The whole thrust of the RSS-BJP election campaign for 2021 state assembly elections in Bengal has been to save Bengal from the rule of Mamata Bannerjee who is not a ‘Hindu’.

PM of India, Narendra Bhai Modi, a self-proclaimed Hindutva nationalist, as usual set the polarising agenda. While addressing the first election rally, he called upon the electorate to overthrow the ‘nirmam’ (cruel) rule of Mamata by showing a ‘Ram Card’. He did not name Hindus directly but there was no confusion about the religious identity of the electorate Indian PM was addressing to. [1]

Amit Shah, the RSS-BJP Chanakya or the main strategist for Bengal polls minced no words in exposing the anti-Hindu Mamata Banerjee. According to him, “school teachers in Bengal were beaten up for organising ‘saraswati puja’. The TMC dispensation does not allow Saraswati puja celebration in schools.” [2]

Amit Shah kept on harping upon the theme that Mamata-led government was behind the infiltration of the Bangladeshis [meaning Muslims] in Bengal “who are loved dearly by Didi”. Thus, Mamata Banerjee was indulging in appeasement of Muslims. He added another crime of Mamata against Hindus when he alleged that the latter did not get permission for doing visarjan [immersion] after Durga Puja under Mamata government’s rule.” [3]

How the star ‘Hindu’ campaigner from Bengal Suvendu Adhikari targetted Mamata Bannerjee for chanting ‘Inshallah’ [Allah-willing] and ‘Khuda Hafiz’ [Khuda takes care] used by Muslims and not ‘Jai Shri Ram’ was made clear by Monideepa Banerjie, a Bengal based renowned journalist in the following words:

“A campaign that has seen Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP repeatedly addressing Mamata Banerjee as ‘Begum’ [Muslim lady], repeatedly referring to the threat of Nandigram turning into a mini-Pakistan if she is voted to power, repeatedly warning people that if the Trinamool wins this time, the Hindus will not be able to wear the traditional dhoti and the traditional tilaks (the smear of red on the forehead.)” [4]

RSS-BJP also fielded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a hard-core Muslim basher and anti-secularist as a prominent campaigner after Modi and Amit Shah. In a series of meetings, he declared Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Bannerjee as a party which was opposed to the chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ [Hail Sri Ram]. Yogi was confident that that the public would definitely punish the ‘Ramdrohis’ [disloyal to Rama]. 

Yogi Adityanath, in an election meeting held in the first week of March (2021), went to the extent of describing Mamata Banerjee-led TMC as an organisation which was opposed to God (‘bhagwaan’) in the state. Since festival of colours, Holi was few days away, he reminded the audiences, “Holi will be celebrated after few days. Holika is lit on the day of Holi. Holika also opposed God.” He was seeking votes for RSS-BJP so that anti-god party like TMC meets the fate of Holika. It was not difficult to miss the connection between female demon Holika and a female leader Mamata. Mamata needs to be destroyed. [5]

Adityanath while attacking Mamata Bannerjee kept on referring to other anti-Hindu crimes of her borrowing from the RSS hateful propaganda literature. Cow slaughter, smuggling and ‘love jihad’ were happening due to the ‘appeasement politics’. Without naming Muslims, he kept on stating that “appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country.”

He also kept on telling the audiences that the raising of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan was not allowed in West Bengal, Durga Puja was banned so the TMC government should be punished for “playing with their religious sentiments”. What did he mean by ‘their’ was not difficult to surmise. [6]

Those of us who are familiar with the RSS-BJP’s propaganda mechanism would know that mere allegations of anti-Hindu crimes of Mamata Bannerjee were presented as truth without offering any proof. Interestingly, the Left and to some extent Congress competing with TMC in these elections criticized her for appeasing the Hindutva forces in Bengal.

Economist, social justice thinker and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen expressed his indignation at “the fanning of the dangerous flames of communal divisions [that] has not occurred as strongly in Bengal since 1946.”

According to him the saddest part has been that “one of the major political contenders in the electoral battles portrays a part of the ‘insider’ population of Bengal — in particular, Bengali Muslims — as less deserving of support, while deriving their strength from the support of Hindu activists coming originally from outside Bengal, the dividing lines are hard to be kept pure”. [7]

UP chief minister Adityanath has been reminding the electorate in Bengal that “the national leadership of the BJP and every worker of the party has come here to connect to the Bengali brothers and sisters to re-establish the identity of Bengal and carry forward a new change through this.”

In the light of the totality of the content of his speeches during the current Bengal elections or otherwise it is too obvious to know that Adityanath’s reference to Bengali brothers and sisters meant Hindus of Bengal only. [8]

Interestingly, it is not for the first time in the history that Hindus of Bengal are being promised liberation from the anti-Hindu rulers by the outsider Hindus. RC Majumdar (1880-1980) was a doyen among Indian historians whose works on ancient India and freedom struggle are rated highly. He is even described by the Hindutva scholars as a true ‘Bhartiya’ historian. He narrated how once Marathas promised to establish ‘Hindu Raj’ [Hindu rule] and what the consequences were.

According to Majumdar,

“There are good grounds to believe that some such idea was present in the mind of the great Peshwa Baji Rao 1 (1700-1740), and he openly preached the ideal of Hindu Pad Padshahi (Hindu empire). This ideal evidently helped him in great deal, as the Hindu Zemindars and ruling chiefs showed active sympathy with the Maratha cause. But, unfortunately, this ideal was not systematically pursued, and seems to have been altogether given up by his successors. As an evidence of this, we may cite two positive facts.

