This is not 2019 and this is not the Lok Sabha elections. And it’s not hunky dory for the BJP anymore.

There is no apparent wave in its favour which will clean sweep all its opposition into the Bay of Bengal. Neither here in Bongaon, nor in the rest of the Bengal, though the BJP certainly has its share of committed, loyalist, or, silent and floating voters, including those who have been polarized, those who hate the Trinamool Congress for various reasons, and those who want some kind of change at the top. However, it is still not clear if that would help them cross the 100 mark in the 2021 assembly. Seasoned journalists say that even 80 could be tough.

Indeed, in the Bongaon region of 24 North Paragana, which they considered to be their bastion since 2019, there are clear signs of an uncanny desperation in the BJP camp, especially since it dumped the CAA promise following nation-wide protests, especially in Assam and the North-east, much to the anger of the Matua community in West Bengal . The BJP had in 2019 dangled the CAA to the restless community as a seductive lollypop, many of whom have migrated in streams to India from Bangladesh since after Partition in 1947, the Bangladesh war of liberation in 1971, and in the 1980s and thereafter. Since then, there is an underlying longing for the idea of a confirmed, legitimate citizenship, especially since the NRC phobia was unleashed in Assam. The metaphor of ‘termites’ floated by the Union home minister, did not help either.

Despite possessing photo identity cards, among other valid documents, many of them still want further proof of citizenship. This was especially triggered and activated by the BJP after it floated the CAA (2019). Now that the BJP has reneged on the CAA promise, apparently so, many in the community feel betrayed. The promise that it will be resurrected and was suspended due to the pandemic does not seem to hold on the ground. There is a feeling of betrayal.

When asked, why do they want the CAA when they have all the documents, including voter identity cards, Aadhar cards, even passports etc — many of them seem to become tight-lipped and at a loss for an answer. It’s as if they want to say that, please, this is not a quiz I want to join!

Others are more forthright. When we have all the documents, what is the need for a CAA, they say. It’s a BJP game, they seem to be sure.

The Matuas, mostly landless labourers and sharecroppers in East and West Bengal, were oppressed Dalits in the colonial era and after. They are a highly skilled, determined and cohesive community, legendary for their crafts, wood work, as florists and vegetable farmers, and most crucially as brilliant agriculturalists, extremely hardworking, productive and resilient. Social reforms and collective awareness over the years has only strengthened their skills and dignity as a community.

Indeed, with education coming their way in recent times, they seem to be excelling at multiple levels with high literacy and exalted levels of aspirations and ambitions. They are truly and originally a stoic and secular community who want to have a share of the fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution, a considerable pie in the development work, and not in subjugation, but in full enlightenment, with social reforms and empowerment, primary and higher education, economic upliftment, rapid mobility towards modernity and success, and, of course, political power.  More than that, they don’t want to be branded or treated as refugees. They want full and complete status as dignified citizens of India,

Since then, the BJP has been trapped in a Catch-22 scenario because the community remains largely secular and tolerant despite the BJP’s transparently divisive politics, their past persecution in Bangladesh, and their collective difficulties in India. At the great festival in early April at Thakurbari, where the Matuas collect from all over Bengal, all communities welcome them and open their doors and hearts for them, Muslims, Christians, other Hindu communities, including the upper caste communities. Besides, not all Namashudras, who are equally resilient, hardworking and skilled, are Matuas, and, yet, there is a shared symphony between them, despite some social, cultural and spiritual differences. There is no apparent Hindutva working among within the community as an ideology, it seems.

As Subroto Biswas, an encyclopedia on the history of Thakurbari, says, “You need not be a Matua to be a Matua. It’s a kind of Matutva… metein jaba… to be lost in a spiritual and humanist trance. You can be a Matua without being a Matua.”

Even while he says this, long processions of dancing men, women and youngsters pass by, with drums, songs and gulaal, singing Bolo Hari, Hari Bol, very similar to the bhakti/vaishnav tradition of the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but very different and original in this specific case because they don’t have Gods, nor temples of Hindu gods. All their temples at Thakurbari or at other places in Thakurnagar are simple structures with no paraphernalia or ritualism – devoted to their social reformer icons – all human beings, inheritors of the Thakurbaris, the symbols of their unity, identity, empowerment, worship, song and dance.

