After Owaisi, the BJP representatives in the lower house continued their chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ when Abu Taher Khan, the newly elected Member of the Parliament in West Bengal’s Murshidabad constituency and former Congress M.L.A in the State legislative Assembly approached for oath-taking. But ignoring the chanting, Khan started his oath-taking with ‘Bismillahi-ar-rahman- ar-rahim’ (in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate.) and concluded it by saying ‘Insha Allah, Jai Hind, Jai Bangla, khoda Hafeez, Allah hu Akbar’.

Khan was four times MLA from Murshidabad’s Noada constituency. When the wave of shifting parties from Congress, CPIM, BJP to TMC was at its peak last year, he joined TMC. This year he was chosen as the MP candidate of Murshidabad constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha election by the All India Trinamool Congress party and he won with a margin of 2,26,417 votes.

Another newly elected businessman-turned TMC-backed first-time parliamentarian, Khalilur Rahaman, from Murshidabad’s Jangipur constituency also faced the same chanting when he concluded his oath-taking by saying ‘In sha Allah’ and later added ‘Jai Hind, Jai Bangla, Khoda Hafeez when the chanting became louder.

This has raised a mixed response among the community people. Whereas, some from the left-liberal, secular front fear that their secularism is at stake, some others are praising the move.

As Mohammad Reyaz, a journalist as well as an Assistant Professor of a State-run University in West Bengal, wrote in his Face book post, “That is (Owaisi’s stand) an Indian Muslim Today, unapologetic and equally assertive, unlike old Sarkari Muslaman. Kudos Barrister Sahib.”

While this year the Parliament witnessed the extent of existing hatred towards the Muslims of the country by the right-wing representatives of the common populace, it also witnessed a new form of consciousness about the identity of the Muslim politicians that might have been erased from their conscience under the pressure of maintaining their secularism before the liberal, secular comrades.

And the impromptu attempt to rejoinder against the chanting by saying ‘Allah hu Akbar’ or ‘Khoda Hafeez’ clearly attests their stand on accentuating the fact that they too bear Indianess and Muslim-nes within themselves at the same time, just like other politicians with different religious backgrounds.

Though they are less in number against the fascist forces who tried to communalize the highest democratic place of the country, the Muslim MPs tried to uphold their identity. Their stands can be taken as new community awareness for dismantling the stereotypical notion of Sarkari Musalman. Owaisi, Khalilur or Khan may be paving the way for the 26 elected Indian Muslim representatives in the highest democracy and also to the Muslim community as to how they should represent themselves in a hostile communal environment.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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Meet one such person, Asif Khan Dehlvi, a resident of Delhi who took to storytelling as a means of bringing back the glorious past of peaceful living and the Hindu-Muslim co-existence in the country through his narratives in Urdu and Hindi. Indian history, its cultural heritage and the tradition of tolerance are the prime motifs that Dehlvi tries to bring out through his narratives. In course of storytelling, he pours his passion into  weaving threads of cordiality among brethren.

Dehlvi took to storytelling in 2011 when he left his corporate job after feeling discontent with his professional life and began ‘storytelling’ as a new venture for his career. Over the next two years, he focussed on honing his skills and in 2013 he founded ‘Delhi Karavan’. The first initiatives of re-telling the past of the country had a great impact on his career after the venture achieved success in Delhi he performed a number of times in Delhi over the next four years. In 2017, after the overwhelming success of ‘Delhi Karavan’, he founded ‘Jaypore Karavan’ and attended many programmes of re-telling the history, culture, and tradition of Rajasthan from various parts of the state like Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaypore among others. In February 2018,, he founded ‘Calcutta karavan’ managed and curated by Suparna Deb with the same subject matter. The money is not great, he says, but nevertheless, he is not complaining.

Asif in his pray on the dunes of Bikaner, Rajasthan.

While speaking with TwoCircles.Net, Delhvi explained why he changed his career path. “The job I was doing was not actually for me. I felt I could do something better, something that encouraged a latent fascination of rejuvenating the past glory days of the country, its culture and religious tolerance towards other religions through my narratives.”

