Upendra Bharti | HENB | Malda | Oct 1, 2017:: Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal Government earlier to allow Durga Puja Immersion (Vijaya Dashmi) and Muharram simultaneously on 1st October without any favouritism  in any communal line.  Abiding that Court order Bengal observed Durga Puja Immersion and Muharrum on the same day today in many places.

But, an embarrassing news came in through and Bengali Web Portal http://bangla.eenaduindia.com/ that Malda Police verbally directed to many  Durga Puja organizers to complete the immersion within 12 noon which created repercussions among the Hindus of Malda and adjacent districts. Though Court ordered to complete the immersion within 12 midnight, the Malda Police enforced many Puja organizers to stop immersion on Muharram day and compelled them  to hold the immersion upto Monday.

Not only that the Police went proactive to clear the routes for Muharram processions and compelled many Puja committees to clear the hordings and Durga Puja decorations attached to pandals. For heavy rain, many of puja committees could not complete the immersion as per their   framed schedule but Police came to them and put whimsical restrictions violating court orders. The police went vindictive to the Hindus at afternoon when the Muharram  processions came out on roads.

As per report, police force went to Goud Road crossing in a Durga Puja Pandal and cleared a portion of the Puja Pandal (where the deities were still in position) on the ground that it could make partial blockade to a Muharram procession. The news made repercussion, but police broke a portion of that Puja Pandal with the help of Civic volunteers very fast. From another source it is known that the Civic volunteers under WB Police,  mostly belonging to Muslim community, made that clearance with great enthusiasm.

Hearing this news, Hindus of the locality gathered in the Puja pandal and guarded the Durga and other idols so that police could not damage those anyway. Hindus demanded change the Muharram procession route, but police paid no heed to it. Clearing the roads, the police force left the place after breaking the portion of puja pandal.

The Police authority denied any comment for the incident so far. The TMC sponsored police activism for Muharram procession created a tension in the area which seems to be under control now.

Malda is a Muslim majority district in West Bengal including two others viz Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur.

There are six other districts with high Muslim influences viz South and North 24 Pargans, Birbhum, Burdwan, Coochbehar and Nadia having more than 25% Muslim voters.

For these high Muslim voter percentage in nine districts in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress Party and its supremo and WB CM Mamata Banerjee opted a communal policy of minority appeasement.