“In the first place, when the Marathas invaded Bengal during the reign of Alivardi Khan, they terribly oppressed the Hindus and Muslims alike. Contemporary Bengali records seem to indicate that the Hindus of Bengal at first regarded the Marathas as deliverers from the yoke of the Muslims, but the incredible atrocities perpetrated by the Marathas completely alienated the Hindus from them. Secondly, it is a well-known fact that far from enlisting the sympathy and support of the great Rajput chiefs, the Marathas terribly oppressed them and made them their enemies. [9]

Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958), again a renowned historian, held no brief for Islam or Muslim rulers in India. In fact, he is regarded as a narrator of the Hindu history during the Mughal rule. However, his description of the Maratha invasion of Bengal in 1742, too, makes it clear that this army of ‘Hindu nation’ cared least about honour and property of Hindus of Bengal. According to Sarkar, “the roving Maratha bands committed wanton destruction and unspeakable outrage”. [10]

Sarkar, in his monumental work on the history of Bengal, quoted eyewitnesses to relate the stories of sufferings of Bengali Hindus at the hands of Marathas. According to one of the eyewitnesses, Gangaram, whose testimony was reproduced by Sarkar, the Marathas snatched away gold and silver, rejecting everything else. Of some people they cut off the hands, of some the nose and ear; some they killed outright. They dragged away the beautiful women and freed them only after raping them. [11]

Another eyewitness, Vaneshwar Vidyalankar, the court Pandit of the Maharaja of Bardwan, thus narrated the horrifying tales of atrocities committed by the Marathas.

“Shahu Raja’s troops are niggard of pity, slayers of pregnant women and infants, of Brahmans and the poor, fierce of spirit, expert in robbing the property of every one and committing every kind of sinful act.” [12] 

What the RSS-BJP is attempting to accomplish as champions of Hindus of Bengal is not a new strategy of the ruling classes when faced with challenge to its dehumanized exploitative rule from its own people. Karl Marx, in his monumental work, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852), brilliantly, highlighted this character of the rulers who when faced with periods of revolutionary crisis,

“Anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle-cries and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honoured disguise and this borrowed language.” [13]

*Views expressed are the author’s own.

References:

[1] https://theshillongtimes.com/2021/02/08/bengal-got-nirmamta-in-mamatas-rule-pm/

[2] https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/west-bengal-assembly-polls-2021/story/amit-shah-egra-rally-religious-freedom-under-bjp-rule-1781872-2021-03-21

 [3] https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/politics/amit-shah-slams-mamata-banerjee-over-infiltration-in-west-bengal-confident-of-bjps-win.html

[4] https://www.ndtv.com/blog/in-nandigram-begum-mamata-vs-suvendu-the-traitor-2403225

[https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/west-bengal-assembly-polls-2021/story/suvendu-adhikari-mamata-banerjee-hindu-mantras-minority-appeasement-1777663-2021-03-10

[5] https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/politics/up-cm-yogi-adityanath-takes-on-west-bengal-counterpart-mamata-banerjee-at-malda-poll-rally.html

[6] https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/west-bengal-assembly-polls-2021/story/uttar-pradesh-smuggling-love-jihad-appeasement-politics-yogi-adityanath-west-bengal-malda-mamata-banerjee-1774771-2021-03-02

[7] https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/west-bengal-assembly-elections-2021-amartya-sen-backs-local-not-central/cid/1813094

[8] https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/west-bengal-assembly-polls-2021/story/uttar-pradesh-smuggling-love-jihad-appeasement-politics-yogi-adityanath-west-bengal-malda-mamata-banerjee-1774771-2021-03-02

[9] Majumdar, R. C., History of the Freedom Movement in India, vol. i (Calcutta: Firma KL Mukhopadhyay, 1971), pp. 2-3.

[10] Sarkar, Jadunath (ed.), The History of Bengal- Muslim Period 1200 A.D.–1757 A.D., volume ii, (Delhi: BR Publishing, 2003), (first edition 1948), 457.

[11] Ibid., p. 457.

[12] Ibid., p. 458.

[13] Marx, Karl, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, in Karl Marx–Frederick Engels Collected Works, Vol. 11, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1979), p. 130.

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On March 14, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its list of candidates who will contest elections in the third and fourth phases in the state. But the exclusion of several senior members and old hands of the party, and allocation of their seats to former Trinamool Congress (TMC) members who have recently joined the BJP, led to protests across the state.

The Telegraph reports that tension was palpable in Raidighi and Diamond Harbour, where the BJP has given tickets to TMC turncoats Shantanu Bapuli and Dipak Halder. Party workers were also enraged when Bishal Lama, a former member of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) was given a ticket to contest from Kalchini. Lama was a close associate of Bimal Gurung. Then there was widespread disappointment over Ashok Lahiri, a noted economist being given a ticket from Alipurduar.

But tensions boiled over in Hooghly, when members vandalised the party’s district office in Chinsurah to protest the candidacy of TMC turncoat Rabindranath Bhattacharya from Singur, and another former TMC man Prabir Ghoshal from Uttarpara. BJP’s own state leader Deepanjan Guha is perceived to be an outsider in Chandernagore from where he has been fielded.  

Meanwhile, the BJP appears to be relying heavily on ‘celebrity’ party members. Swapan Dasgupta, a noted journalist and a presidential nominee to the Rajya Sabha resigned, amidst controversy about his nomination as the BJP candidate from Tarakeshwar. TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted about it saying, “Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP.”
 

Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls.
10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath.
He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied.
Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP. pic.twitter.com/d3CDc9dNCe

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2021

Meanwhile, a steady stream of A-list BJP leaders has been making multiple trips to the poll-bound state, including the big two: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Just last weekend Nitin Ghadkari and Smriti Irani also addressed rallies in the state.

But there are reports that the turnout at BJP’s rallies remains low, with allegations of manipulated camera angles. So much so, that it is being alleged that Amit Shah had to cancel his rally in Jaghram due to poor turnout of people, rather than a chopper snag as claimed by the BJP. SabrangIndia had previously reported on the lukewarm response to PM Modi’s rally at Brigade Ground.

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Home Minister Amit Shah, who is campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, has promised an annual payout of Rs 6,000 to the state’s fishermen if his party is voted to power. “After forming the government in Bengal, we will launch a Machhuare Samman Nidhi Yojana from which four lakh fishermen of Bengal will get Rs 6,000 annually just like (farmers do from) the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana,” Shah told a rally at Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas, reported The Telegraph.

Amit Shah is the biggest star campaigner for his party, next to the Prime Minister, and has now reached out to the large fisherfolk community of the state that is now the main focus for BJP. Shah also had lunch at the home of Subrata Biswas, a fish trader at Narayanpur village in Kakdwip.