Talking about the various subjects he picks up for his storytelling, Dehlvi said he picked up specific portions of the history where he attends and shows people had lived peacefully together with the fellow Hindu-Muslims, absorbed each other’s culture, and sometimes even deities and religion. To him, re-telling the past is a way to entertain listeners, even though like bedtime stories usually heard from grandparents, they often contain lessons. The listeners, he says, are interested in seeing the history of the two hundred years before them through his words.

Asif Khan Dehlvi, narrating stories before the audiences

He stresses that his narratives have a great impact on the nation-building in a new way. Regarding this, he said, “since re-telling the past is all about life, people, religion, peaceful co-existence, culture, about communal harmony and staying together, people gain knowledge of the past on how Hindus and Muslims had lived together and celebrated festivals together. It enables them to differentiate the truth from whatever had been imposed in the name of history against each other and there is a new feeling for each other that will enable them to live peacefully”.

In the beginning, however, Dehlvi faced a series of difficulties. When he started this profession, he had to go through many harassments, humiliations and awkward and trivial questions from the audience. In his words, “ After the storytelling, I always try to keep a question-answer session. In the initial days, I faced uncomfortable situations with meaningless questions posed by right-wing-minded people in order to divert the topic and create a mess. But, now it is normal for me and I am habituated to handling these situations”.

In the course of his acts, Dehlvi has lived true to the name ‘Caravan’ and righteously performed the role of the caravan by ferrying ideas of retaining cultural heritage, reverence for one’s country’s historical treasure and taking pride in putting forth the essence of indigenousness.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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Alauddin Dhabak

Though the families of some of the workers approached their respective district administrative authorities to bring them back home, the efforts are yet to materialise. The families are urging the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee for their return.

Sukdab Biswas

Gias Mondal

The nine workers are from three different districts of Bengal. Prabhat Biswas, Basudev Das and Sukhdev Biswas are from the same village, Goal Bathan, under Gaighati block of North 24 Parganas; Shymal Pal from Sulantu village of East Burdwan district. The other five: Ruhul Amin Biswas, Alauddin Dhabak, Babar Ali Mondal, Gias Mondal and Azhar Mondal are from Nadia district.

Ruhul Amin Biswas

Shyamal Pal

Prabhat Biswas

They all set out to Saudi Arabia on October 8, 2017, with the help of the two local touts, Jasimuddin Dhabak and Enamul Mondal.

Azahar Mondal.

These touts assured them the job of carpenters in multinational companies and for which they had to give them Rs 1.3 lakh each as fees. But it did not turn out as planned. Instead, they were compelled to do the job of scavengers and sweepers and most of the days they have to stay at home without work. The touts, meanwhile, have gone missing.

According to Inzamul Mondal, the brother of Azhar Mondal,“ since October 8 last year, my brother and the others had to move to four different places in search of a job and they are harassed every day in each possible ways.”

The workers are now kept at Al-Hamra village of Al-Khafji district, located 663 km from Riyadh and close to the Saudi border with Qatar.

The incident was highlighted last month and several local Bengali newspapers covered it after the families of Ruhul Amin and Alauddin Dhaba approached the S.D.O and D.M Office of Nadia but with little success. Najma Biswas, the wife of Ruhul Amin Biswas, was disappointed at the inactiveness of the Nadia district administration. She said, “ we approached the S.D.O and the DM office in January month and then we were assured that necessary steps will be taken to bring my husband and others back home. But till now, they haven’t taken any initiative to bring them back and due to the district administration’s ignorance, the workers have been living on one meal a day and being tortured.”

TwoCircles.Net managed to talk to Basudev Das over the phone and he said, “I was assured that I will be given a job with Rs 30,000 as salary by Jasimuddin and Enamul Mondal, the touts, in a good company. But here we are not given sufficient meals and work, only those days when we have work we are given two times meals and most of the days we are workless. We are pleading to all to rescue us from this place, otherwise, our condition will worsen with each day.” he added, “ I am the sole earner in my family of five members. My parents, my wife and my child are having an extremely difficult time making ends meet.”

Allauddin Dhabak said, “We are now in utter despair. we are kept in an old building quite far away from the city near the Qatar border. We are not allowed to go outside and are always rebuked by our boss whenever we request them to let us go home. We do have not a single penny. Four guards are always there to watch our every movement. Now I am talking to you from the bathroom after locking the door.” He added, “we don’t know whether we will go home alive because anything may happen to us at any time.”

