Tapan Ghosh: A Braveheart Who Spurred Hindu Reawakening In Bengal

Hindu Samhati founder Tapan Ghosh who succumbed to the dreaded coronavirus on Sunday evening was a true braveheart and an unabashed votary of Hindutva in Bengal. Ghosh was an RSS pracharak before he left the organisation and founded the Hindu Samhati in 2007 to work more aggressively for protecting rights and interests of Hindus in Bengal.

A tireless and brilliant organiser, Ghosh built the Hindu Samhati (HS) from scratch. Within a short time, the HS came to represent the voice and face of the persecuted Hindus, especially in the rural areas of Bengal.

Ghosh was an unapologetic advocate of Hindutva and was known for his fearlessness. He railed against the politics of Muslim appeasement followed by the Left and then the Trinamool and succeeded in creating an awareness among Hindus to sink their differences and resist the threat of radical Islam they face in Bengal.

Ghosh was clear in his mind that no political party would come to the aid of Hindus as long as Hindus remained divided on caste and political lines. And he took it upon himself to unite the Hindus.

Through his fiery speeches and painstaking efforts, he spread awareness of the danger posed to Hindus of Bengal by the continuing illegal influx of Bangladeshi Muslims who were nurtured as vote banks by the Congress, Left and Trinamool.

That brought him into direct confrontation with the Left, and then the Trinamool, rulers of Bengal. False cases were lodged against him and he faced a lot of harassment. But that only spurred him to redouble his efforts.

Ghosh also realised that his movement would require strong financial muscle. He reached out successfully to the Bengali Hindu diaspora abroad and became an iconic figure among them. The HS gained the sterling reputation of standing beside all its volunteers and workers through thick and thin.

The HS also worked silently to create awareness about ‘love jihad’ and rescue victims of ‘love jihad’. Many such girls were rescued and reunited with their families. Ghosh was a torchbearer of ‘ghar wapsi’ in Bengal, bringing back many Muslims and Christians to the fold of Sanatan dharma.

This ‘ghar wapsi’ programme was brought out in the open at the annual rally of the Hindu Samhati in Kolkata two years ago. Ghosh announced the ghar wapsi of 14 members of a Muslim family at the rally, and that created a huge stir in Bengal.

Tapan Ghosh’s mission of uniting Hindus and galvanising the community to jointly resist Islamist aggression was a Herculean one, given the deeply entrenched communist and pseudo-secular mindset among many people of the state. But he persevered in the face of tremendous odds; he took the threats, intimidation and harassment that became part of his life with equanimity.

His diligent and persistent efforts started bearing fruit and Ghosh’s success in mobilising the Hindus of Bengal was apparent in the ever increasing crowds at the Hindu Samhati’s annual rallies in the heart of Kolkata.

Ghosh handed over the reins of the organisation he founded to his trusted disciples a couple of years ago, but he remained a mentor to them and was closely involved in his mission.

His untimely passing away may put Ghosh’s mission at risk. And that would endanger the very existence of Bengali Hindus in Bengal. Thus, it is imperative that the mission initiated by Ghosh does not flounder. Hindu Samhati workers, and the greater Hindu society at large, has to ensure that for the sake of Hindu existence. And that would also be the best tribute Bengal’s embattled Hindus can pay to braveheart Ghosh.