National Fishworkers Forum’s former secretary, executive member Dabasis Shyamal, who hails from and works with the community in West Bengal told SabrangIndia, that while he was glad the senior politician had noticed the fisher folk community, it would be good if the existing schemes are implemented as well. “Even if recognised as a vote bank, I congratulate them [Amit Shah and BJP] for noticing the fishworkers and making this announcement,” he said, adding that there still needs to be a classification of the beneficiaries of this proposed scheme as the community is massive. “We at NFF are made up of small scale and traditional fisherfolk. Have they included even large fisherfolk here? Those trawlers are destructive to the environment, it is the small scale traditional fisherman who needs the money. This community has been suffering neglect since the last three decades. And as the catch has reduced, around 60 percent fisherfolk are leaving traditional livelihood and working elsewhere… This is an indication of the dire situation,” he said.

Did the BJP finally, and suddenly notice the fishing community of West Bengal only now? According to Shyamal, the political leadership “knows the situation is getting worse… this promise is an indication…” He said that there were some central savings-cum-relief schemes that are still pending, in West Bengal, and fisherfolk have all been put under the below poverty line (BPL) category, which is actually not helpful. “We request that the saving cum relief scheme be increased from the paltry Rs 1500 currently paid per annum,” he said adding, “We do not want handouts. We want the rights to the waters we fish in, we want  preferential access for small scale fisheries, these water rights can be for inland water bodies, reservoirs, rivers, and marine…”  Implementing the existing policies were crucial as poll promises were just that, promises.

According to The Telegraph Amit Shah’s “promise” of an annual payout of Rs 6,000 for fishermen if the BJP wins in Bengal, has “hurt” the “pride” of a section of fisherfolk who said it is the rising diesel prices that were a bigger challenge. They told The Telegraph that they do not want to depend on government handouts, but instead want the Centre to “contain the rise in diesel prices so that they could venture into the sea on their trawlers”. Diesel, which cost Rs 66.79 a litre in February 2020, now sells for Rs 83.84 a litre in Calcutta now, added the report. Those who own and fish with the trawlers are in distress, Kamal Das from Kultali in South 24-Parganas told the Telegraph that even though he owned two trawlers he had to halt his trade because of the continuous hike in fuel prices, “I faced repeated losses and stopped sending out trawlers since last November because of the high price of diesel. To earn Rs 55,000 by selling fish, I need to burn fuel worth Rs 1.2 lakh. I cannot afford that. I had taken a loan of Rs 36 lakh from the market and around 40 people worked for me. They have either left for Kerala or are sitting idle with no income.” Kamal said adding, “What good will the government do by promising adequate prices for our produce if we can’t catch fish because of the high price of diesel?”

Amit Shah has  promised a ‘Machhuara Samman Nidhi Yojana’ for fishermen, 33 per cent reservation for women in state government jobs, and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. According to the Telegraph the Machhuara Samman Nidhi Yojana will be on the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. “Under the scheme, nearly 4 lakh fishermen will get Rs 6,000 annual subsidy. This will be done keeping fishermen produce organisations in the loop,” said Shah adding that a BJP government in the state will set up a dedicated department within the state fisheries department to ensure adequate prices for the catch. He said the ministry will look after fishermen produce and ensure good monetary returns. It will also save them from the TMC middlemen who take away a major portion of fishermen’s profit.”

However, Subrata Biswas, who is also a BJP worker, at Narayanpur village in the district, who hosted Shah for lunch on Thursday, later told the media that his business was not doing well but he could not tell the “big man” about it. According to the report, Joykrishna Haldar, general secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen Association that represents 64 unions across Bengal, said, “We don’t need a dole. Fishermen work hard and are happy to earn a living. The rising price of diesel has become an impediment and the Centre should subsidise the fuel. Almost 90 per cent of trawlers have stopped venturing into the sea because of the high diesel price. Thousands of fishermen sit at home; they have no income.” According to the news report, fishermen are planning a demonstration in Calcutta on February 22 against the rising fuel prices.

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Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Suvendu Adhikari was inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengal today by none other than Amit Shah. But Adhiari wasn’t the only one to switch sides.

At a rally in Paschim Medinipur, attended by the BJP top brass including national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, and other important leaders such as Mukul Roy, Rahul Sinha and Saumitra Khan, the BJP welcomed into its fold: one Member of Parliament (MP), nine Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), one ex-Minister, one Minister of State, 15 councillors, 45 chairman and 2 Zila Panchayat officials from other parties including the TMC, Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Addressing the rally Shah fired his first salvo against TMC Founder and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying, “Didi accuses BJP of encouraging people to switch parties. But tell me this… which was your original party?” Banerjee had left the Congress to set up the TMC. “This is just the beginning. By the time of the election, you will be left all alone,” Shah warned Banerjee.

He accused Banerjee of failing to uphold her own “Ma, maati, maanush” (Mother, soil, people) slogan by slipping into corruption, appeasement and nepotism. “All you care about is making your nephew the next Chief Minister,” accused Shah. He further accused her of depriving people from benefits of social schemes such as direct bank transfers and health insurance.

He then went on to talk about the attack on BJP president JP Nadda’s convoy on December 10 saying, “If you think throwing stones is going to scare us, remember, the more violent you get, the louder our opposition to you will get.” He accused TMC cadres of killing 300 BJP party workers.

“You gave 30 years to the Congress, over 20 years to the Communist Party and 10 years to TMC. About time you gave BJP at least five years, so we can make Bengal ‘Sonar Bangla’. Let’s root out the TMC,” urged Shah before ending with chants of “Jai Shree Ram” and “Vande Mataram”.

Earlier in the day, Shah had visited the Ramkrishna Ashram in Kolkata and visited the home of Swami Vivekananda. He also claimed to have had lunch at a peasant’s home that was offered to the peasant due to the PM’s housing scheme and with no help from the state government.

