Yet Another Attempt By Mamata Banerjee Government To Curb Religious Freedom Of Hindus In Bengal

The Bengal Police had imposed what can be termed a ‘weird restriction’ on a Jagannath rath yatra at Manickpur in Howrah’s Sankrail. 

The police had told the organisers of the one-kilometre-long yatra from the Jagannnath Mandir in the premises of the  Delta Jute Mill at Manickpur to Beltola that the deities — Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra — would not be able to travel on the chariot on the stretch from Delta Jute Mill to Beltola. 

“The organisers were told that the rath yatra could start from Beltola and travel through other areas. Permission would not be granted for the yatra to travel from Jagannath Mandir to Beltola since that area has a mixed population with Muslims forming a sizable section,” said advocate Ravi Ranjan Kumar who is associated with the yatra. 

Kumar told Swarajya that the police suggested that deities be transported from the Jagannath Mandir to Beltola in a vehicle and then transferred to the rath (chariot) at Beltola that can then be pulled by devotees through areas that are “predominantly Hindu areas”.

“A rath yatra is always held from the Jagannath mandir to Bhagwan Jagannath’s aunt’s place. The three deities are placed on a rath that is pulled by devotees to Jagannath’s aunt’s place which, in this case, happens to be at Beltola,” said Kumar. 

“But the police told the organisers that they would have to carry the deities in a vehicle or some other means and place them on the rath only at Beltola. The empty rath would also have to be taken by a circuitous route to Beltola avoiding areas inhabited by Muslims. After placing the deities on the rath at Beltola, the rath could then be pulled by devotees and taken through predominantly Hindu areas to return to Beltola (Jagannath’s aunt’s place). That would have been a perfunctory yatra,” Kumar, who practises at the Calcutta High Court, told Swarajya. 

The organisers objected to the conditions laid down by the police and held that holding the rath yatra amidst such restrictions would defeat the very purpose of the rath yatra and would hold no meaning at all. 

The Jagannath Mandir on the premises of the Delta Jute Mills was established many years ago by Odiya workers of that, and many other jute mills, of that area. The mandir attracts devotees from all over the district. 

The authorities of the mandir had been preparing to hold the rath yatra for the past 13 years. “According to Hindu religious tenets, it takes 12 years for a rath to be built and then consecrated. The mandir authorities were ready for the rath yatra last year and applied for permission, but were turned down by the police in violation of their religious freedom,” said Kumar. 

When the police imposed unreasonable restrictions on the rath yatra this year as well, the mandir authorities approached the Calcutta High Court last Friday (16 June). 

Justice Rajasekar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court quashed the restrictions on the yatra imposed by the police through an order issued on Monday (19 June) afternoon. Justice Mantha said that the restrictions would “negate, defeat and compromise the object and purpose of the rath yatra”. 

“A rath yatra, as folklore and mythology would have meant, is for the deity Lord Jagannath and Balabhadra to travel on a chariot from their house to their sister’s/aunt’s house to visit and see an unwell aunt,” Justice Mantha observed. 

“Such festival and practice is being followed in this country for thousands of years. It would be grossly inappropriate on the part of the police to dictate that the deity has to travel without a chariot half way on the journey,” the judge said.

Referring to the police’s contention that the proposed route of the rath yatra is “communally sensitive”, Justice Mantha said: “Insofar as the sensitivity issue raised by the police is concerned, this Court is of the view that over the decades and centuries, people of all the religious denominations have participated with joy and/or actively supported rath yatra in this state. 

“To restrict a rath yatra, and to impose conditions therefore would amount to interference with a religious practice which has not happened in this state or any other part of the country till date”. 

Justice Mantha asked the police to grant permission to the rath yatra without imposing any conditions, provide security to the rath yatra and take “appropriate and stern measures” against “vested interests or elements to disrupt the religious function”. 

Reacting to the High Court order quashing the restrictions imposed on the rath yatra by the police, BJP state secretary Umesh Rai told Swarajya that the imposition of the restrictions was yet another attempt by the Mamata Banerjee government to appease Muslims. 

“A number of religious processions pass through the route through which the rath yatra was proposed. Durga Puja and Kali Puja immersion processions pass through that route without any hindrance and disturbance. There has never been any problem or disturbance there. The restrictions imposed by the police were only meant to appease the Muslims,” said Rai. 

Gautam Bandopadhyay, a civil society activist at Howrah, told Swarajya that such appeasement only fuels a communal divide since Hindus, unhappy with the restrictions, would develop ill-will towards Muslims. 

“Muslims of that area never voiced any objection to the rath yatra or any other Hindu religious procession. But the police assumed that Muslims would object, and so they tried to restrict the religious freedom of Hindus. That was completely unnecessary and will only create a communal divide where none existed,” Bandopadhyay explained. 

Monday’s High Court order was met with jubilation by the people of Howrah. Tuesday (20 June) morning saw a large crowd of devotees thronging the Jagannath Mandir to make preparations for the rath yatra late Tuesday afternoon.