Violence against Hindus: How Bengal is becoming a Kashmir Valley of the 1990s

New Delhi, July 02: The Muslim dominated insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 eventually fired the Kashmiri Hindus out of the Kashmir Valley. The peak phase of the exodus was in the 1990s when the Hindus were targeted by terrorist groups.

A petition in the Supreme Court compared the exodus of Hindus in West Bengal to that of the one in Kashmir. As a result of the violence, loot, killing and terror, enmasse Hindus have been forced to leave their native place and to migrate to Assam, like Hindus who were forced to do the same thing in the year 1990 in Kashmir, the PIL filed by Ranjana Agnihotri, Hindu Front for Justice and Jitendra Singh said. The court has agreed to examine the matter and issued notices to the Centre, Bengal government and Election Commission of India.

The petition comes at a time, when scores of allegations have been levelled against TMC workers of targeting BJP supporters. The PIL also says that a section of the Muslims are humiliating the Hindus while adding that celebrating victory is part of democracy, but creating an atmosphere of terror, turmoil, fear, unrest and intention to suppress Hindus is a very serious issue.

There is every possibility that Muslims will try to forcibly convert Hindus to have their stronghold on future elections and TMC being the beneficiary may push for that move. If such an action is resorted to the same will be against the sovereignty and integrity of India giving rise to Kashmir like situation.

There is every possibility that those Hindus who do not succumb to Muslim pressure will be forced to leave their native place, the petition also says.

While one has got to witness this persecution of Hindus in full fury after the elections, the problem is not new and dates back to the 1970s when infiltration began in West Bengal as part of a well thought out strategy, which the political parties in the state capitalised on for the want of votes. The infiltration began with the intention of populating West Bengal and the neighbouring states with illegal Muslim immigrants and then create a Greater East Pakistan.

The demands have become so brazen in the recent days that a maulvi in a television debate openly demanded that a Sharia court be established in every district in West Bengal. He also went a step further to demand a separate nation.

The demand for Azadi was raised in Murshidabad recently and the Intelligence Bureau picked up intercepts that suggested a group of highly radicalised Muslims were making attempts to take on the establishment and declare independence. Secret meetings were held in madrasas and other areas to plan the movement. It was decided to either merge Murshidabad with Bangladesh or remain independent. The plotters had even managed to rope in several like-minded locals into their fold.

Former Research and Analysis Wing officer, Amar Bhushan tells OneIndia that in the early 1990s, the Research and Analysis Wing carried out a daredevil operation in Bangladesh against the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The intention behind the operation was a larger one and India was clearly worried about the rise of illegal immigration which the Jamaat was carrying out at the behest of the ISI.

The issue is also linked to reports of land jihad in Bengal. Illegal immigrants earn in crores of Rupees through illegal activities such as narcotics smuggling, counterfeiting. With this kind of money, they have been driving out the Hindus by purchasing their properties at a low rate after threatening them. This is another problem that is fast catching as the petitioner stated above mentioned, there is a forced exodus of Hindus from West Bengal.