Two things are noteworthy here; Midnapore or Medinipur has a huge Muslim population and the community is viewed as a traditional vote bank of the TMC, with Banerjee regularly accused of appeasing Muslims. Secondly, the loss of Suvendu Adhikari is a huge blow to the TMC given how influential he is among various levels of the party’s cadres. In fact, TMC MP Sunil Mondal and five sitting MLAs from TMC also left the party and joined BJP within days of Adhikari’s exit.

With assembly elections scheduled to take place next year, the battle for Bengal is only going to get hotter.

Related:

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One dead as BJP rally turns violent in Bengal
BJP getting overconfident in Bengal after Bihar win?

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A rally by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) turned violent in Siliguri on Monday when participants tried to break past police barricades. BJP workers reportedly pelted stones at the police when prevented from going past the barricades. Police in turn used water cannons and tear gas on the BJP members who were part of the Uttarkanya Abhiyan rally, a march to the branch secretariat of the state government in South Siliguri.

In a statement released, West Bengal Police said, “Today in Siliguri, serious acts of violence were committed by the supporters of a political party during their protest program. They resorted to arson, brick-batting, firing and vandalism of govt property.”

One BJP worker, identified as Ulenn Roy, was reportedly killed in the violence.

Ulen Roy, BJP worker, died due to police lathicharge. He was demanding development of North Bengal. Pishi is the home minister of Bengal and is directly responsible for his death.

It is obvious that Pishi resents North Bengal and is targeting those opposed to TMC’s injustice! pic.twitter.com/w0RNpDd7eT

— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) December 7, 2020

On the subject of the death, police said, “Police showed restraint and didn’t do lathicharge or use fire arms. Only water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse the violent crowd. However, death of a person has been reported. Body is being sent for PM (post-mortem examination). The actual cause of death will be known only after the PM.”

The rally, organised by Bharatiya Jan Yuva Morcha (BJYM), was meant to be a show of strength for the party in North Bengal that has 54 assembly seats. Assembly elections will take place in West Bengal next year, and it is no secret that the BJP sees the state as the most coveted one in the entire bouquet of non-BJP run states in the country.

No wonder the BJP got big-wigs like National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and National President of BJP Yuva Morcha Tejasvi Surya to lead Monday’s rally. Others who walked in the Uttarkanya Cholo march included Nitish Pramanik who is the Member of Parliament (MPs) from Coochbehar, Balurghat MP Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, Alipurduar MP John Barla and Darjeeling MP Raju Bista.

The BJP has been particularly shaken in the region in wake of both factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporting Mamata Bannerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). Both factions held back-to-back rallies recently decrying the BJP’s inaction on the long-standing demand for Gorkhaland.  

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Vanquished in Varanasi: BJP suffers embarrassing defeat in Modi’s bastion!

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DIPTENDU DUTTA via Getty Images

In Motigunj area, the TMC workers allegedly ransacked the BJP office, after which the BJP workers razed the camp office of TMC.

In Dinapur district of WB, clashes broke out between TMC and the BJP after a leader Montu Roy was attacked allegedly by TMC workers.

There were more reports of violence in Bengal. Motiganj area of North 24 Paraganas saw clashes between BJP and TMC workers. Both the workers ransacked each other’s party offices.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections in rural West Bengal have been reportedly extremely polarised.

Three Trinamool Congress workers in Murshidabad’s Domkal municipality were injured earlier this morning after a crude bomb was reportedly hurled at them. The polling booth had to be shut down. This comes after reports that the husband of a Trinamool Congress councillor of the Domkal municipality was hospitalised after being beaten with sticks.

West Bengal has seen clashes and attacks on political party workers since the elections began on April 11. While the ruling Mamata Banerjee government has blamed the Opposition parties and the BJP, the BJP in turn has accused Mamata Banerjee of jungle raj in the state. 

On April 23, elections are being held at the constituencies Malda Uttar, Malda Dakshin, Murshidabad, Jangipur and Balurghat of Bengal as part of third phase.

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Image: The Hindu
 
Kolkata: In May, a minor girl from Jharkhand named Soni Kumari was murdered and dismembered for asking for her rightful salary. She was a domestic worker in New Delhi. As shocking as the incident was, the plight of domestic workers has often been brushed under the carpet. They are overworked, underfed, abused and tortured. A trade union certificate given to a domestic workers group in West Bengal could overturn many of these horrors.
 
In a first, Kolkata based Paschimbanga Griha Paricharika Samit (PGPS-West Bengal Domestic Workers Society) obtained a trade union certificate from the state government earlier this week after applying for it in 2014. “Every day I set out for work at 6 am and return home in the afternoon. Since 2014 I had to rush to the Labour Department’s office several days a week to ensure that our organisation is granted trade union status,” said Tapsi Moira, the former secretary of PGPS and currently a State Committee member told The Hindu. The 38-year-old domestic worker from Dhakuria, South Kolkata, had to go to the Labour Department’s office in central Kolkata almost daily after work to inquire about the status of their application said the report by The Hindu.
 
It is the first organisation of domestic workers to be granted trade union status in the State, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) trade union leader and Minister said in the report.
 
This development could mark a milestone for people working in the unorganised sector. “They do not have fixed lunch breaks and are not permitted to take leaves, even during emergencies. If they do go on leave, employers deduct their pay. Often the situation takes a bitter turn when the workers’ demand for a salary raise ends in charges of theft levelled against them. Domestic workers often do not know how to shield themselves against such crimes,” reported The Wire.
 
“In urban areas, domestic workers face innumerable difficulties at their workplace, ranging from being given stale food to being humiliated at security checks. Sexual and physical violence too are common. A principal reason behind the systemic exploitation is the absence of legal protection for domestic workers. According to data, Indian homes have witnessed a 120% increase in domestic workers in the decade post liberalisation. While the figure was 7,40,000 in 1991, the number increased to 16.6 lakh in 2001. Over the years, incidents of crimes against domestic workers have also been reported. There are only two laws in the country that grant domestic workers ‘labour’ status. First, Unorganised Labour Social Security Act, 2008 and second, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013. But none of the laws talks about any legal framework regarding rights of domestic workers,” the report stated.
 