TwoCircles.Net also contacted the officials at the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and sent all the relevant documents of the nine workers including their passport copies and phone numbers to sort out the problem and bring them back home. The Officials said they will take all necessary steps to bring them back.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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Organisations including Rokeya Nari Unnayan Samity and South Kolkata Society for Empowerment of Women also roped in several victims of Triple Talaq, professors, lawyers and others.

Speaking on the occasion, Khadija Banu, Secretary, Rokeya Nari Unnayan Samity (RNUS), elaborated the plight of Muslim women due to instant talaq in Bengal. “Islamic laws have been updated in accordance with time and civilizations in many Muslim countries like Arab. If Muslim countries can update Islamic Sharia from time to time, then why a secular, liberal country like India cannot do so?,”  Banu said. She also claimed that her  organization will fight for equality, security, safety and equal right in properties for women.

Former Judge of Kolkata High Court, Malay Sengupta who is also President of South Kolkata Society for Empowerment of Women highlighted the politicization of Sahabano case during his short lecture. “ Few Muslim politicians are ruining the lives of thousands of Muslim women by formulating merely some laws and not introspecting the aftermath of the laws that adversely accelerate the plight of the women,” he said.

Tahamina Bewa, a 36 years old widow and victim of triple talaq who came from Domkal, Murshidabad district to attend this programme, also narrated her plight. “It’s a matter of great joy for many Muslim women like us who are forced to live in plight due to instant triple talaq. Men pronounce Talaq by writing on a piece of paper and even uttering on phone,” she said. “My husband left me by saying triple talaq when I was 22 years old and married other woman. I am forced to live with my father who is very poor,” she said.

Several other women Ira Khatun, Saira Khatoon, Rahima Bewa, Ulia Khatun, all victim of triple talaq or polygamy, too attended the program. Most of them expressed satisfaction over  on SC’s verdict and hoped no one else will face the same sufferings anymore.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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About 100 people, including over 20 intellectuals from various fields like literary world, artist, writers, poets, teachers and journalists, attended the programme. NGO ‘Rights to Life Foundation’ and a local media Times Bangla organised the programme.

Speaking at the occasion, Pannalal Mallick, a Bengali writer from Bashirhat, said, “The present time political situation in Bengal makes it necessary to bring back the days of Tagore when he thwarted the British Divide and Rule policy in Bengal over religion and united all Hindus and Muslims under a single umbrella, namely Bengali culture and tradition. With this attempt of Raksha Bandhan today, we hope to reinstate our glory of peaceful coexistence.”

112 years ago, when the British government decided to partition Bengal in 1905, Rabindranath Tagore had used the occasion of Raksha Bandhan that coincidentally that year fell on the same day when partition plan was to take effect on October 16, to send a political message of communal-harmony by encouraging Hindu and Muslims to tie the sacred threads of fraternity and unity on each other’s wrists and urged everyone to keep fast for a day. Incidentally, August 7 is also the death anniversary of the Nobel Laureate.

“Bengal is the Land of RabindranathTagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose where Hindus and Muslims have lived together peacefully. Through this program, we want to send the message of peace and harmony,” said Samirul Islam of ‘Rights to Life Foundation,’ adding, “Bengalis will stand firm and fight all kinds of communal forces.”

Nirmal Ghosh from All India People’s Forum, said, “The citizens of this country are being deprived and the rights guaranteed to them under the Indian Constitution are being denied by a group of intolerant people. Until and unless this is revoked, the political situation will be more worsening throughout the country.”

Poets like Ali Fazrul Jahan also attended the event along with Krishna Ghosh, Bimal Chakrabarty and madrasa teachers Maulana Samsuddoha Quashemi and Masudur Rahaman among others.

Earlier, on the birth anniversary of the world poet, on May 7, a similar program was organized at Dhulagarh under the same banner of ‘Bangla Sanskriti Mancha’.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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There is a high chance that before July 2, you may never have heard of Baduria, a municipal town with a population of 52,000 in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. One Facebook post and the reactions it evoked brought national attention to this town and for all the wrong reasons. But before we start explaining what happened, let us explain the demography of Baduria. Unlike what a lot of right-wing media said, the majority population in the town is of Hindus: 55% and Muslims 45%, as confirmed by the former chairman of the municipality. It has a total of 17 Wards and according to the results of 2015 elections, there are nine councillors from TMC, one from CPI, three from BJP, one from CPIM and three from Congress. Three months back, one BJP councilor-Sukla Mondal from Araberia (Ward no 8)- joined TMC. This town has a literacy rate of about 67%.

