Sandeshkhali of Bengal has recently been a hot topic throughout the country. Hindus are safer in Bangladesh than in the “Hindu Rashtra”. Local Hindus and news media are unable to speak out against it out of fear of life. The country’s major news media headlines are enough to highlight the gravity of the issue. The media and social media are full of news and conversations about West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali. What really occurred there? What is the religious angle to it that exploded? Why are people claiming that what occurred to Hindus way back in Noakhali is now occurring in Sandeshkhali?
Whatever happened to Hindus in West Bengal before Independence continues to this day. Only the names of the places have changed; nothing else has altered in the circumstances. In Bengal, Noakhali episodes involving such heinous historical events are still repeated from time to time. In the present day, Noakhali is in Bangladesh, a Hindu graveyard. The country’s political temperature has also begun to rise because of the exposure of sad episodes in Sandeshkhali, 24 North Parganas district, around 75 kilometres from Kolkata. The sort of discoveries that are being made, the way Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration is behaving and encouraging the criminals, it must be argued that Noakhali before 1947 and today’s Sandeshkhali are identical. The tragedies of modern-day Sandeshkhali are comparable to the horrors of 1946 Noakhali.
Looking at Sandeshkhali, we can see that it is a border area of Islamic Bangladesh, with a population dominated by Hindu Scheduled Castes. Sandeshkhali is one of West Bengal’s 14 assembly constituencies along the India-Bangladesh border. It is nothing short of a tragedy for the Hindus who live there that all 14 assembly constituencies, including Sandeshkhali, have fallen victim to well-planned conspiracies backed by the TMC. The number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants is growing unexpectedly. There is little doubt that the illegal infiltration of Islamic Bangladeshis is part of a larger scheme to change the demographic of 14 seats, which is being carried out with the support of the TMC. This location is also the epicentre of Pakistan’s ISI in anti-India terrorist activity.
Aside from that, due to the entrance of Islamic Bangladeshis, criminal activities in these regions are steadily expanding. It is also true that until recently, the Muslim population of Sandeshkhali was minimal; but due to illegal Bangladeshi infiltration, a population imbalance has occurred, and the number of jihadi elements is steadily increasing. As a result, the region has been cruelly affected by demographic shifts. The Rohingyas make up the greatest group of unlawful infiltrators. Keep in mind that most of the criminals involved in the previous elections’ violence were Muslim. Most of the cases here are linked to cattle smuggling, narcotics, illicit firearms, and people trafficking, with Muslims being charged with all these unlawful activities.
The current revelations of Sandeshkhali have been going on for numerous years, but nothing was coming out due to the TMC. In 2000, a Hindu Scheduled Caste woman was gang-raped in the Basanti assembly of South 24 Parganas. Workers from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had openly spoken out against the tragedy. As a result, four RSS workers were murdered. Hundreds of cases of gang rape involving Hindu women have been reported. Those who resisted or raised their voices were not only slain but also had their homes burned down. Bangladeshi infiltrators caused such havoc in this area that the BSF was called in to assist and put an end to the 2007 riots.
In 2017, powerful infiltrators in the region kidnapped Hindu Scheduled Caste ladies and underaged girls for their ‘pleasure’. This neighbourhood is ruled by Muslim criminals such as Sheikh Shahjahan, who engage in crimes like smuggling, drug trafficking, firearms, and beef. People like Sheikh Shahjahan, who are involved in settling Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators as well as other criminal/inhumane acts, have earned billions of dollars in unlawful riches. The Enforcement Directorate team, which had gone to search the residence of TMC’s ‘heavyweight’ leader Sheikh Shahjahan, was viciously assaulted by Muslim goons. Many cops received significant injuries. Sheikh Shahjahan and his henchmen are believed to use to abduct Dalit women/minor girls and carry them to their purported hideouts, where they would gang rape them for months.
The situation is similar in several districts of Bengal, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, and Hooghly. Local Hindus have begun to migrate because of organised religious/social/physical harassment, home burnings, and gang rape of Hindu women/minor girls. Because of the Muslim vote-bank, both the previous Communist government and the current Mamata Banerjee administration paid little regard to Hindu lives and human rights. The irony is that Delhi/Kolkata’s so-called intellectuals, who are constantly reacting to national and global concerns, are at a loss for words. What is the significance of this silence? Why are Bengali film industry actors, who usually remark on minor issues, mute on Sandeshkhali? Are they scared that if they voice, no one in Bangladesh will see their films? Could somebody talk about the status of the Women’s Commission in West Bengal?
In this backdrop, it is not an exaggeration to state that there was ‘Noakhali’ before and now there is ‘Sandeshkhali’. Nothing has changed in Bengal for Hindus.
Gopal Goswami is a columnist, social thinker, and researcher. Tweets @igopalgoswami. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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