Protection and persecution: a tale of two pujas

Bangladesh’s Hindus need no particular party to protect them: that seems to be the takeaway from the first Durga Puja in Bangladesh under an elected government since Sheikh Hasina’s fall. The country’s largest Hindu religious festival concluded peacefully, with record participation, extensive government support and an unusual degree of political attention.

It was an early test of whether the new administration could protect religious minorities without turning that protection into partisan bargaining or ‘appeasement’. By the government’s count, celebrations took place at 33,851 mandaps across Bangladesh. Authorities allocated taka 5 crore as festival assistance, increased rice allocations to 600 kg per mandap and declared five consecutive days of holidays, including three public holidays.

Security was equally important. Nearly 6,500 special reserve battalion personnel were deployed daily, supported by hundreds of patrol vehicles, intelligence monitoring and specialised units. Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government had emphasised preventive action, including identifying potential threats before they materialised.

The result was clearly visible on the streets — and across social media — as thousands of men, women and children smeared with traditional vermillion danced on the streets of Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities and towns.

During Hasina’s tenure, Hindu homes, businesses and temples were repeatedly attacked. In 2021, allegations of the Quran being desecrated in Cumilla during Durga Puja triggered attacks across several districts and demonstrated the limits of the Awami League’s claims to have made minority communities feel safe.

The BNP doesn’t have an unblemished record, either. The attacks on Hindus following the 2001 election, when a BNP-led coalition came to power, is one of the most disturbing episodes in Bangladesh’s recent political history.

That history makes this year’s celebrations significant. They suggest that the security of minorities need not be determined by a party’s historical reputation or its claims to secular credentials. Government decisions, administrative preparation and political leadership can produce different outcomes.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s personal involvement added another dimension. Rather than limiting his participation to a single ceremonial appearance in Dhaka, the prime minister travelled to puja venues in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram. When the head of state comes into direct contact with religious minorities outside the capital (where they usually have less political visibility) the message is clear: citizenship, rather than religious identity, can and should determine an individual’s place in Bangladesh.

A peaceful Durga Puja does not lead to the conclusion that the BNP has resolved the country’s longstanding problems of religious discrimination. Nor validate allegations that the Awami League had deliberately manufactured communal violence. What it does is undermine the proposition that Hindu security is impossible without Hasina in power.

Bangladesh has certainly not overcome religious prejudice. Online hostility persists. Minority communities continue to face concerns involving property and access to justice. A peaceful five-day festival cannot settle those questions.

The government’s achievement should therefore be assessed carefully. It demonstrated that sustained political attention and coordinated policing can protect a vulnerable minority community during a major religious event. Whether those protections persist when the bandobast is gone remains to be seen.

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Durga Puja in BJP-ruled West Bengal provided a sharp contrast. The government led by Suvendu Adhikari had already cracked down on Eid and stopped the tradition of morning prayers on Red Road. Police were instructed to arrest suspected Bangladeshis and put them in detention centres. While Muslims in Bangladesh appeared to participate en masse in the Puja celebrations, the Muslims of West Bengal dared not venture out for fear of vigilante attacks.

In Bangladesh, the exuberance was evident. In neighbouring West Bengal, crowds lacked their usual joie de vivre. Makeshift stalls around major pandals continued to sell biryani, rolls and finger food (egg devils, fish chops) but business was slow.

“This year our bookings were down to half our usual Puja bookings,” said the owner of a car rental agency. He blamed the sombre mood on the 17 October Chorbagan puja pandal stampede where 19 people died, adding that people also “lack money to spend”.

While tragic incidents and economic hardships are factors beyond one’s control, West Bengal’s real party poopers were Sangh-affiliated outfits backed by the state administration.

In the run-up to the pujas, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, along with a brigade of obscure religious leaders, campaigned to restrict the sale and consumption of non-vegetarian food around puja pandals. It was a ham-handed attempt by the Sangh Parivar to impose north Indian socio-cultural mores on the Bengali way of life.

The BJP’s rise to power in West Bengal resulted in the takeover of community pujas by leaders who are patently clueless about the local language and customs (like food and books being vital elements of this five-day carnival). Depicting the goddess with eleven arms in official communication deepened the disconnect.

Cultural invasion soon turned into political persecution. A hoarding put out by BJP leader Suraj Kumar Singh on behalf of a puja committee in Kolkata’s Pottery Road announced Baam vadh (death to the Left). In short, Left parties were not to set up bookstalls near its pandal!

Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari took the book ban further by saying any literature that is ‘anti-national’, ‘anti-Sanatan’ and ‘hurtful to religious sentiments’ would not be permitted on West Bengal’s soil. He objected to the Left calling Durga Puja ‘Sharadotsav’ (autumn festival) and turned Suraj Singh’s local diktat into a statewide fatwa.

When the Left set up their bookstalls anyway, the administration descended with all its might. Police, municipal workers, bulldozers were despatched to demolish the stalls, books were torn and carted away in garbage trucks.

If it thought West Bengal’s book-loving public would curl up and die — the Sangh was in for a surprise. Newspapers reported that sales at Left bookstalls in 12 districts crossed a record Rs 1 crore this Durga Puja!

While a few BJP-RSS leaders tried to play good cop by criticising the government crackdown on books, Suvendu Adhikari continued his divide-and-rule tactics. “Only those who believe in sanatan dharma should touch the idols,” he said, prior to immersion. “I have told the commissioner of police to record the names of those who come here; they must be identified.”

Such a remark was unprecedented, going completely against the grain of this most syncretic of festivals. Newspapers reported idols breaking into pieces before immersion — as Muslims who specialise in the work had been kept away.

In Bangladesh, the government encouraged people to come together to celebrate Bangaliana. State support during Durga Puja was an important step towards the erasure of sectarian divisions. In West Bengal, the government encouraged divisiveness along linguistic, social, religious and political lines.

Compare the scenes from both sides of the border. And ask yourself: just how specious is the BJP’s argument about the repression of Hindus in new Bangladesh?