Bengal Congress leader arrested after protest over Bageshwar Baba remarks

A Congress leader was arrested in Kolkata late on Wednesday night after a protest against controversial remarks by self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri alias Bagheshwar Baba turned into a confrontation with the West Bengal government, which ordered action against demonstrators accused of burning his photograph.

Atanu Das, general-secretary of the South Kolkata District Congress, was arrested from his residence in the Tollygunge area. Police said Das was among those named in an FIR registered after a Congress demonstration outside Bhabanipur police station on 8 September.

The arrest came hours after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, who also holds the police portfolio, directed Kolkata Police to arrest those involved in burning Shastri's photograph. Speaking in the Assembly on Thursday, 10 September, Adhikari said, “I saw some people burning photographs in front of the Bhabanipur police station. I am telling the CP (commissioner of police) right now — those individuals must be arrested.”

The police allege that during the Congress protest, demonstrators struck a poster carrying Shastri's image with a shoe, trampled it and subsequently set it on fire. They have also alleged that offensive remarks were made during the demonstration.

The protest was organised in response to controversial remarks attributed to Shastri about Bengalis and their food habits and customs during Durga Puja. Shastri, who heads Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh, had reportedly advocated vegetarianism during the festival and described Bengalis who eat non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja as “pakhandi”, or hypocrites.

An FIR was registered at Bhabanipur PS under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Among those named are South Kolkata District Congress president Pradip Prasad, West Bengal Pradesh Congress general-secretary Ashutosh Chatterjee, and Das.

Investigators said the case involves allegations including attempts to disturb public peace, promoting enmity between groups on religious, caste or linguistic grounds, and spreading hatred. Police said they were examining video footage and other evidence to establish what happened during the demonstration and determine the individual roles of those named in the FIR.

Das was to be produced before the Alipore court on Friday afternoon. State Congress president Suvankar Sarkar was present in court in support of the arrested leader.

The Congress condemned the arrest as “undemocratic” and accused the state government of using the police to silence political opposition. Sarkar described the arrest as an act of “fascist aggression” and said the party would not surrender to what he called fascist forces.

The Congress has announced a statewide agitation beginning Friday, demanding Das's unconditional bail and protesting what it described as a policy of political repression.

Sarkar also drew a comparison with the arrest of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra during the previous Trinamool Congress government. Mahapatra was arrested after circulating a political cartoon involving then chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“This incident bears a resemblance to the Ambikesh Mahapatra episode. Drawing a lesson from that, we want to assert that West Bengal is not anyone's ancestral property. We believe in the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda and respect saints and seers. However, we will not allow a self-styled ‘Baba’ — imported from outside and enjoying government patronage — to come here and insult Bengalis and their Durga Puja. Every Congress worker will protest against this. We, too, want to see just how many jails the government has,” Sarkar said.

The comparison was also made by CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty, who accused the present government of repeating the politics of the past. “The current chief minister grew up in the shadow of Mamata Banerjee,” Chakraborty said, referring to Adhikari's position as Banerjee's deputy in the TMC for several years.

Referring to the arrests of Mahapatra and Jangalmahal activist Shiladitya Chowdhury, Chakraborty added, “He was a partner in the actions taken by Mamata — such as the arrests of Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and Shiladitya Chowdhury of Jangalmahal — stemming from the mindset that forwarding cartoons was a punishable offence.”

Mahapatra himself said the arrest represented a wider threat to democratic freedoms. “There is an attempt to suppress democratic movements through undemocratic means. An assault has begun on the rights granted to the country's citizens by the Constitution,” he said.

Kunal Ghosh, the Kalighat faction TMC MLA, also criticised the government for protecting Shastri while acting against Congress protesters. “Bageshwar Baba, who insulted Bengalis, is being shielded. Why couldn't the chief minister arrest Ananta Maharaj, who insulted Netaji (Subhas Bose)?” he asked.

Congress now plans to take the protest beyond Bhabanipur. A demonstration has been organised by Prasad on Friday. On Saturday, Central Kolkata District Congress president Manas Sarkar will lead a demonstration at Wellington, where Suvankar Sarkar is expected to join. Similar programmes are planned in other parts of Bengal.