In 2017, The labour and employment ministry announced that it will give legal status to domestic workers in the country by formulating a national policy that will ensure minimum wages and equal remuneration for around 47.5 lakh domestic workers in India including 30 lakh women.
 

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Bihar, and many parts of West Bengal, close to Bihar, have been engulfed in organised bouts of  communal tension and violence. Religious processions (Ramnavmi and Chaiti Durga; in late January it was Saraswati Puja) have been the occasion. Carrying illegal weapons, entering into Muslim mohallas, shouting incendiary slogans, ransacking Masjids and Madrasas (at Rosera, in Samastipur) have been the modus operandi, beginning with March 17, 2018, from Bhagalpur. The extent of the provocations can be gauged from the fact that chief minister, Nitish Kumar has not been able to prevent these patterns and provocations,  even in Silao (Nalanda), his home district. Tragically, the opposition (RJD), despite its huge cadre-base, appears to be hardly doing much, proactively, to confront the menace.
 
A Pattern?
 
There are patterns discernible  in the recent violent communal onslaught in Bihar . The geography of the violence suggests that those places are more prone to such violence, where: (i) either the BJP’s allies are likely to stake their claims for Lok Sabha seats in 2019, or (ii) the incumbent BJP parliamentarians are  feeling insecure due to the widespread discontent of certain caste groups, which may desert BJP in 2019: (a) Munger (where Lalan Singh, a close aide of Nitish is supposed to be important leader); (b) Rosera (Samastipur), which was once represented by Ramvilas Paswan, has got sizeable Kurmi, Koeri and Dalit population; besides, the town of Rosera has got significant presence of Muslim traders; the Mosque targeted has got very tall, imposing tower; and incumbent MLA of Samastipur is a Muslim, Akhtarul Islam Shaheen, of RJD; (c) Jamui (currently represented by LJP’s Chiragh Paswan); Sheikhpura town, an assembly segment of the Jamui Lok Sabha seat witnessed violence on 28 March (d) Aurangabad (was represented by JDU in 2009; its nominee Sushil Kumar Singh, was re-elected in 2014 on BJP symbol ); violence broke on March 25; (e) Silao ( in Nalanda, native district of Nitish); (f) Bhagalpur (which has been Ashwini Chaubey’s preferred choice to contest from; Bhagalpur violence broke out on March 17, after Ashwini’s son, Arijit Shashwat  led a mob, and even mocked at the FIR lodged against him); (g) Siwan (from where JDU would like to contest; violence broke out on March 24); (h) earlier, in late January, violence broke out in: (a) Marwan (Muzaffarpur), of Vaishali Lok Sabha seat, which is currently represented by LJP; (b) Aba Bakrpur, Mahuwa, of Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, represented by Ramvilas Paswan; (c) Dhaka (Champaran), of Motihari Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, and who has to feel the irate of farm distress; (d) Gaya’s incumbent BJP MP, Hari Manjhi, is feeling insecurity after Jitan Manjhi has gone over to the RJD; (e) Nawada, represented by BJP’s Giriraj Singh, who keeps issuing polarising statements. Nawada witnessed violence on March 30, (and also in April 2017, where even JDU MLC Salman Raghib’s house was ransacked). Nawada was, till 2014, supposed to be a safely winnable seat for JDU, and has also got intra-Yadav rivalries. JDU’s Kaushal Yadav (his wife, Purnima Yadav is Congress MLA from Gobindpur, Nawada) and RJD’s Rajballabh Yadav compete with each other.
 
The victory of SP-BSP alliance in the by-polls of Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats seem to have added to the desperation of the BJP. With more intensified communal polarisations, the BJP appears to be trying to torpedo the emerging alliances of the backwards and dalits. That might explain renewed spurt and virulence in communal skirmishes since late March.
 
The BJP’s rising desperation has also to do with the fact that the smaller allies representing specific subordinated castes in parts of provinces (e.g., Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP, and other such allies of BJP in UP), have not been able to strengthen their base, despite being in alliance with the ruling BJP. Immediately after the by-poll results, some of the allies including Ramvilas Paswan, vented their acute discomfiture with the BJP. All this dissent is being sought to be made ineffective by consolidating Hindus, behind the BJP, through intensified communal polarisations.
 
Within this overall scenario, it seems almost inevitable that Nitish will be increasingly cornered and even threatened with political oblivion. Even if were to merge with the BJP, he may not retain his visibility at the top any longer. It is also widely rumoured that, on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon, B. R. Ambedkar,  Nitish and Ramvilas Paswan are likely to make certain ‘important announcements’ at a public meeting. On the other hand, Upendra Kushwaha has been making over gestures to the RJD. Thus, the BJP’s allies have begun to air their grievances, in the open, in public. Meanwhile, Bihar keeps sliding on all fronts, and indicators, a decline for which Nitish cannot absolve himself of a share of the blame.
 
Despite Nitish’s very long political affiliation with the hate-mongers, despite the Godhra train carnage (Sabarmati Coach, S-6 burning and mass arson)and the subsequent massacres of 2002 in Gujarat, Nitish, the then Minister for Railways, had chosen to continue in his alliance with the ruling BJP. Hs current stance vis a vis communal polarisation should not, therefore surprise anyone; his abject failute and absence of political will in reigning in hoodlums with an allegience to Hindutva. Why then the surprise among many?
 
Remember: (i) Nitish governed Bihar during 2005-13, in alliance with the BJP, when the BJP was not in power at the Centre. Then, he was the dominant ally, keeping the Hindutva agenda at bay, with various other exercises of social coalitions, viz., Ati Pichhra, Mahadalit, Pasmanda, and Women empowerment. (ii) The Indian electorate has, arguably, strange ways! Are we too generous in giving a benefit of doubt to their leaders—political, as well as religious? 
 
