BENGAL is a burning deck, again, devouring innocent lives while the State leadership is indulging in mollycoddling of the aggressors. A legislative reform, passed by a valid Constitutional process, has been allowed to morph into a communal tinderbox in the State notorious for appeasing radical elements. People are being hacked to death, families are fleeing homes, mass exodus has turned the situation into a mobocracy, and yet the Chief Minister is dealing it all with kid gloves.

 

The cookie has crumbled, and it is time for a major action in Bengal. The violence unleashed in many parts of Bengal, including Murshidabad and Bhangar, over the Waqf Act is undoubtedly pre-planned. The Waqf Amendment Bill was passed on April 4. It received the President’s assent on April 5. Protests started in various States without any incident. But in Bengal, immediately after the Friday prayers on April 11, violence started with the killing of a father-son duo in Murshidabad, a Muslim-majority district. The timeline shows that the protests were given a clandestine backing by the powers-that-be. Such a free run handed to communal mobs at the riot epicentre is shocking and disturbing. And equally disgusting is the soft stand by Chief Minister Banerjee against the rioters. It is further alienation of the Hindu majority and an alarm bell for the rest of the country.

 

More disturbing is the set pattern of unfolding events in Bengal. Every Central legislation is opposed with a brutal assault on Hindus by radical Islamist forces enjoying the backing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership at various levels. Whether it is Citizenship Amendment Act or NRC, Bengal has always seen break-out of violence. And invariably the victims are Hindu families living mostly in regions near the border. Intelligence inputs in the latest riots in Murshidabad and Bhangar, also, have found involvement of illegal Bangladeshi Muslims. More dangerous is the evidence of presence of Islamic State (IS) in the region. These are clear signs of the situation spiralling out of control. It is also time for an immediate intervention of the Central forces and agencies notwithstanding the political consequences of taking up cudgels against Banerjee and TMC. A one-way traffic is visible in the law-and-order situation in all the incidents that took place in Bengal in the last few years. The pre-poll and post-election violence against political rivals of TMC is well documented.

 

It had also invited the wrath of Calcutta High Court for the ruling dispensation. The horrible sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali by local goons backed by TMC leadership was another black chapter in Bengal’s recent history. It was followed by the gruesome rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R G Kar Hospital. In each of these incidents, the pathetic display of lack of intent from the TMC leadership was distressing. In every case, Chief Minister Banerjee was too slow to react to the situation. There was hardly a strong condemnation of the incidents. Attempts to suppress the incidents were exposed each time. Such pampering by the TMC leadership has only encouraged the aggressors. Fuelling the fire further are the statements by the CM who is treating Bengal as a separate country, not governed by the laws of India. The spectre of violence in Murshidabad is the final confirmation of West Bengal turning into a communal cauldron.

 

The exodus of Hindus and the shocking silence of the Chief Minister illustrate that a communal pogrom has been unleashed in Bengal. Allowing mobs of radical Islamists to run riot under a political licence and the apathy towards victims is a warning signal for the rest of the State. Administrative lethargy can easily seep into big cities if things are not redressed by the larger society now. It is time to remind the government about the 1992 hand-holding rally when the Bengalis across cities took to streets holding hands to protest political violence. It was a show of strength by the common man for upholding the value of communal harmony. Now, in 2025, time has come for the Hindu majority across Bengal to come together holding hands and serve a warning to the CM that appeasing a section of radical Islamists for political gains would not be tolerated. Muslims have been core voters for the Trinamool Congress. Given the State's demography, they form a crucial vote base. As per the 2011 Census, Muslims comprised 27% of Bengal’s population. The number has risen since then. AIMIM leader Imran Solanki had claimed in March that Muslims constituted 40% of Bengal’s population while last year, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said that Muslims form 33% of the State’s population.

 

The issue is not of Muslims choosing a particular party in elections. It is a constitutional right of each voter. The problem is about the illegal Muslim immigrants who have been given shelter by the Mamata Government to use the community as pawns. The CM needs a solid reminder from the masses that the chasm she has created must be bridged without further tragedies. It is also time for the Centre to give a serious thought to imposing President’s Rule in West Bengal. The Trinamool government’s conduct in the vandalism and violence over the Waqf Act has remained suspicious with an apparent intention of stoking tensions. This time cracks are visible in the TMC too as there is unease within the party that CM Banerjee is not handling the situation properly. A State cannot be allowed to turn a legal reform into a weapon to unleash communal viciousness for petty gains. The onus is now on the Central Government to stop this anomaly taking the shape of a pressure tactic and act in the interest of the common man.