Violence and religious tensions follow BJP victory in West Bengal
The killing of an aide to a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leader has heightened tensions following the Hindu ultranationalist party's historic election victory. Accusations of irregularities have been levelled, while Hindutva supporters have targeted the activities of Muslims, whose vote was fragmented. In Assam, Muslims backed the Indian National Congress, fuelling polarisation.
Kolkata (AsiaNews) – The killing of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to a top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, has generated great tensions in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal, where the BJP won in the recent elections to the state legislative assembly after the 15-year rule by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee.
Rath, an aide to Suvendu Adhikari, was killed Wednesday evening while driving home, following widespread post-election riots and violence that have already left at least four people dead across the state.
Adhikari won the Bhabanipur seat, previously held by Mamata Banerjee, where 51,000 people were removed from the electoral roll.
Police recovered the vehicle used in the attack, which had been fitted with a fake licence plate, and found live rounds and fired cartridges at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing an armed man on a motorcycle shoot at Rath. Adhikari called the incident a "cold-blooded murder."
The assassination comes after days of clashes in Muslim-majority districts such as Murshidabad, Birbhum, and Kolkata, where the results were hotly contested.
“In districts where the TMC won, BJP supporters are breaking into shops, especially butcher shops, and targeting Muslim homes," a resident told AsiaNews anonymously.
“Of course, they're blasting Hindu religious chants across the state. This will only spread hatred, and it's very sad to see this happening in one of India's most secular states.”
Images have circulated of Hindutva supporters chanting "Jai Shree Ram" (Victory to Lord Ram, a Hindu anthem) during marches celebrating the election victory. Bulldozers were reportedly used to demolish butcher shops, which are associated with Muslims since Hindus are largely vegetarian.
The election results, which saw the BJP win 207 out of 294 seats, were contested by the opposition because of the manner in which the Special Intensive Review (SIR) was conducted, removing the names of millions of people, mostly but not exclusively Muslims, from the electoral rolls.
According to a data analysis conducted by Scroll, in 105 constituencies won by the BJP, the number of voters removed from the rolls during the review exceeded the margin of victory. In 86 of these, the BJP had never won before.
According to other reports, this form of "administrative purge” was compounded by the fragmentation of the Muslim vote. Many voters traditionally close to the TMC shifted left, to the Indian Secular Front (ISF) alliance or to other regional parties, indirectly propelling the BJP to victory in several Muslim-majority districts.
Various observers described this victory as a triumph of Hindutva, the extremist ideology whose proponents seek to turn India into a Hindu nation and is the basis of the BJP's ultranationalism.
According to local media, the deterioration of diplomatic relations with Bangladesh also played a central role in the BJP's election campaign.
After Sheikh Hasina's fall in 2024, the BJP described the neighbouring country as an example of Islamist chaos and a demographic threat, with several leaders arguing that TMC-ruled West Bengal risked following the same path.
For months, West Bengal, as well as the northeastern state of Assam, have seen deportations of Indian citizens just for speaking Bengali (one of the main local languages in West Bengal but also spoken in Bangladesh) or of being Muslim.
The BJP government in Assam has continued to exploit fears related to cross-border immigration, calling for citizenship to be granted to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, while labelling Bengali Muslims as "infiltrators”.
Along with Kerala and Tamil Nadu, state elections were held recently in Assam, but here results show that Muslim voters favoured the Indian National Congress (INP). In the end, the outgoing BJP administration was re-elected.
In a state-wide vote for the 126-member legislative assembly, 18 of the 19 new MPs are Muslim. The INC had fielded 20 Muslim candidates and about 80 non-Muslims. The BJP won 82 seats.
Several experts fear that the realignment of the Muslim vote around the INC will only solidify India's polarisation along religious lines, pushing even more Hindus to support the BJP, despite the fact that INP Muslim MPs represent only 12 per cent of the total.
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23/02/2024 19:29
06/09/2024 18:55
