakul moved heaven and earth to approach the various authorities, including the local police, School Managing Committee and District Inspector of Schools, for intervention but nobody paid any heed to his pleas. As a last resort, Nakul Ruidas moved the Calcutta High Court. Furious at the harassment of the petitioner, Justice Tapen Sen directed the District Inspector of Schools to ensure that Nakul Ruidas was not further harassed in any manner and all his arrears were paid within ten days. The High Court expressed its strong disapproval of the prejudicial attitude of the school management, which chose to deny a job in school to Ruidas even after he had cleared the prescribed examinations. 
 
In yet another case reported in a Bengali daily, the father of a girl seeking admission in a KG school was harassed for his caste. Bikas Sardar wanted to admit his daughter to Kishalay, the kindergarten section of the reputed Jadavpur Bidyapith, Kolkata. All formalities complete, he was called to the school for counselling. When the father reached the school, the Principal gave him a 4-page printout of the school’s rules and regulation and asked him to read it out aloud. Surprised, he asked why he was being singled out? The Principal retorted, “You are a scheduled caste. I want to see and be sure your daughter is eligible for admission.” [5] Furious at his treatment, he demanded the immediate refund of Rs. 11,000, which he had deposited.  He was chased away. But Bikas did not pocket the insult. He went to the Alipur Court and filed a complaint against the school before the ACJM. The Court has ordered the Calcutta Police Commissioner to hold an enquiry and report. Information about any of further development in the matter is awaited.
 
As the above examples show, caste prejudice and discrimination has a long history in the education department in Bengal. In fact, Lord George Campbell, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, in the Bengal Administration Report 1870-71 said, “Bengal Education Department may be said to be a Hindoo institution.” [6] What did the Lieutenant Governor want to convey by the term “Hindoo institution”? The field officers of the education department of Bengal were divided and subdivided into Inspector of Schools, Deputy Inspector of Schools and Sub-Deputy Inspector of Schools who worked under the control and guidance of Director of Education or DPI. Below the Director, sixty field offices in charge of districts from East Bengal to West Bengal were held exclusively by Bengali Hindus, who were simply inimical to the educational needs and aspirations of the low castes and Muslims. By 1887-1888, eleven Hindu Inspectors of Schools held charge of Circles each coterminous with Revenue Division in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. [7] These Hindu officials brought their vicious hatred of the low castes, tribals and Muslims with them to their jobs.
 
Historian Sumit Sarkar attests to this with an appropriate example. According to him, the Namasudras, an untouchable community, wanted to start an English high school in 1908 at Orakand in Faridpur district of East Bengal [now Bangladesh]. They wanted to counter the upper caste landlords and money-lenders, who tricked the illiterate and ignorant peasants in everyday matters of rent and debt-payment receipts. “They encountered stiff opposition from the local high-caste Kayasthas, who were afraid that their sharecroppers and servants would no longer work for them if they become educated.”[8]  The upper castes needed illiterate and ignorant men as tenants, who would be exploited as slaves, to sustain their aristocratic lifestyle. In 1911, G K Gokhale’s Compulsory Primary Education Bill was defeated in Central Legislature by upper caste leaders, including Surendra Nath Banerjea among others.
 
As the President of Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress (1911), Bishan Narayan Dhar, had observed that “…. there are some who object to it [compulsory education] on social and political grounds. Those who are opposed to it dread the loss of their menial servants, and desire that millions of poor men may remain steeped in ignorance so that few wealthy magnets may live in luxury. I am surprised that even in some respectable English journals opposition has been offered to Mr. Gokhale’s Bill on the ground that education would create political discontent among the masses and thus tend to disturb the even tenor of British rule in India.” [9]
This deeply entrenched caste prejudice came to the fore when the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, Ashutosh Mukherjee appointed Mukunda Behari Mallick, a Namasudra, who was a reputed advocate of Calcutta High Court, an eloquent orator and an articulate legislator as well as a minister in colonial Bengal, as a Pali teacher at the University. Mallick was perhaps the first untouchable teacher to join the faculty of the Calcutta University. This sparked off vicious whispering campaigns targeting Mukunda, stating that “Calcutta University was worshipping the Chandal.” [10]
 
These ugly and shameful incidents of caste discrimination and harassment, of which the harassment of Dr Saraswati Karketta is but the latest example,  have placed West Bengal at par with states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra etc. which are well-known for atrocities and dehumanization of the socially marginalized, the weak and the vulnerable. This should give the votaries of Bengali culture some serious food for thought.

