A day after a controversy erupted over a ghar vapsi of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Birbhum district of West Bengal, the police on Thursday registered complaints against senior VHP leaders Praveen Togadia and Jugal Kishore for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and creating enmity between communities.
“Two complaints have been made at the Rampurhat station. One was filed by Bhim Murmu and the other by Ukil Mardi. The police have registered FIRs…,” Koteswara Rao Nalavath, Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Rampurhat, told The Hindu.
In their complaints, Mr. Murmu and Mr. Mardi referred to the VHP events held on Wednesday in Rampurhat town and in Kharmadanga village under Rampurhat Block 01, he said. The VHP leadership claimed that there was no ghar vapsi organised at the event in which Mr. Kishore spoke in support of the ceremony. “It is not only the responsibility of the VHP bur every citizen of India to unite society, to bring those back to the fold who have strayed from it, to have ghar vapsi ,” Mr. Kishore had said.
Mr. Togadia, who spoke at a public rally at Rampurhat, a few kilometres from Kharmadanga, had highlighted the issue of “infiltration” from Bangladesh. “The Muslim population has been rising, while the Hindu population is declining. If this trend continues, West Bengal will soon become part of Bangladesh,” he had said. The Trinamool Congress said the VHP converted several tribal people to Hinduism at Kharmadanga.
Tribals plan protest
Meanwhile, Birbhum Adivasi Gaota (BAG), the biggest tribal rights organisation in south-central Bengal with two lakh members, has said it is launching a protest. “On Monday and Tuesday, we will submit a memorandum to the district administration…, urging it to stop such conversions to maintain peace and harmony,” its convener Sunil Soren said.
An initial fact-finding by the BAG concluded that nearly 120 tribals, including “90-95 Christians,” were converted to Hinduism. “Tribal people were told that they would be given jobs and assistance under the Central government schemes, which lured many... It amounts to coercion,” he said.
The tribal people account for 6.5 per cent of the State’s population and Birbhum has 8 per cent. “That is about 3.75 lakh people, making it an important [vote] base in Birbhum,” Mr. Soren said.
He said the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was largely responsible for such incidents. “Unlike the Left, the TMC has failed to build a base in the region to protect the interests of the tribal people. As the party is losing its limited grip in the tribal areas, the Hindutva forces are gaining ground, and this may help the BJP in the coming years,” he said. What has surprised many is that even 36 hours after the event, the TMC is yet to figure out the number of tribal people “reconverted,” or their whereabouts.