Mothers touch the stairs of one such temple dedicated to a social reformer, and touch their fingers on the faces and heads of their children as blessing. Women do shastaang pronama at the temples. Others sing and dance in abandon. But, there are no Hindu rituals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee might be upping the ante to woo the crucial Matua community in the Bongaon subdivision of North 24 Paragana, and the nearby districts, like Nadia, with Thakurnagar as its epicenter, but the ground situation is fluid and open to interpretation and change. As of now, it’s not going to be a comfortable cake walk for either the BJP, which won handsomely in the last Lok Sabha elections from here in 2019 with overwhelming support of the community, nor will it be an easy ride for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), even while the Left, which looked at this region as its once-upon-a-time bastion, might just about increase its vote percentage at the third position. This, locals say, will surely help the TMC.

Thakurnagar is the epicenter because the Thakurbari is located here. The Thakurbari is the second most important sacred and revered space for the 30 million strong Matua community in West Bengal, of which around 15 million could be legitimate voters. The first important sacred space for the community is at Orakandi in Bangladesh, earlier in East Pakistan, much earlier in East Bengal in undivided India under the British and before.

This is where Modi went on March 27, the day polling began in Bengal, to pay homage to the founder of the Matua Mahasangh, Harichand Thakur, when he went to Bangladesh recently. Predictably, Mamata Banerjee said that it was a clear violation of the model code of conduct – amounting to campaigning and wooing a community with shared historical and social links in a neighbouring country. Predictably, too, it had no impact on Modi, nor on the ‘neutrality’ of the Election Commission.

Orakandi in district Gopalgunj is the birthplace of Harichand Thakur, who started the first social reform and enlightenment movement for the oppressed and landless Dalit/Namashudra community in East Bengal in early 19^th century, followed by his son Guruchand Thakur, equally revered, and then his great grandson, Pramatha Ranjan Thakur (PR Thakur), a barrister, who later established Thakurbari as the never-centre of the community in India. Harichand Thakur established the Matua Mahasangha. PR Thakur was a member of the West Bengal assembly as a Congress candidate after winning the elections in 1962. This was a reserved seat for the scheduled caste community.

Significantly, the wives of PR Thakur and his great grandfather Harichand Thakur, Binapani Devi Thakur and Shantimata Thakur, were equal partners and visionaries in the radical social reforms movement and the educational, spiritual and political emancipation of the ‘Namashudra’ community of the Matuas in East and West Bengal, and are highly respected here. Their statues accompany their husbands in the temples. Significantly, after her husband’s death, Binapani Devi became the iconic figure-head of the community at Thakurbari, highly respected and revered, and was referred to as ‘Boro Ma’, Elder Mother.

She was especially close to Mamata Banerjee, who referred to ‘Boro Ma’ again with great respect and fondness in her speech recently late evening at Barasat after she was banned from doing public meetings by the Election Commission. Among other things, Mamata Banerjee said that she took care of the treatment of ‘Boro Ma’ for more than two decades, built the road to the Thakurbari, constructed new, modern structures around the sacred pond and around the temples of their icons, built the government college at Thakurbari in the name of PR Thakur, and is building an university, among other things, like providing cycles for girls, financial incentives for girl students, helping the farmers, health insurance for women etc. Indeed, even BJP supporters agree that all the development work here has been done by Mamata Banerjee, while she was the first leader to bestow them with a sense of collective dignity and identity, until the BJP entered the scene.

The social reform movement among the Matuas, which began in the 19^th century and continued after the British era, should also be seen in the backdrop of the pioneering work done by Jogendra Nath Mandal in Bengal under colonial rule, especially in the political and social empowerment of Dalits and other oppressed communities in Bengal, and thereby sending a signal to the rest of India. This was much earlier than Dr BR Ambedkar, the founder of the Indian Constitution and revolutionary intellectual, thinker, and emancipator, who created the theoretical and radical paradigm for Dalit emancipation in India. Sensing the unease, discomfort and hesitation of the top Congress leadership, Mandal persuaded Ambedkar to become a candidate for the Constituent Assembly from Bengal in 1946 with support from Dalits, Anglo Indians, the Muslim community and others. This was path-breaking mobilisation of the subaltern forces at that time. Mandal later became the first law and labour minister in independent Pakistan, but quit thereafter in disillusionment with the nature of secularism, among other issues, in 1950.

