India to witness assembly elections in few crucial states in the forthcoming months, and the most important one is certainly West Bengal’s election. BJP and its alliance have recently conquered the neighboring state Bihar and now they have started a vociferous campaign to turn the tide in West Bengal, the state which was considered as a fortress of Communism for many decades and it was considered as a ‘Mission Impossible’ for BJP, till few years back.
There is no doubt that West Bengal’s elections may not just determine the future of the present Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, but it will also decide the fate of the opposition block, as Mamta Banerjee acts as an axis for the opposition and she is certainly the most vocal critic of PM Narendra Modi and the BJP.
West Bengal is a different state due to its historic significance, its vicinity with Bangladesh, which is known for its porous border, from where we are experiencing multiple issues like illegal entries of Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators. West Bengal is also important as it lies at an important geographic location, it includes the famous ‘chicken neck’ which connects the rest of India with North-Easter states.
If we talk in political terms, unline other states, there is no major pre-poll alliance between the non-BJP parties in West Bengal. However, it is expected for Congress and the CPI (M) to seal some sort of deal to secure their vote bank. However, the main contest would be between TMC and BJP.
BJP was a non-player till a couple of years back, but in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has done well in the state in terms of significantly increasing its vote share. Various reports have also shown that the BJP has done well in those seats where the Communist party’s vote share has come down. BJP has emerged as the number two political party in West Bengal, will certainly give its best shot to come to power in the state.
Currently, the situation in West Bengal is very critical, as political violence is increasing every day and does not seem to be ending any time soon. However, it is also said that political violence in the state has a long history. Be it the Left or Trinamool, and now the BJP, political violence has been a part of West Bengal. There are a couple of other parameters also, which makes West Bengal an important frontier for BJP. In this article, we would like to discuss those parameters, and we would like to suggest few critical reasons, which demand a full-fledged rule by BJP in West Bengal, which may help West Bengal in long term.
Political Violence
Though West Bengal has a long history of political violence, but is has been increasing like anything in last couple of years. BJP cadre has been rushed and killed by TMC goons and their henchmen. Situation is so tensed that even PM Modi has to make this statement, where he said that “Some people have adopted the tactic of killing our workers as they are not able to challenge us. In some parts of the country, they feel that by killing our workers they can realize their goals. I do not need to warn them as this work will be done by the people.”
Here PM Modi’s gave a clear reference of West Bengal. It is important for BJP to secure the West Bengal and establish a rule of Law and Order.
Massive Corruption
Mamata Banerjee projects herself as an honest politician, however the truth is quite different. TMC is notoriously famous for it connection with multiple Chit funds scams originated from West Bengal, where lakhs of Bengalis were duped of several hundred Crore worth of money. TMC has indulged in corruption in the distribution of free-of-cost food grains, obstructing Opposition parties even from visiting pandemic-affected areas and manipulating the post-Amphan relief funds for reconstruction and repair of damaged dwelling units created an awkward situation for the party.
There are several such instances, which prove that TMC is indeed an organized group, which loot the innocent people. TMC’s block teams act like a ‘Hafta Vasooli’ gang and threaten the small and medium sized businesses across the state, and extort huge amount from them.
Cross Border Infiltration
West Bengal is a gateway of India as far as the eastern border is concerned. It is shocking to know that in border towns like Basarat, the illegal immigrants have a well-known process to settle down in India, all they need to do is, enter Indian territory illegally, post that they have a streamlined process to follow to get settled in India and get Indian Citizenship illegally as well.
As per the locals, when a new Bangladeshi or Rohingya immigrant comes, he first looks for a place to stay in Mathpara or Kazipara. Then local secular leaders and goons help them buy the manual ‘van rickshaw’ to make their ends meet. After a couple of months, most of them are able to collect a few thousand rupees easily. They use that money to make payments to local political parties and agents, who help them procuring an Aadhaar card, PAN card, voter card, ration card within the next few months.
Such malpractices should be stopped immediately, but TMC/Left and Congress cabal has been nurturing such elements for many decades, and now it’s the BJP which can stop this colossal failure.
Demographic imbalance
Illegal infiltration led to a demographic imbalance in a specific area. Once an illegal infiltrator enters India, the demography of the local area does the rest of the job for him. Infiltrators are most likely to blend in with the local population, which is overwhelmingly Muslim in West Bengal’s border areas with Bangladesh. These people easily get a local source of income and then their political master and agents help them get the documents to regularise their stay in India.
The Bangladesh-India corridor last year emerged as the second-most frequently used corridor for migration according to the World Migration Report 2018. This unchecked and uncontrolled infiltration has actually changed the demography of border areas.
In 2016, the home minister of India estimated that there were about 20 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India. As the ground realities refuse to change, the unchecked, unfiltered inflow of migrants is now threatening to change the entire demography of the border lying areas as well as the bigger metropolis of India like Mumbai and Delhi. The famous Chicken neck is now a Muslim dominated area, coupled with Bihar’s Seemanchal area, this may pose a huge threat in years to come.
