West Bengal might not be an ideal State, but the good effects of Bengal Renaissance still linger on in the State, if not completely abolished. Thus when many “modern” States see to it that the innocent daughters and sisters get cold-bloodedly killed by their own fathers and brothers to save the “honour” of the family, inter-caste marriage remains a very common occurrence in “backward” Bengali homes! When the “progressive” States of Gujarat or Maharashtra witness violent pogrom against Muslims or three-month long riots following the Babri-Masjid demolition, Bengal remains an oasis of communal harmony.
In “New India” of “Good Days”, Bengal happens to be one of those rarest of rare States where Dalits and Muslims are not murdered in the name of “Gomata”, where secular rationalists are not killed for protesting against communalism, where film sets are not vandalised on accusation of “distorting history.” Unlike Gujarat, Punjab or Haryana; Dalits are not beaten up or murdered for sporting moustaches or riding horses!
However, an opposite stream does indeed exist which is indeed making its presence felt very significantly and signs of religious/cultural fanaticism emerging stronger with each passing day, perhaps to join the “national mainstream”! So in came the riot-igniting mosque-demolishing rabid Hindutva muscle-flexing divisive slogan of “Jai Shri Ram”! So it is natural that the bust of Renaissance man Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar would get shattered to pieces, Raja Rammohan Roy gets maligned as “Chamcha” of the British for banning the “progressive” tradition of Sati, the Bhadralok of Bhadraloks Amartya Sen gets character-assassinated as “land grabber”, none other than the Chief minister gets taunted through the shrill rendering of “Jai Shri Ram” in a Government programme. Could this poison be envisaged in Bengal even a couple of years ago?
The situation has come to such a dangerous disgracing pass that now Bengalis are even humiliating and threatening their very own brethren as “Pakistanis” just because of their Islamic lineage! The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh arrives and threatens that the “fight” against mythical “Love Jihad” and “cow protection” would be started in Bengal along with formation of “Romeo squad”! It gets clearly proved that henceforth Bengal is set to join the league of murdering innocents in the name of “Gomata” and secular intellectuals like various “modern” States of India along with atrocities on Dalits! In this respect, Bengalis are indeed working overtime to prove Gopal Krishna Gokhale wrong so as to establish “What India thinks today, Bengal thinks tomorrow!
Would Bengalis indulge in a bit of introspection this Nababarsha instead of acting ‘Bengali’ for a single day in the whole year with deluge of greetings in social media and savouring “Bengali Thali” in top-end restaurants to celebrate the New Year! Would Bengalis ponder a bit and think a bit Subho (good) for Bengal which is on the verge of collapsing into a state of absolute moral degradation!