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“In Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent thinking have no scope for development…. If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt be the greatest calamity for this country. No matter what the Hindus say, Hinduism is a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity. It is incompatible with democracy. Hindu raj must be prevented at any cost.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  – Dr B R Ambedkar

Pragya Singh Thakur claimed at Bhopal, April 19, 2019 that “Hemant Karkare died because of my curse.” In her own words, the policeman had treated her “very badly” while she was in custody in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Elaborating the point, she said, “Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me. He died of his karma. I told him he will be destroyed. I told him his entire dynasty will be erased. Maine kaha tera [Karkare] sarvanash hoga.” ^[1] 

Entire dynasty of the IPS officer came under curse of a political fortune seeker while doing his duty with highest standard of efficiency, probity and competence.  The IPS officer was known impeccable integrity and indomitable courage, Hemant Karkare was cursed by an accused. This reminds me a Bengali proverb, “Death does not befall a cow in consequence of curse of a vulture, does it?” Almost all Indian languages, I am sure, must boast of a proverb as this or similar to it.

Hemant along with his colleagues chased the Pakistani terrorists, who, on November 26, 2011, waged a war against India and invaded Mumbai. The Mumbai police fought valiantly and Hemant Karkare and some of his colleagues on mission finally laid down their lives. The nation is proud of those martyrs. About eight years later, we hear that the IPS officer died of curse of a political power-seeker, contesting 2019 elections from Bhopal Parliamentary constituency, Madhya Pradesh. This nonsense or rubbish has widely been reported, commented upon and/or condemned by Indian media, columnists and opinion-makers.

The nation conferred on slain Hemant Karkare, posthumously, the Ashoka Chakra for his exemplary sacrifice. This is India’s highest peacetime military decoration conferred for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the “most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice” other than in the face of the enemy. 

According to a British Broadcasting Corporation bulletin, the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11 of 2008 left 166 people dead and soured ties between India and Pakistan. During the 60-hour siege, the gunmen also ambushed a group of policemen, including three of the city’s top officers travelling in a vehicle and killed six of them. The only policeman, Arun Jadhav, with grievous injuries, survived the unprovoked brutalities launched on India to tell the world “the grisly story of his escape.” ^[2]  

Besides, Karkare, Sadhvi Pragya’s curse, if anyone takes her at all seriously, drew curtains on lives of valiant Indian Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai’s Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar who, in no way, were involved in the alleged torture of Pragya Thakur during investigations of Malegaon blasts cases. A television channel reported that India had asked Pakistan to hand over Mumbai underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Maulana Masood Azhar for their suspected involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks. ^[3]  

Any person with an iota of intelligence would be appalled at the direct linkage the curse straightway established between the merchants of deaths and manufacturers of terror aforementioned operating from Pakistani soil and the Hindu Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who enjoys the umbrella held by the Hindu nationalist ruling Party over her head to contest parliamentary elections 2019. The implication of the Sadhvi’s claim underlines that Pakistani terror outfits patronized by Dawood Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed leader  Maulana Masood Azhar  took immediate and absorbing interest in translating her curse into action with bloody and devastating consequences. A deadly gang of terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab, descended on Mumbai within ‘theek sava mahine’ or 37-38 days, to achieve the objectives and purposes of sadhvi Pragya’s curse, i. e., Hemant Karkare’s sarvanash. It is of immense national importance to decode the secrets along with the mystery enveloping the entire issue. However, no Indian worth his salt would pocket an insult as this for his motherland. This is a crying need to investigate the probably link between the two ends—a Sadhvi of India and terror outfits in Pakistan.

