Hindu refugees of Murshidabad
The violent protests against the Muslim Waqf Board Act in West Bengal have created an atmosphere of fear among the Hindu people of the state. The proof of this is that Hindus are being forced to flee from those villages of Murshidabad district to other areas where there was heavy violence in the last few days in which three people were killed, including a father and son. How ironic it is that the people of Murshidabad are being evicted from their own land and others are becoming refugees in nearby areas. In independent India, if any citizen is forced to leave his land and becomes a refugee, then it should be understood that the law and order situation in that state is collapsing. But the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, herself remains a party to the Waqf Act and seems to be giving indirect support to the protests against the Waqf Act.
Though he has publicly condemned the violence and said that there is no place for violence in protests, at the same time it is a fact that his party, the Trinamool Congress, is strongly opposing the Wakf Act. This can be interpreted to mean that the support of the Trinamool Congress is with the opponents of the Waqf law. Every particle of the land of West Bengal tells the story of those who died on the country, but the fact cannot be ignored that the Muslim League, which divided India into two pieces in 1947, was also born on this land in 1906.
Earlier, the British had made the first partition of United Bengal on the basis of Hindu and Muslim majority in 1903, but in 1912 the British had to withdraw their decision, but after that, in 1947, Bengal was again divided on the basis of Hindu and Muslim population and Muslim-majority East Bengal became East Pakistan, which was declared Bangladesh in 1971. Therefore, what is happening in West Bengal today needs to be seen in the light of history and a pledge needs to be taken that dogmatism will not be tolerated in this part of the country under any circumstances, due to which the Hindu population of Murshidabad is being forced to become refugees in their own land. If Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee adopts a soft attitude towards such incidents by giving preference to vote bank politics in this state, then the central government will have to show a tough attitude because the unity and integrity of India cannot be compromised in any way.
It is fortunate that the country has such a Home Minister Shri Amit Shah who removed Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and merged this state with the Indian Union for a full time. In this state too, Hindu Pandits were expelled from their own land around 1990 and made refugees in other parts of the country. Since then, the problem of Kashmiri refugees has continued, although since 2019 many Kashmiri Pandits have also been settled back in Kashmir. Of course, it was due to Mr. Shah's parliamentary boldness that Article 370 was removed from Jammu and Kashmir and since then there has been a decrease in Pakistan-sponsored terrorist incidents in this state, but despite this, this problem has not been completely eradicated. This means that when anti-national forces carry out mobilization on communal lines in any state, they work against the national interest.
This is what is happening in West Bengal nowadays in the name of Waqf law protests, whereas under this law, no rights of Muslims have been attacked, but this law will definitely expose those who grab land in the name of Waqf. The Waqf Board cannot play the role of land mafia in any way because Indian citizens have the first right on the land of India. In the new Waqf Act, it has been provided that the Waqf Board cannot arbitrarily take any land by calling it Waqf land. How can the Waqf be seen being used for Muslim appeasement all over India, while the law of India says that only the person who has his valid papers will have the right on any land, but after the amendments made by the Manmohan Singh Government in 2013, the Waqf got the freedom to impose its right on any land it wanted.
How can this country accept such a unilateral law? This is the reason that since 2013, Waqf properties have increased by 19 lakh acres. The Waqf also started claiming the land of the oldest temples as its own. There was also a lot of resentment within the majority of the people of India about this, which has been resolved in the recently passed Waqf Amendment Act, but in the recent anti-Waqf demonstration in Murshidabad, West Bengal, there was not only violence but the Hindu population of one of its villages had to leave their place and take refuge in other places. Therefore, after the intervention of the court, central security forces had to be deployed in the district. Now, the Centre should think of other constitutional ways to deal with the present situation.