Sharjeel Imaam’s threat of cutting off the chicken neck was not a mere threat, they know the reality of this area, they are very well aware of the changes in the demography in that specific area, hence they are openly calling their people to occupy that area.
Cow and Drugs smuggling
The porous border is not only helping people to infiltrate, but their livestock is also transported as well. The Government of India, in a written reply at the Rajya Sabha (January 2018), admitted that porous borders and unmanned areas remain a cause of concern for the government of India.
Apart from illegal infiltration and cow smuggling, this corridor is infamous for human trafficking, the movement of drugs, especially ‘meth’ (methamphetamine), and gold across the West Bengal border. In recent times, we have seen huge seizures of drugs on the Indo-Bangladesh border through North-24 Parganas, Nadia, Malda, and Murshidabad districts.
Entry of Jihadi Elements
In 2018, the Bangladesh government informed India that their Jihadi elements are now choosing and moving to India to get away from their law enforcement agencies. West Bengal is fast emerging as one of the major routes of terror infiltration for not only Bangladeshi terrorists but Rohingyas as well, who are using West Bengal as a launchpad to move towards other states of India.
The local mosques and Madarsa are used to spread the Jihad in West Bengal and neighboring states. Recently, we have heard about a new concept of Jihad that emerged in West Bengal, which is termed ‘Land Jihad’. It has been observed that native poor Hindus are being forced out of their lands by illegal immigrants nexus who manage to make money by indulging in illegal activities and drug peddling.
Crimes
Bengal topped the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) list both in 2015 and 2016, in the category of crimes committed by foreigners. It has been an established fact that West Bengal has turned out into a hotbed of criminal activities by Bangladeshi elements who commit a crime and then quickly seek refuge in Bangladesh. The 2015 report said that Bengal accounts for more than half of such crimes (57.6% in the category of foreigners committing crimes) in the country.
The opposite scenario, where a criminal from Bangladesh takes refuge in Bengal while evading the law in Bangladesh, also appears to be true. You can talk to any policeman they will explain how several criminal gangs operating from Bangladesh, and then running away, is a fairly routine occurrence in the criminal landscape of the state. Crimes against the Hindu population have been rising as well.
Anti Hindu Sentiments
The Trinamool Congress government has an “anti- Hindu” mindset and pursuing “minority appeasement” policies right from the day-1. They are heavily biased in their approach, they ban the Durga pooja procession, they put a ban on the Ramnavami procession and several other Hindu occasion and cultural events.
When the entire country was watching the ‘Ram Janm-Bhoomi puja’ in Ayodhya, Mamata Banerjee imposed a lockdown in West Bengal on August 5 to prevent people from being part of the occasion at the local level. In sharp contrast, the lockdown was withdrawn due to Bakrid.
Implementation of CAA, NRC and NPR
For decades, the Indian government has been trying to check the porous borders with Bangladesh. It has been somewhat successful. But if the NRC is implemented, then it will be the first strong step towards correcting the process that has been going wrong for decades. The NRC will ensure that the people who illegally migrated to India are identified and marked.
If it is followed religiously, illegal immigrants will find it difficult to regularise themselves illegally, they will have either to follow the regular process of seeking Indian citizenship after immigration or drop the idea altogether.
But, most importantly, it will act as a deterrent for bad elements from getting inside our fences. The immigrants who have illegally procured forged documents will be identified and in the process, this will be the first check and balance in the flawed system that never saw one in the first place.
It is the government’s decision on how they want to implement the NRC and what they want to do with illegal immigrants. But it is a question of your safety — it is a question of the safety of millions of natives who inhabit our land.
The TMC government is against CAA, NRC and NPR, and we need BJP government, so that all these acts could be implemnted in true spirit.
Conclusion
All the above-mentioned points are quite critical for all the Bengalis. There is a seething perception that TMC and Manata only cared for illegal Muslim vote bank, and ignored Hindus, although Hindus constitute over 70 percent of the state population.
Due to this ongoing onslaught on Hindus, they have turned into a largely polarized section of the society, who were earlier felt proud to be called secular, such Hindus will certainly vote in favour of BJP.
It is quite evident that it is only the BJP which can take action against the above-mentioned menaces in the state of West Bengal. BJP has understood its responsibility and has upped the ante and started the electioneering preparation a few months back. This, coupled with the fact that AIMIM’s Owaisi will again split the Muslim votes, it is very much possible that BJP may win the forthcoming state election in West Bengal.
It is a litmus test for BJP and if it could win West Bengal, it will act as a morale booster and have created a sense of invincibility, and thus a sense of the inevitability of the BJP’s return to power at the Centre for a third consecutive term would be sealed for sure.