At the small temple dedicated to PR Thakur near the Thakurnagar railway station, again constructed by Mamata Banerjee, the priest, dressed in a blue shirt and trouser, says that no rituals are performed here. Hari bol on Thursdays and once in a month a big programme of songs and music with shared food. So, who is winning, the son of BJP’s Manjul Thakur, (the youngest son of PR Thakur), Subroto Thakur, or Narottam Biswas, the formidable candidate of the TMC, who traces his family lineage as very close associates of Harichand Thakur in Orakandi?

The priest, as usual, is tight-lipped. “Everyone here has his own mind. Both are equally respected,” he says.

This seems to be the guarded refrain around the town. PR Thakur’s eldest son, Kapil Thakur, was earlier an elected leader here from TMC. After his death, his wife, Mamata Thakur, became a TMC MP. Now, Manjul’s other son, Shantanu Thakur, is the BJP MP. The original clan is divided in the middle.

Others say, if the BJP was so confident of winning, why did Modi travel all the way to Bangladesh to pay homage to the Matua temple. “It was a clear sign of desperation,” they ask.

Says a sweets shop owner, very confident: “Well, both are respected here, and there is no social division or bitterness among their supporters. Besides, I am not from the Matua community, but, I, like others who are not Matuas, have respect for the Thakkurbari family. If you ask me, it’s a fifty-fifty scenario this time. A tough contest here at Gaighata, I tell you.”

To be concluded
 

(Photos by Snehasish Mistri)

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The post Battleground Bengal: Not a Cakewalk for Modi or Mamata in Matua Land appeared first on SabrangIndia.

If I can’t dance, I don’t want to part of your revolution.

Emma Goldman

Chonde, utsaber anande.. (in verse, in the ecstacy of an utsav). On the board of a shop in Thakurnagar, the message is transparent. It’s an utsav out here. 

The air is heavy with the smell of heat, humidity and the heady texture of human bonding. A celebration, it’s happening, on the streets, and inside the soul and hearts and bodies of hard working human beings, who know so well the seasons of the earth, and the seasons of land and its fertile soil. A great joy seems to be travelling on the streets with singing and dancing processions, boys and girls playing drums, men and women in a spell of total rejoicing, immersed in poetry, song and dance. Bolo Hari…Hari bol… A festival of great humanism, love, sharing, collective catharsis, all in the times of Corona.  

The polls and the pandemic have yet again become a major obstacle of this annual shared human bonding. The tens of thousands have not arrived this time from across the various rural landscapes and town and village bylanes of Bengal. And, yet, the festivity is so infectious, and it spreads like wings of desire, beauty and love, as people stream in, with the dancing groups, and drummers, with shunkhs and ghantas, the subaltern reassertion of freedom,  enlightenment, empowerment and liberation from the human condition.

This is the utsav of a kaleidoscopic explosion of colours, drums, shunkh, slogans and chanting: Bolo Hari… Hari bol. The name of Krishna chanted in unison, in a similar symphony and synthesis like the Vaishnav-Bhakti tradition of Chaityanya; but it is different in originality out here, in specific play, in playful dance, in meditative trance, in purity and unity, in beauty and sacredness, in human freedom, in the celebration of manush-dhormo, the religion of humanity, of humanism, of social transformation and life-affirmation, in the collective assertion of the oppressed, the marginalised, the voiceless. 

Hear their voice, as they move in a spiral of dancing processions, their bodies in rhythmic motion, sharing verses in the angular streets, drums resonating, bare male bodies moving to and fro, women in red saris and red blouses, yellow saris and red blouses, and pink saris and red blouses, old and young women, grandmothers, wives, daughters and sisters, school girls, singing and dancing with such a magical sense of freedom. They are all dancing in abandon, in togetherness, on the streets, without a care in the world, one procession moving into another, like colourful cinema in motion, a dance-drama of human salvation, a spiral of resurrected memory and aspiration. 

Songs of Hari, in chants and slogans and melody; hidden behind the songs are expressed and shared spaces, of past narratives and the human condition, of secular tolerance, of the urge to be together, in musical togetherness, like an infinite and relentless documentary of great human joy and freedom. It’s a song for Hari, but it hides the unstated songs of the green expanse of endless paddy fields, jute, fruits, and potatoes, vegetables in various colours, pottery as art and craft, and sweets, delicious, in a variety of flavours, and, of course, flowers. 