Nitish pulled out of the Mahagathbandhan in July 2017 for reasons best known only to him. Speculations suggest that: (a) Nitish re-aligned with the BJP to avoid his discomfitures to be inflicted upon him in the Srijan scam case, and other such cases of corruption and crime, pending, or to be brought up by a vindictive centre. (b) Nitish was not comfortable with ever-growing demands of the Yadavas and that by the next elections, Tejaswi could anyway have tried to replace him, given the fact that his core support-base, Yadavas (12%), are numerically far ahead of the Kurmis (4%), to which Nitish belongs; and given the fact that Muslims (17%) have always trusted Lalu, over Nitish. This  makes the RJD’s base far more durable. Nitish did test this competitive base in the 2014 elections and found that Muslims could not trust him; (c) If a news-report in ndtv.com (Manish Kumar, December 4, 2017) is to be believed, Lalu and his Man Friday, Prem Gupta, approached Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, pleading  for some reprieve in corruption investigations with the assurance of a quid pro quo. Lalu would kick out Nitish within 24 hours of this assurance. This news was, it is rumoured,  leaked out to Nitish, and he brought an end to the Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan.
 
Be that as it may, it did not require great intelligence to guess and foresee that Nitish’s realignment with the BJP in 2017 was not going to keep him as a dominant partner within NDA, unlike what he really had been during 2005-2013. His credibility and trustworthiness among the electorate, as well as among the allies, on both sides of the divide, have dipped miserably low because of opportunistic hopping.
 
Nitish’s Failures were Predictable
 
It has been anticipated for a while that the aggressively ascendant Saffron outfits will outsmart and marginalise him. The spurt in the communal clashes in Bihar after June 2013 (when Nitish pulled out of the NDA), and its further resurgence since July 2017, when Nitish re-joined the NDA, after the BJP formed government in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017, despite acute distress caused by demonetisation, and the mushrooming proliferation of various saffron outfits, including the Hindu Yuva Vahini,
((spreading from its headquarters in Gorakhpur (U.P.) to the adjacent Saran (Bihar)), has also been on predictable lines, at least for Bihar watchers.
 
For all these reasons, Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of the Hindutva juggernaut. He cannot even think of reigning in saffron hoodlums raging, marauding and killing –spreading hate and venom– in the mohallas of Bihar. He cannot even do what Mamata Banerjee is seen to be doingdoing. Her police is at least seen directly confronting the marauders. Though, Purulia, Asansol-Raniganj, Kakinada, and other parts of West Bengal are under communal flames. Asansol-Raniganj, has got sizeable presence of Hindi speaking population, and is represented by Babul Supriyo, a minister in the Union cabinet of Narendra Modi who has played a sickening role in stoking the violence.  
 
Senior bureaucrats confide that Nitish’s higher bureaucracy are alreadt cozying up with the dominant political partner for more remunerative central assignments. They are therefore no longer cooperating with him in maintaining law and order or in preventing the armed processions shouting provocative slogans by forcefully entering Muslim mohallas. R C P Sinha, Nitish’s link with bureaucracy, is said to have become completely ineffective now.
True, he did succeed in penalising the rioters of Bhagalpur massacre 1989-90. But, now even if he would wish to rein in (one has genuine doubts if he would really wish to) saffron cadres on the rampage. His ally, now a dominant one, cannot allow him to do so.
 
Why? Because, in power at centre, they have failed miserably in delivering lots of promises they had made in 2014. The expose of corruption, more specifically the Banking scandals, accentuating farm distress, atrocities against Dalits, marginalisation of the regional allies, mostly backward groups, rising unemployment, all have to be covered up through communal polarizations. The card of Hindutva, as an electoral saviour of the incumbent regime, is being played out in utter desperation.
 
BJP’s Desperation
 
It appears that the victory of SP-BSP alliance in the by-elections of two Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, viz., Gorakhpur and Phulpur, has further extenuated the anxiety in the saffron camp. Particularly because the bastion of the UP chief minister, has been wrested away by a subaltern community of fishermen (Nishads/Mallahs). This specific community has been organizing itself and asserting politically in parts of eastern UP and northern Bihar. The Mallahs (the Hindu fishermen, including the allied/similar sub-castes like Gangotas and Kevats—the boatmen—those earning their livelihoods by river water) are now emerging as the “Dominant Castes” in these parts.
 
The rise of Mallah in the Muzaffarpur (Bihar) Lok Sabha seat since the 1990s almost sealed the prospect of a Bhumihar getting elected from there. Bhagalpur (Bihar) Lok Sabha seat is represented by RJD, who belongs to Gangota community. A similar fear of Rajput dominance has emerged from Gorakhpur. The Nishads have also staked their claims on the Gorakhnath Math of Yogi Aditynath.     
 
Remember, both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had long spells of Backward and Dalit rule since 1989-90, against which, the spell of Hindutva, sort of crashed, despite aggressive mobilisations in the name of the Ram Janma Bhumi in the 1980s and early 1990s. Thus, the ideological bulwark of ‘social justice’, kept Hindutva on hold.
 
Had these two states been a Congress stronghold after 1989-90, they ran the risk of falling prey to Hindutva, just as they did in Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and also in Rajasthan. Even Maharashtra and Gujarat, Congress rule did not offer any ideological counterpoint to the Hindutva. Besides, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have relatively lesser proportion of Muslim population. These provinces therefore, arguably, offer relatively less incentives to Hindutva mobilisation, presently, as decade-long activities in these states by proponents and allies appear to have reached saturation point.
 
Both in Bihar and UP, Muslims have a sizeable presence number and a corresponding public profile. These states have, therefore always offered fertile ground for this kind of polarising agenda. Especially now when the supremoes of the Backward and Dalit political parties have assumed the shape and form of single caste monopolies. Rather than furthering social justice as a plank, the politics has offered a meteoric rise to the political and economic fortunes of the supremos and their kins.
 
As against this, ascendant Hindutva is now offering some sort of political career “open to talent”. For such aspirational youth, communal activities are exercises in political CV building. Jobless youth are therefore joining in for money, piece of action, and for climbing the political ladder. Under friendly regimes, there is a renewed push to consolidate and expand to new grounds. This further explains why there is a sudden spurt in communal tension and violence in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
 
 Needs for a More Proactive Opposition
 
The Opposition is not mobilising its cadres to confront the hoodlums head on. The RJD cadres do not seem to pursue a politics of direct, on-the-street intervention, nor is it attempting judicial battles, in each case of rioting, to rein in the Hindutva hoodlums. Secondly, Tejaswi appears not to be sincere about propping up leaders from non-Yadav OBCs, and Dalits, who had deserted the RJD primarily because of Yadav hegemony.
 