Magurkhali village is the 17th and the last ward of the municipality. It is a village of 2,500 families, as informed by an ex-vice chairman of the municipality, Amirul Islam, who coincidentally happens to be a resident of this village. In the last election in 2015, BJP candidate Manisha Ghosh defeated Rehana Begum with a margin of 50 votes—Begum got 450 and Ghosh 500. Ghosh confirmed Islam’s claim that the village consists of a Hindu majority, and the homes of Hindus and Muslims are distributed equally across the village. A local source also confirmed that the land for the mosque of the village was given by a Hindu and till now the mosque receives various contributions in his name. What makes this even more interesting is that the house of the accused teen happens to be in front of the mosque.

Sauvik Sarkar, the 17-year-old accused, is currently enrolled in the 11th grade, pursuing Arts stream from Rudrapur Rajballav High School, half a km from his house. Here he also completed his Matriculation. He lost his mother eight years ago and he was brought up by his elder uncle and aunt. Two of his uncles are Sub-Inspectors in Bengal’s police department. Each and every villager we spoke, whether Hindu or Muslims, confirmed that his family had or have no political link, now or before. His classmates also describe him as a gentle person.
 

On July 2, a derogatory photo insulting Islamic sentiments was posted in his Facebook profile between 2.30 to 3.00 P.M from his village, Magurkhali. This caused an uproar among Muslims of the region. By 7 P.M, about five thousand Muslims from various places, whom the villagers of Magurkhali had never seen earlier, assembled on the school ground of Rudrapur demanding immediate action against the boy. To keep the situation under control, Tushar Singh, the present Chairman of Baduria, Bappa Mitra, the local O.C of Baduria police station, SDPO reached there with a local Muslim leader, Abdul Matin who is the General Secretary of All India Sunnatul Al Jamayat, a non-profit Political Islamic Welfare Trust. Matin pleaded all Muslims to maintain peace in the locality and by 3 am on July 3, Sauvik had been arrested.

Next day, road blockades started in the nearby villages –Ramchandrapur, Keosha, Swarupnagar by Muslims demanding severe punishment for Souvik. The mob even torched tyres on the road, tried to inflame Hindu shops but there was no serious visible rampage at these villages.

Another incident took place at Sayestanagar market of Baduria constituency on Monday afternoon where an 18-year-old Muslim boy Safiqul Gazi from Katiahat village, was attacked when he was coming from the nearby Gachha village with his friend Rejaul Gazi. “We were assaulted by 10-15 Hindus on the road on our way to home and were rebuked with slang languages. They forced us to say Jai Sri Ram and snatched our bicycle, chains and ring”, said Safiqul whose right hand was wrapped with six stitches.

At around 5 pm on the same day, about 300 to 400 Muslims gheraoed the police station asking the police to hand over the accused. When police thwarted their demand, the mob torched three police jeeps in retaliation. More than 400 people, not from the Magurkhali village as confirmed by many Hindu and Muslim villagers, at around 6.30 P.M, gathered in front of Souvik’s house to torch it when the news of burning jeeps at the police station reached them. Many Muslims from this village urged the mob not to do so. “What are you doing? Who are you? We have not seen you earlier in this locality Why are you worsening Hindu- Muslim relation?” was the request of one of Muslims of the village. Later, he along with Hindus and many Muslims of the village watered the flame and called the fire brigade. Following this incident, the village calmed down to the persistence of its residents and nothing untoward happened after this.

“Souvik and his father and uncles bear good traits. They even do not go to the village club. The chances of them having political linkage are next to impossible. The boy looks simple and like any other youth:  It’s unbelievable that he could do such kind of heinous activities”, said a Muslim neighbour of Souvik who knew him from his birth.

“At first, we were shocked when we heard Souvik was behind this. He used to remain silent all time and did not talk many other classmates except his four Hindu friends. How could he commit such a crime?” was the question posed by one of Souvik’s Muslim classmates from the same village. He also confirmed that Souvik had never uttered any anti-Muslim remark in the class or in the playground.

