HINDU ORGANISATIONS IN BENGAL BECOME ACTIVE AS ATROCITIES INCREASE IN BANGLADESH

KOLKATA The rise in reports of atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government has sparked protests in India with many Hindu organisations joining in.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The groundswell of opposition is in West Bengal, which shares a 2,200-km border with Bangladesh.

Organisations like the Hindu Jagran Manch have taken the obvious route of holding protests outside the offices of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata's Park Circus area, while many organisations are working in the shadows "to strengthen the Hindu community".

According to its senior members, the Hindu Jagran Manch aims to "enable social harmony and Hindu unity, propagate in public interest Hindu myths, and rehabilitate the victims of love jihad," among other things.

The Hindu Jagran Manch had hit the headlines in West Bengal last year when it announced plans to hold 5,000 processions on the occasion of Ram Navami, leading to fears of communal flare-ups.

However, the developments across the border have propelled others to start building up strength to fight back against atrocities.

Among them are the Bengal Volunteers, an organisation that was registered in 2019, but takes its inspiration from the original organisation that played a key role in the violent fight-back against British rule.

“Just as the original Bengal Volunteers was formed in 1928 as an active revolutionary association under the leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, we too are inspired by its philosophy,” Animitra Chakraborty, the general secretary of Bengal Volunteers, told The Sunday Guardian.

According to its officebearers, Bengal Volunteers is a heritage revival organization serving the Bangla speaking areas including East Bengal. Historically, Bengal Volunteers was formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as part of Indian National Congress to serve as its volunteer corps. The current revival organization is not affiliated with any political party or political ideology, but claims to serve all the peoples of both West and East Bengal.