Part-II
Puri Jagannath & His Temple
Surrendered to East India Company in 1803

In a 14-day campaign, the East India Company captured Orissa unopposed and brought an end of oppressive Peshwa rule in 1803. The army simply marched up to Pipli within firing distance of Puri temple town. A delegation of the temple priests and pandas welcomed the victorious commanding officer of the British Army. They surrendered the control, management and maintenance of Bhagwan Jagannath, and his temple in obedience to an ‘oracle.’ ^[4]According to Swami Dharma Theertha (pre-ascetic Parameswara Menon, B. A., LLB) “the oracle of the Puri Jagannath proclaimed that it was the desire of the deity that the temple too be controlled by the Company.” ^[5] What an enigmatic desire of the Lord of the Universe!

Lo and behold the fate of bold and abiding promises Lord Krishna made in the Holy Geeta to his followers:  

“Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata
Abhythanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham
Paritranaya sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam
 
Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge” ^[6]
 
Was it any better than hogwash or a pre-election promise dishonoured and neglected in compliance? Though Lord Krishna was fervently expected to destroy the invading British along with the temple priests and pandas whose mischief out of petty self-interests threw Him, his brother and sister under the feet of the British overlords.

From 1803 to 1841, the British Trading Company controlled, managed and maintained the Jagannath Temple which was the home of Lord Krishna, his elder brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra. Regulations were passed in 1806 and taxes collected from the pilgrims in tens of thousands resorting to Puri from all over India. They paid taxes in lakhs of rupees. The Company spent, by and large, half of the income on the temple management, rituals, maintenance and establishment and the balance half was credited to Company Exchequer, as solid profits. The priests of the Jagannath temple did not suffer any qualms of conscience for this sorry state of affairs.   
 
The question really to ask is: Are the slokas of the Bhagawad Geeta afore-quoted anything but work of fiction? Interestingly, the Englishmen, at home and abroad, condemned their own most famous Trading Company for subscribing to idolatry. No Indians ever appear to have voiced any grievance against British occupation and control of Jagannath Temple for about four decades when they minted tons of money.  They also taxed pilgrims at Gaya, Tirupati, Prayag, etc. with enormous benefit. The British shared income from taxes with priests in these centres and so they were kept in good humour.  
 
The BJP Sankalpa Patra Lok Sabha 2019 on national security enunciated ‘Zero tolerance’ approach to terrorism as follows:
 
“Our security doctrine will be guided by our national security interest only…. We will firmly continue our policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ against terrorism and extremism and will continue our policy of giving free hand to our forces in combating terrorism.”  [01]
Lord of the Universe, Jagannath was desirous of enjoying the superior control, management and maintenance of the foreign rulers! No countrymen seemed to have ever questioned Jagannath’s attachment for British rulers! Pragya Thakur’s curse invited Pakistani terrorists right in Mumbai with terrible consequences. Should she not at least be asked to enlighten the countrymen how did a gang of dreadful Pakistani terrorists become so handy in materializing her curse, waging a war against their sovereign neighbour? Does the blueprint of national security of BJP in their Sankalp for Lok Sabha 2019 presented before the country stand to be compromised by someone like of the Sadhvi? 
 
(*The writer, a retired IAS officer and former Vice-Chancellor, Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, Dr A K Biswas can be contacted at biswasatulk@gmail.com.)

^[1] The Hindu, April 19, 2019, Bhopal, “Hemant Karkare died because of my curse.”
^[2]  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46314555
^[3]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_the_2008_Mumbai_attacks
^[4]  Swami Dharma Theertha, Menace of Hindu Imperialism, 2^nd edition, Har Bhagwan Happy Home Publication, Krishnanagar, Lahore, October 1946, p. 166.  
^[5] Ibid.
^[6] Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 4, Verse 7-8
 

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