Rajnigandha everywhere, surprise surprise. And genda, bursting in their yellow, local flowers, jaba in varied hues, sunflowers. The flower market is as famous here as the Thakurbari of their icons. It’s a continuous song of invisible sense and sensibility, hard labour and special multi-dimensional skills, honed over centuries, of migrations, messages and memories, of lost and imagined homelands, of secular and plural inheritances, of bad memories and bad faith, of hope and the desire to find new boundaries, cross new thresholds, change their lives and their worlds, become liberated, socially, in education, in humanism, in secular unity. 

The songs are for Hari, Krishna, as much as for Harichand Thakur, their great reformer, symbol of social transformation, education, empowerment and enlightenment, and their original icon of all seasons. There are no Hindu gods here, the town celebrates human beings who changed the world for the voiceless community and showed them a different path out of suffering and injustice. 

They are the Matua community, scattered across East and West Bengal, listed as scheduled castes in bureaucratic registers, historically downtrodden, exploited and landless, the labouring classes, ostracized and oppressed for decades. They are legendary for their meticulous, inherited, trained and brilliant skills as farmers and crafts-persons. They know the earth and the seasons of the earth like the back of their rough, darkened hands. Basically a landless peasant community which lived with the soil and know the seasons of the earth, they are seasoned agriculturalists, specialists in multi-tasks,  workers and crafts-persons, hard-working, stoic, and resilient, full of aspirations and inspirations. They have refused to admit defeat over decades, reasserting despite repeated persecutions, mass displacement and poverty, often without citizenship or fundamental rights, often invisible and on the margins, but refusing to succumb nevertheless, moving from dream to dream, verse to verse, a text of hope and aspiration.

 They are 30 million plus strong in Bengal, with their original roots across the border, April 9, soon after dol or holi, mark the celebration of the birth anniversary of Guruchand Thakur, the legendary social reformer, and son of Harichand Thakur. His mother, Shantimata, an equal visionary in this emancipator journey, highly respected and admired in the community.

 The festival draws hallucinatory collectives from across several districts of Bengal to Thakurbari, their shrine and temple made in honour of their social reformers, their only icons and gods. It starts with a dip at the ‘pond of longing, desire, and wish-fulfillment’ in the morning: Kamana Sarovar. Followed before and after, and later in the day and much through the night, with poetry, song, dance, and collective sharing of food, memories, folk and oral traditions, the will to live and change, and the resurrection of the original idea of the Thakurbari with its authentic message of radical humanism, enlightenment and education, and tolerance, pluralism and secularism.

On the Jessore Road and the Military Road which leads to Petralpal at the Bangladesh border, there are also memories of refugees streaming in thousands, into the borders of India during the Bangladesh liberation of 1971. They were then welcomed with open doors and open hearts by the people of Bengal. Now, many of them are dancing on the same long road, across and beyond and Thakurbari. 

On the Military Road, a procession of women dressed in beautiful red saris, splashing gulal, singing and dancing. In Thakurnagar market, a group of young teenagers, in white dhotis and banyans, wearing dark goggles, playing drums, dancing to their heart’s delight. At the shrine near the Kamana Sarovar, streams of women and men from the villages, in a trance, in a dance, in romance, celebrating the collective community’s catharsis in praise of Hari.

In this election season, it’s a ‘fifty-fifty’ political scenario at the epicenter of the 30 million strong Matua community in Bengal. At Thakurnagar in Gaighata in the Bongaon subdivision of North 24 Paraganas with several assembly constituencies, it’s a tough fight, even while the community apparently claims that there are no social division due to politics or elections. 

With voting scheduled next week, it’s a neck-to-neck contest here, around Gaighata and other constituencies, with the scion of the Thakurbari family.  Subrata Thakur of the BJP, in a straight contest, with another strongman, Narottam Biswas of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Biswas traces his family roots to the original and sacred Orakandi temple in Gopalganj in Bangladesh, where the founder Harichand Thakur, started his remarkable journey of social transformation in early 19^th century. The Biswas family was apparently very close to Harichand Thakur, so it is both precious memory and strong lineage which is in contest against the BJP in Thakurnagar and around. The Thakurbari family anyway is split in the middle between the BJP and the TMC.

