The Big Story: Idol talk

On Thursday, the Calcutta High Court revoked the West Bengal government’s order restricting the timings of Durga immersions on Muharram. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered the curbs because she feared clashes between processions organised to mark the Muslim period of mourning and crowds of Hindus immersing idols of the goddess. The original order had restricted immersions from 6 pm on September 30 until October 1, the day of Muharram. The Bharatiya Janata Party had sharply opposed the order, denouncing what it described as the “politics of appeasement”.

Of late, West Bengal’s politics has been riven by communal challenges. A series of low-intensity riots have occurred in the state at regular intervals. Banerjee’s fears, therefore, hold some water. In fact, even though the West Bengal government had restricted Durja Puja immersions last year, small riots broke out over the issue of Muharram processions.

Yet, it is precisely because West Bengal is going through a period of communal tensions that Banerjee needed to have avoided a move so hamhanded. Traditionally, immersions are rarely carried out on Ekadashi, which falls on October 1. But the government’s decision to restrict them on September 30 – Dashami, the last day of the festival – was an egregious mistake. Dashami is the traditional day for immersion of Durga idols in Bengal. This curb was an obvious infringement on the freedom of religion. Citing a clash with Muharram holds little water since, in the case of Dashami, there was no clash. Muharram was the day after.

The clumsiness with which Banerjee handled the situation can be gauged from the fact that by September 15, the West Bengal government had gone back on its 6 pm deadline for Dashami immersions. Under pressure, it extended it to 10pm. But if immersions up to 10 pm were deemed acceptable, what prompted the government to come up with the 6 pm deadline in the first place? Besides, it must be noted that Muharram is a minor festival in the state since nearly all Muslim Bengalis are from the Sunni sect that is not very keen on the processions in the first place. (Muharram is principally a Shia observance.)

Banerjee’s statements after Thursday’s court order were equally unconvincing. Rather than own up to a mistake, the chief minister went on a tirade. “Someone can slit my throat but no one can tell me what to do,” she grandstanded.

Banerjee seems unaware that her blundering politics has significant consequences not only for West Bengal but for her party too. The Trinamool’s votes are split down the middle between Hindu and Muslim. Any communal polarisation would result in the party falling between two stools. Already, in areas where there has been communal violence, the BJP has gained support even as the Trinamool has hemorrhaged it. While communal violence has, till now, been low intensity and highly local, any spread would severely harm the Trinamool.

The Big Scroll

  • By barring Durga idol immersions on Muharram, Mamata Banerjee hands BJP one more issue to capitalise on.
  • How support for the BJP has grown after last year’s communal riot in West Bengal’s Dhulagarh.
  • Armed marches, beheading threats and water-sharing: What makes the Trinamool-BJP rivalry explosive

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Giggle

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Arunabh Saikia explains why a tribal party blamed for the murder of a journalist in Tripura is gaining political relevance.

“However, as Tripura goes to polls next year, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura is set to be an important entity once again. A third of Tripura’s 60-seat Assembly is reserved for its large tribal population – which accounts for over 30% of its total population. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has emerged as a contender to the ruling Left in the last two years, sees the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura as the party that could help it gain entry to the state’s tribal areas – currently the stronghold of the Tripura Rajaer Upajati Ganamukti Parishad. Last August, the BJP was believed to have backed the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura in bye-elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.

In the past few months, though, the situation has become uncertain with the tribal party renewing its demand for a separate state of Twipraland, consisting of Tripura’s tribal areas, which account for almost 70% of the state’s total land area.”