According to another of Souvik’s neighbour, who is a Hindu, “The reaction of Muslims made matters much more complicated. Who is behind Souvik’s brainwashing, what provoked him to do this kind of loathing deeds could have been answered if normalcy had prevailed after his arrest”. He also said that there is a high chance that his Facebook account must have been hacked or his friends have done it using his phone.

The imam of the village mosque, which is hardly 20 meters from Souvik’s house, said, “ I am serving as Imam in this village for 25 years. I have not seen anything such as Hindu-Muslim clash in this village. Now whatever happened is condemnable. On the very day it took place, Abdul Matin, the General Secretary of All India Sunnatul Al Jamayat along with local police and administration pleaded Muslims not to vitiate the situation and maintain peace in the locality.” He also added that Muslims of this village have full faith in law and order of the country and condemned the mobs that are not from this village.

Local police administration played a vital role in calming down the situation. From 3rd July 144 is enforced in the locality, internet connection was suspended until July 10. Prabhas Chandra Dey, the Sub-Inspector of Baduria police station who is handling the case, could not be contacted.

No rampage of shops, persons of both, Hindus and Muslims were seen in the village except the partially burnt marks in Souvik’s house. “No Hindu was injured in this mishap. No Hindu properties are damaged in this locality except Souvik’s one. Though the present situation is normal, Villagers are in utter tension for further possible consequences,” said Manisha Ghosh, the BJP Councilor of the village. She also said that local administration along with Councillors and MLAs took a decision in a meeting convened by the B.D.O for a communal harmony rally. But the date is not till now fixed.

So, in essence, while tensions ran high and tempers flew, Bhaduria did limp back to normalcy. But, if you were to see social media during this period, you would have been made to believe that all hell broke loose in the region. In the next part of this series, we will look at what conspired in Bashirhat, the other region where a series of events turned ugly.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

The post What happened in Baduria? Making sense of news on social media versus events on ground appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to reports, the incident took place at the Peoplebera -1 Panchayat of Tamluk Sub division, East Medinipur. The prime accused is Jayanta Maity, the husband of the local Panchayat Pradhan Jharna Maity.

According to the FIR that was filed by the father of the boy S.K Rafik, to the Tamluk Police Station, the boy namely S.K Ismail, 11, has been missing since June 3. On that day, some residents of Gourangapur along with members of Gourangapur Sports Authority Club, namely, Avijit, Chiku, Sanu and others were chasing Ismail near the Kakgachia Madan Maity market, following which he was beaten the Haldia-Mecheda bound bus terminal. Four of his fingers were chopped off as he tried to protect himself from a blow to the head. Then he was brought to the club and was badly tortured, allegedly under the orders of Jayanta Maity. After that, the boy has been missing and his family is unsure if he is alive or dead.
 

According to Sanaullah Khan, President of All India Muslim Association, “We gave a deputation to the Superintendent of Police, East Medinipur and he sought 72 hours to take action against the culprits engaged into this case”. He also wrote in his Facebook Page that BJP workers are operating the saffronised agenda under the banner of Trinamool leadership.

When the SP was contacted, he said, “Two accused have been arrested till now. Further investigation is going on”. He also said that the true identity of the boy is not clear till now as the mother of the boy initially denied that it was her son.
 

But more worryingly, the main accused-Jayanta Maity-has still not been arrested.

The local Office-in-Charge of Tamluk Police Station, when was contacted denied to comment on this case. “investigation is going on, we can’t say anything now’, he said. The parents of the boy till now could not be contacted.
The father demanded the case to be filed under 302, 307, 308,295A, 298, 326,364 and 365 in his FIR.

A video footage of Ismail, which was confirmed by the father and Ismail’s aunt, Fatima Bibi, showed him in a room, where he was being abused and beaten up by a number of people.

Upon hearing this, residents of Kakgecha and Bhandarbera villages, Tamluk, blocked the national highway and demanded the arrests of the prime accused Jayanta Maity and the club members involved in this case along with locating the boy and ensuring his safety. The angry crowd dispersed after the local authorities ensured that they would do everything possible to locate the boy and arrest the accused.

Courtesy: Two Circles

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