Secularists and liberals are, for instance, are silent against the misogyny of the Muslim clergy. They are not able to ask even the Muslim clergy not to bring out huge processions in several towns on a misogynist issue. They erred in 1986, when they upturned the justice dispensed to Shah Bano (1916-92) through Parliamentary legislation, giving rise to a majoritarian reaction. They are repeating that mistake again. Yet many of the liberal-left intelligentsia, and “Muslim-friendly” regional formations, are hardly speaking out against them sternly, giving some sort of credence to the Hindutva canard of ‘Muslim appeasement.’ This is what has been corroding their credibility over decades, giving rise to the menace of majoritarianism.
 
Point is simple. Caste and gender based regressivism/conservatism and communalism have got a cause-effect relationship. The need of the hour is to frankly accept past mistakes, to regain the people’s trust. Only then will the secular progressive forces will be able to convince the common electorate of the failures of the incumbent regime on all fronts, especially to the dangers of communal hatred, poison and venom.  A mere opportunistic stitching of coalitions will not convince the electorates that such an arrangement will really be able to sustain itself and deliver on economy and employment. 
 
(Professor Mohammad Sajjad is with Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, and is author of Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours (Routledge 2014/2018 reprint). He tweets @sajjadhist)        

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Festivals have never been just about religion and spirituality. However, of late they have started displaying stark political hues and become more about a pompous display of power. In the times of rising Hindutva and a regime openly headed toward totalitarianism, a festival like Ram Navami, that isn’t even celebrated in all parts of the country, has become a vulgar display of ‘competing communalism’. While other festivals too have been hijacked by loudspeakers blaring Hindi movie songs dripping misogyny, Ram Navmi is headed for something much worse and more sinister.
 

TV 18 Reports on BJP Supporters Resorting to Violence After Ram Navmi, March 26

The Curious Case of Bengal
This year Poschim Bongo, a state that traditionally celebrates Ram Navami by offering prayers to artfully crafted figurines of goddess Durga in imaginatively designed pandals or tents, saw multiple street rallies of sword and trident wielding men in saffron clothes chanting jingoistic slogans like:
 
“Jay Shree Ram!
Pakistan, tu kaan khol ke sun le,
Doodh mangoge toh kheer denge,
Kashmir mangoge toh cheer denge.”

(Pakistan, you better listen carefully.
If you ask for milk, we give you pudding,
But ask for Kashmir, and we rip you apart.)
 
Rampurhat, a small dusty town in Bengal’s Birbhum district, witnessed more than a dozen rallies this year where toxic lyrics were mixed with catchy tunes to further a hyper-nationalistic agenda. Reportedly, both, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were involved in the organising these rallies in an act described as ‘competitive communalism’ by CPI(M) West Bengal secretary Surya Kanta Mishr.

 
Armed Mob Attacks Police Station at Kandi, Murshidabad during Ram Navmi Procession on March 26 -PTI

The purported objective is to pitch Ram as an ‘Indian icon’ rather than just a ‘Hindu icon’ in a duplicitous bid to equate being Indian with being Hindu. In fact, banners from “Ayodhya Ram Mandir” committee were also spotted on celebration grounds and prayers were started with an elaborate display of traditional weapons at many ‘puja’ venues.
 
BJP leaders confirmed that the festival is being used as a political tool to gain electoral mileage saying, “Just two months to go for panchayat elections and one year to go for general elections, we will show how much powerful the BJP has become in Bengal.”
 
The so-called Ram Navami ‘wave’ initiated by the BJP was aimed at triggering its rival, the TMC which outwardly took a stand against armed rallies. Hindu Samhati leader, Tapan Ghosh warned TMC against preventing their rallies saying, “West Bengal government would have to go through huge troubles if they try to prevent ‘Hindus from celebrating Ram Navami.” Many such rallies were held across Birbhum, Midnapore and Nadia.
 
Growing Participation of Children
 
A particularly disturbing and outrageous phenomenon observed this year was participation of children weilding arms in these rallies. The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) asked two Bajrang Dal members to appear before it on April 12 in the matter of involvement of children in armed rallied during Ram Navami.
 
Reportedly, around 10 children were spotted carrying weapons in rallies in Purulia. “The commission has summoned them on the basis of preliminary information given by the district magistrate of Purulia. We are waiting for the status report from other district administrations and will act accordingly,” said Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborty, Chairperson, WBCPCR. Suraj Sharma, Purulia district co-ordinator and Gourab Singh, Purulia additional district coordinator were asked to appear in person.
 
Meanwhile, one person was killed and six policemen were injured in a clash between two groups Purulia. Similar clashes have been reported from other parts of the state such as Kankinara in 24 Parganas and Raniganj in Bardhaman district.
 
The violence spreads
However, it was not only Bengal that experienced such hideous displays of ‘celebration’ and violence . In Aurangabad district of Bihar, prohibitory orders were clamped following a clash between members of two communities. Section 144 was imposed at several places. It was reported that some areas saw heavy stone pelting and arson at several places along the path of a Ramnavami procession.
 
https://www.sabrangindia.in/indepth/communal-violence-chhapra-maker-fact-finding-report

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In a terrible, and cynical fallout of the Ram Navmi celebrations, that have this year at least taken an aggressive and violent turn, Rosera (division of Samastipur) and Munger in Bihar and Raniganj in Bengal are experiencing tensions close on the heels of arms filled processions that were ‘allowed’ in both states. While administrations of both states under varied political dispensations have been stating that these processions were ‘authorised’, the issue that remains is whether processionists should be allowed to brandish weapons and also raise provocative slogans, unstopped. Asansol in Bengal was also affected by the communal violence until the district administration brought things under control.