The prime minister visited the Orakandi temple on March 27, on the first day of polling in Bengal, even as Mamata Banerjee accused him of violating the model code of conduct. The PM was obviously wooing the strong Matua community in Bengal which can influence polls in several constituencies, though it seemed rather unusual and bizarre – visiting a neighbouring country to send a message in West Bengal in India!

The BJP is out to woo the community, part of which massively backed it in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because it wanted the CAA. But this time, it’s no cake walk, even as the BJP does not know what to do with CAA or NRC. While locals remain tight-lipped or go round in circles, it’s clearly a fifty-fifty scenario in the epicenter of Thakurnagar and around with the original Thakkur family split in the middle, and Didi still highly respected for her developmental work, especially among women. 

However, as of now, it’s an utsav out here, as people, across religions, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, the Matuas themselves, open their doors and hearts and courtyards for the dancing processions to eat, rest, sleep and tell their original stories. The Christian paara (mohalla) next to the Thakurbari happily hosts the visitors. As is the tradition, homes and courtyards of ordinary people across communities and religions are open for those who have arrived from long distances. In this great, secular festival of colours, music, prayers and human bonding, where all religious communities join, the bitterness of elections seems far away. 

Indeed, as of now, it’s not hate – its love and joy in the air. 

A dip in the pond, a pulsating rhythm on the streets, the sound of drums, a prayer, a verse, a dance, a song. A sort of trance.

To be concluded

(Photos by Snehasish Mistri)

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The post Battleground Bengal: For the Matuas, This is Utsav time appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Here’s a look at two protests led by two groups in West Bengal.

Matuas: This is not the first time the Matua Mahasangha, which is a Hindu sect in Bengal has erupted against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Telegraph had reported that the Matua community under the banner of the Sara Bharat Matua Mahasangha and backed by the ruling government of the state, Trinamool Congress (TMC) had also protested on December 30 across North 24-Parganas at places like Thakurnagar, Tentulia and Swarupnagar, which have a significant presence of the Matuas. These protests had seen about 5,00 people join the processions.

This time, the protests that took place on December 5 were scaled up and demonstrations were held at different spots on the Swarupnagar-Hakimpur border road in North 24-Parganas  protesting against CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protestors even blocked the traffic even though police forced the demonstrators to lift the blockade.

The Telegraph reported that the Matua residents were panicked over incorrect entries in their Aadhaar cards. Ranjit Das, a senior member of the Sara Bharat Matua Mahasangha, said, “The Act has created confusion among us. The incorrect Aadhaar entries, which many villagers did not notice earlier, have made us worried about proving our identity. The central government offers citizenship through the Act on one hand and demands documents on the other hand. If they allowed us to vote, how can they offer us citizenship again?”

Another member of the organization said that villagers have to go and stand in queues at banks and post offices to get their Aadhar details rectified which was termed as harassment. He added, “Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had made the right guess. The Centre has been misleading us on the citizenship issue. How can a government that has issued a voter’s identity card to a person and allowed him to vote offer him citizenship again.”

Image Courtesy: telegraphindia.com

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha: On the same day as the Matua community protests, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha led by Binay Tamang held a procession from Kurseong to Sukna. The Telegraph reported that The Tamang faction of the Morcha organised the walkathon attended by hundreds along NH55, around 10 kms from Siliguri where Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee had held a huge protest two days ago.

During the Tamang processions various anti-CAA slogans were raised and the procession continued as the protestors braved the rising cold in the region. “We will never let the CAA or the NRC to be implemented in the hills. The Act would largely affect the Gorkhas and we have seen what the NRC has done to the community in Assam. We don’t want it here,” said Tamang addressing the procession. The walkathon started around 9am and reached Sukna after 6.30pm.

After arriving in Sukna, Tamang said: “We will continue our movement till the Centre withdraws the Act. On January 12, we will hold a 28km march from Pedong to Dambar Chowk in Kalimpong. We will jointly take out a march with Trinamul in Darjeeling on January 22 in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. It will be a 4km march.”

A political observer commented that the Tamang protest managed to keep the tempo of the CM’s Siliguri protest alive and many among those who walked the Tamang march were also present at the Siliguri protest.

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The post Bengal: Matuas and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha march against CAA on same day appeared first on SabrangIndia.