Bengal: Mamata Sparks Secularism Debate Post Inauguration of Govt-Built Temple at Digha

Kolkata: Just 24 hours before the May Day celebrations of working people in the state, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sparked a debate on secularism by inaugurating a Rs 250-crore government-run Jagannath Temple at Digha.

The inauguration of the temple by the Chief Minister is being seen by many as her “crossing the boundary lines’ set by the Constitution of India.

“We were told to shut down our shops during the inauguration of the temple or not to serve mutton, chicken or fish during that day. All Muslim tourists in the Digha sea coast were advised to stay indoors for the whole day during the inauguration of the project,” alleged Risikesh Manna, owner of a hotel at Digha that serves non-vegetarian food.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, was criticised for “crossing constitutional boundaries” when he inaugurated the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. However, that temple was not constructed by a government body.

In Digha, the project has been constructed by HIDCO, a government body, and the inauguration ceremony was supervised by the state Hindu Mahasabha president Chandrachur Goswami, who, a few years ago had been booked by the police for worshipping Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse.

 Read Also: WB: Row Over Hindu Mahasabha Showing Gandhi-Like Face as ‘Asura’ in its Puja Pandal

Senior journalist and political analyst Prasun Acharya expressed dismay at such a decision of the West Bengal government and said that “Mamata Banerjee is treading the route of soft communalism, as played out by her friend Arvind Kejriwal”, adding that “what has happened to Kejriwal might happen to her too.”

HIDCO (West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation) is being used in the project, he told NewsClick, adding that “this is not a case of tourism, it is a case of competitive communalism between TMC (ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). I don’t know if any person will go to the court of law on the issue, where it will definitely fall apart.”

Speaking with NewsClick, Indranil Dasgupta, social scientist and professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, said, “As far as I am concerned, today is a Black Day for not just any meaningful notion of secularism in Bengal, but also for any working scheme of public priorities. Mamata Banerjee inaugurated a Jagannath temple in Digha today, built by her administration using taxpayers' money of more than Rs 150 crores of it, and still counting.”

He said this was the first time in Bengal that the government has seen fit to blow public money on building a place of worship directly through a government department.

“I am not aware of this kind of direct public sector provision of religion happening in any other state, not even in BJP-ruled states. Mamata Banerjee has now crossed the last red line in Bengal politics -- a line that has been held in this part of the world since at least 1757,” he added.

Dasgupta said, “nationalisation of religion should horrify all non-believers, who believe that taxpayers' money should not be spent on religion of any kind. But it should horrify believers even more, because authentic religiosity of the people chokes to death when it is turned into an appendage of the State, whether through money or muscle - patronage or power. “

“Mamata Banerjee's sarkari religion violates her raj dharma as much as it violates the dharmic autonomy of the believers,” he added.

The professor also termed it as an “insult as much to the ideology of people's theologian Chaitanya, as it is an insult to the memory of radical humanist Vidyasagar.”

Talking to NewClick, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, a leading lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP representing the CPI(M), said “First of all the taxpayers’ money, according to the Constitution, cannot be spent for propagation of any religion under Article 25, 26 and 27, which are crystal clear about this. Today, Mamata is constructing a government temple at Digha with the taxpayers’ money. Public funds must be spent for good public purposes. She has crossed all boundaries by misusing public funds for religious purposes” he said.

Commenting on the issue, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty told NewsClick that the “government was not entrusted with the duty of building mandirs or masjids. Her (Mamata Banerjee) focus has changed from struggle of rice to struggle in the name of caste and religion.”

He cited the Pooja clubs in Bengal that were earlier known for serving food to the poor, and alleged that after the TMC government’s dole of Rs 50,000 for Durga Puja, “they are holding grand feasts in the name of puja celebrations.”

“She has a definite plan and is going by her vote bank. Muslims are now realising that they are being cheated.  She is trying to create a voting binary between BJP and TMC. For the past 14 days, the entire government has been sitting in Digha. For the Chief Minister, is it not a priority to help the sacked teachers?” he asked.

Chakraborty further said that the Jagannath Mandir is at Puri in Odisha, and its replica is not so important.  “The country’s  political culture is being ruined by BJP, while the state’s culture is being ruined by TMC with help from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).”

Amina Khatun, a schoolteacher in Khalsa School, spared no words in expressing her frustration at such a move by the state government.

“How can she (Mamata Banerjee) construct a temple or even a mosque with taxpayers’ money? Muslims were not allowed to venture out at Digha. Are we not the citizens of India. which is a democratic state unlike Pakistan or Saudi Arabia?  This fails the constitutional spirit of the country. The CM is engaging in competitive communalism,” she told NewsClick.

Anjan Bera, a political commentator, was crisp in his words. “It is a failure of the constitutional spirit of our secular republic, and she is strengthening the hands of religious fundamentalists. At a time when divisive policies are wreaking havoc in the country, Modi and Mamata are proving to be cohorts in this act. We are plunging into darkness. Religion-based politics is wreaking havoc in the country, with ministers not doing their duty as ministers and indulging in religious powerplay, eroding the constitutional spirit,” he said.

Ramchandra Dom, general secretary of Dalit Shoshan Mukti Morcha, said inaugurating such temples in Bengal was a violation of the cultural spirit of the state, which amounts to overseeing the rise of Brahminical communalism, as played out by BJP in West Bengal. The poor and marginalised continue to remain marginalised, "he told NewsClick.