The Hindu reports that three persons have died and several others injured over the past two days after provocative behaviour by processionists organising the Ram Navmi processions in west Bengal. Incidents are reported to have taken place in Raniyan (west Bardhaman district), Kankinara in North 24 Par ganas and Beldi in Purulia district. On late Monday night’s incident at Raniyan, one person died and 30 persons, including six police officials were injured.

 Pictures from Rosera, a division of Samastipur, Bihar

Pictures from Raniganj, Bengal

Late night reports and photographs coming in from all areas report that police had to resort to firing to dispel mobs on the rampage, themselves spreading rumours. Internet was disconnected by the police at Rosera and Munger and both areas were tense till late in the night. Local residents in Bihar, however, did not rise to the bait though the atmosphere remains tense.
 
Violence was sought to be provoked  in Rosera of Samastipur today and about stray shops are reported to have been attackrd.Though reports cold not be confirmed, no serious damage or loss of life occurred. Photographs of minor damages to the  Zeya Ul Uloom Madrassah of Rosera are available on social media. Rosera was once represented by Ramvilas  Paswan. Munger town also reported disturbances till late last night and though firing had to be resorted to, the armed Ram Navmi processions was still doing the rounds. Both Munger and Rosera are market towns in Samastipur.
 
Munger or Monghyr is hometown of Shri Krishna Sinha (1887-1961), the first chief minister of Bihar. It is also the hometown of Maulana Wali Rahmani and Tariq Anwar of NCP too belongs to Munger though he was and MP Katihar
 
Raniganj (West Bengal), not very far from Munger, also had violence where several dozen shops a lot of shops belonging to the minority community have reportedly been burned it is alleged, between today and yesterday. Violence had briefly even spread to Asansol where the violence was thereafter brought under control. Taj Shoes and Leatherworks is one of the establishments gutted.
 
Comments on Facebook were and are telling:
https://www.facebook.com/jitendra.narayan.7
भाजपाई राज का आनंद समस्तीपुर वासियों को भी दिया जा रहा है…
मोबाइल इन्टरनेट सेवा बंद करके…!!!
#जलता_बिहार

Raniganj, Bengal:
जो खबरें आ रही हैं वह बहुत ही बुरी है चुंकी पश्चिम बंगाल का रानीगंज कल आग में जल रहा था, तो आज आसनसोल जल रहा है। क्या अब त्योहार का दूसरा नाम दंगा है? हमारी अपील है की आसनसोल “सिटी ऑफ ब्रॉदरहुड” के आवाम दंगाइयों को दूर रखें। अमन चैन बना कर दंगाइयों के मकसद को विफल करें।
 
Two days ago, The Times of India had reported how at least 20 shops were gutted in fire and more than seven persons got injuries after a communal clash broke out in town area of Aurangabad district after stone pelting took place on a Ram Navami procession at Nawadih area. In the Aurangabad violence, the provocative role of union minister swini Chaubey and his kin has been pointed out. The New Indian Express had reported on this aspect of the provocations casued by elected representatives and his son. The procession, consisting of bike borne youths, was passing through Nawadih Colony under Town police station when some reports said, miscreants pelted stone on it.In Kaimur, some bike borne youths who were going to attend a Ram Navami procession, raised objectionable slogans in front of a mosque at Mughalpura under Chainpur police station area after which clashes took place on Sunday.

Later in retaliation, at least 20 shops located at Ramesh Chowk were gutted in fire by the agitating mob. The chowk is hardly a kilometre away from the spot where stone pelting took place on the procession.Aurangabad DM Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal said that prohibitory ordered under Section 144 of Cr.P.C. were issued as precautionary measures in town area and situation was under control.

“The procession was authorised and was passing through pre-determined route in presence of magistrates and security personnel  when stone pelting took place on it,” he said adding more than seven persons were injured in the violenceDM Mahiwal also said that stone pelting took place between two groups and an agitating mob torched some shops at Ramesh Chowk.
Patna zonal IG Nayyar Hasnain Khan said that district armed police personnel were deployed in the area and the situation was brought under control. “At least five rioters were arrested and several others were detained,” he added.IG Khan said two persons received minor injuries and the situation was immediately brought under control.

While in Gaya, miscreants pelted stones on a Ram Navami procession under Kothi police station area while it was retreating on Sunday. Stone pelting took place between two communities after which huge number of police personnel were deployed.

“No arrest had yet been made in the Kaimur and Gaya incident,” Khan added.Meanwhile in Siwan, communal clash took place when a group of   people stopped a Ram Navami procession at Nizam pur village under Mazharulhaq Nagar police station area on Saturday night.Siwan ASP Kartikeya Sharma said that the procession was “authorised” and it was passing through pre-determined route when it was stopped. The question is whether an ‘authorised” procession should have processionists carrying arms that imply agression and intimidation and should be ‘permitted to raise provocative slogans?

In the state Assembly, the Opposition RJD and Congress attacked the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over the March 17 communal clashes in Bhagalpur’s Nathnagar and the present Aurangabad clashes. Nitish Kumar assured that the government is doing its best  to maintain communal harmony and urged Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav not to “over-emphasize the clashes” in order to let violent sentiments die down.“The government is giving empty assurances as Union minister Ashwini Choubey’s son Arjit Shashwat is yet to be arrested for causing the clashes in Bhagalpur. Give me permission and four constables and I will have him arrested,” said Yadav to journalists.

Arjit Shashwat moved an anticipatory bail application at the ACJM’s court in Bhagalpur on Monday. The court had issued arrest warrants on Saturday against him and eight others accused of inciting violence at Nathnagar during a procession in a Muslim-dominated area on March 17.
 

“While administration was involved in negotiation, miscreants damaged a school building and its vehicles owned by person from minority community in neighbouring Rampur village,” he said adding couple of shops and a vehicle was damaged due arson attempt. The ASP said the central forced have been deployed in the area.
 

The home department and state police’s special branch had separately published advertisements in newspapers on Sunday especially for Ram Navami urging people not to share objectionable posts on social media, not to raise slogans and display pictures which would hurt religious sentiments.
 
Facebook Videos:
 
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1617772041670780&id=100003140006184
Ashwini Chowbey, Union Minister: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2023808487868604&id=100007184160789
 
 
 

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