Upananda Brahmachari | Kolkata | 23 January 2015:: Hon’ble Calcutta High Court had to pass its orders in consecutively on 20.01.2015 and 22.01.2015 to protect the traditional and religious rights of Hindus to worship Mother Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, Learning and Fine Arts. Muslim fundamentalists in Murshidabad district have been putting pressures for stopping Hindu rituals including Saraswati Puja in Basant Panchami in school premises. In this context, Senior advocate of Calcutta, Sri Rama Prasad Sarkar filed a public interest litigation in the Calcutta High Court.
On the basis of a newspaper reporting (Bartaman dt. ) the learned lawyer Sri Rama Prasad Sarkar filed the public interest petition [W.P. 1516 (W) of 2015] in the Calcutta High Court for violation of Article 25, 26, 27and Article 28, in cases of persecuted and deprived Hindus loosing their religious rights in the district of Murshidabad in Indian State of West Bengal while India is a secular country.
As per report Murshidabad district is facing a severe demographic change due to huge Muslim infiltration from neighboring Islamic Bangladesh and fanatical Islamic groups are controlling the politics ans society through Mosques and Madrasas along with the border areas and inside the border areas too. Lots of organisations of Islamic fundamentalists are showing their muscle and arms power to stop the Hindu rituals etc. for the minority Hindus in the district. As per the news reporting, the fundamentalists in Murshidabad are somehow managing a Taliban like rule to stop blowing of conch (sankh) in evening, decorating Hindu houses with Alpana (drawing ritualistic design on floor and wall with water and rice paste) including observation of Lakshmi Puja and Saraswati Puja. Muslim majority Managing Committees in many Schools have objected and prevented Saraswati Puja in schools premises in the district of Murshidabad as the report flashed the truth. Even the Talibans of Murshidabad are threatening to kill the minority Hindus if the Islamic fatwas of ‘STOP HINDU WORSHIP’ are not to maintain anyway.
Advocate Sarkar appeared in person in the Court of Chief Justice Hon’ble Smt Majula Chellur with the plea that here in India one can practice his religion as he/she likes. Then why the Taliban regime in Murshidabad district is depriving the religious rights of Hindus in many ways? What is the role of the State and District administration to restore the rights of the deprived Hindus there? He indicates the administrative and police failure to uphold the constitutional provisions to protect the rights of Hindus?
Murshidabad has Muslim population at more than 65 percent far outnumbering Hindus at 35 percent and below .
Initially the Calcutta High Court accepted the case. The Bench of Chief Justice Mrs. Manjula Chellur and Mr. Joymalya Bagchi (J) disposed the matter through passing a order, “Though we appreciate the concern and the anxiety entertained by the petitioner in the present writ petition, we fail to understand why the institution concerned at Murshidabad is not seeking any such protection either from the police or from this Court by filing a complaint or application respectively. It is needless to say that every citizen of this country has freedom to follow the religion he chooses to follow and all the rituals connected to such ceremonies. If anyone intends to curtail one’s faith and freedom of conscience to follow a particular religion, definitely the Court has to step in and protect such right of the individual. …..
However, we make it clear that the respondent authorities have constitutional obligation to take into consideration the situation and protect the right to freedom of a particular religion if any complaint is made in this regard by the institution concerned.”
As such the Murshidabad district authorities are put in a pressure to see the cases of deprivation in performing any Saraswati Puja as such by the Hindu population in public or Hindu students in school and educational institutions.
In another case [W.P. 411 (W) of 2015] in the Calcutta High Court, it is revealed that Muslims want to rights of Namaj (offering prayer) in the school premise while objecting Saraswati Puja once in a year in the school.
In a land mark order Hon’ble Justice Dipankar Datta passes an order in W.P. 411 (W) of 2015 on 22.01.2015 that, “Having regard to the documents, it is difficult to come to a prima facie finding at this stage that the practice of students being allowed to offer ‘namaj’ during school-hours and within the school premises has been continuing for long.
In view thereof, I am afraid no interim protection can be granted to the petitioner.
Since it has been ascertained from Ms. Hasin, learned advocate for the petitioner that he is not against holding of ‘Saraswati Puja’, I hold that the school shall be entitled to observe ‘Saraswati Puja’ on 24th /25th January, 2015. Insofar as the resolution of the dispute raised by the petitioner is concerned, I am of the view that affidavit ought to be invited not only from the Headmaster of the school but also from the State Government.”
It has no difficulties to understand from above, what is the real situation of Hindus where they are minorities in Bengal (not only Bengal, the situation of minority Hindus are same in the Muslim majority areas in all over India). No main stream media or the politicos come forward to help the Hindus in some perilous Islamic hell in Bengal. This ‘School Jihad’, i.e. stopping Hindu celebrations in school and allowing Namaj in schools at the same time is rampantly growing in all Muslim majority areas in West Bengal as authenticated reports reached to Hindu existence Forum.
Post Script: Hindu Existence Forum is dedicated to surface all such Hindu persecution in this land and want to strengthen the struggle of Hindus in Bengal and Bharat for their dignity and rights. Any Help/donation is most Welcome.