In Murshidabad riot, rerun of an old story

Only the faces of the perpetrators and the victims change, the failure of the state and statements of the leaders are the same

- Shashi Shekhar

Years ago, I read a novel — Kitne Pakistan (How many Pakistans) — by Hindi novelist Kamleshwar, who successfully articulated Indian society's fractious, discriminatory, and power-hungry tendencies. The exodus of people from Murshidabad, West Bengal, has once again forced us to ask when we will be able to get rid of the mindset that divides people on the basis of their faith. Do we want to replace the rule of the majority with majoritarianism, where the majority enjoys the exclusive right to exist?

Let's begin with Murshidabad. Riots that broke out after the government of India passed the Waqf Amendment Act have made the lives of minority Hindus miserable. The situation is dire, and it can be understood by the trials a family of victims has undergone. A tea stall owner, Hriday Das, and his daughter-in-law, Sucharita Sarkar, from Jafrabad city of Murshidabad, were still shaking with fear when they were narrating their story to the Hindustan correspondent in Rajmahal on the Jharkhand-West Bengal border. Terror was visible in their tear-filled eyes.