Kolkata: Once a low-key religious festival limited to a few pockets, Ram Navami has become a flashpoint in West Bengal in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) bid to polarise the state along religious lines – a strategy tacitly enabled by the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) through competitive religious symbolism.Ahead of Ram Navami, the had BJP orchestrated a campaign of intimidation and religious muscle-flexing. In Howrah’s Sankrail, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) Singha Bahini faction marched in an armed procession, while similar rallies in Asansol stoked communal tensions. The Bajrang Dal, the BJP’s militant youth wing, has deployed “Bajrangi Sena” squads of 50 members each to guard processions, signalling a deliberate escalation.document.createElement('video');https://cms.thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/WhatsApp-Video-2025-04-05-at-22.19.38.mp4On Friday, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, known for provocative statements, announced, “If anyone tries to stop the procession, we’ll push through them. Hindus across India have united after seeing Bangladesh’s situation. Bengal’s Hindus are uniting now too.” The charged atmosphere gave way to clashes on the streets. In North Dinajpur, former BJP and TMC workers became violent over procession routes, prompting heavy police deployment. “We do not have any specific numbers on Ram Navami procession, but people are spontaneously taking part. The number is increasing every year,” claimed BJP MP Samik Bhattacarya.In Kolkata and some other pockets, however, scenes of bonhomie between Muslims and rallying Hindus were seen. Footage of Muslims offering water and throwing flower petals at processions were widely shared on social media, including by the ruling TMC, through its X account.On the occasion of Ram Navami, Bengal bore witness to a celebration of unity and brotherhood. We show India that faith builds bridges, not walls.This is Smt. @MamataOfficial‘s vision:ধর্ম যার যার উৎসব সবার!#BengalShowsTheWay pic.twitter.com/fFMkCPTIzi— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 6, 2025But not all are convinced that the rallies are bringers of peace.“I was glad that this year Ram Navami was on a Sunday. I did not need to open my shop as a result,” said Mohammad Sahil, a roadside vendor in the Muslim-majority Rajabazar area of Kolkata. In south Bengal’s Jangalmahal region, the RSS launched targeted campaigns. Villages in Belpahari and Lalgarh have been decorated with saffron flags. The Sangh is trying to push the narrative that Ram was a leader of the Adivasi, a bow-and-arrow-carrying tribal warrior.“The Sangh Parivar is rewriting history here – their teams are telling Adivasis that Ram was one of us, a tribal with a bow and arrow. I’ve lived in Gopiballavpur all my life and never heard such claims until now. Even those who once sided with Maoist movements are planting saffron flags along roadsides,” said Nibaran Marandi, a local resident, highlighting the BJP’s aggressive cultural appropriation in the region. Even though there’s a saying that Bengalis have 13 festivals in twelve months, Ram Navami still hasn’t found a place among them, observed political analyst Udayan Bandyopadhyay.Shops selling saffron flags. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.The BJP’s political rise in West Bengal is deeply tied to Ram Navami’s transformation from a muted tradition into a spectacle which lends itself to violence. RSS presence in the state has visibly increased since 2011. Following the Left-Congress’s decimation in the 2016 assembly election, the state BJP took on a far more aggressive posturing with financial and political support from its central unit. By 2017, stick-wielding Ram Navami processions became common. From four in 2014, the BJP’s Lok Sabha seat tally from the state rose to 18 in 2019. Initially critical of the BJP’s Ram Navami mobilisation, TMC has since blended it into political strategy. Party cadres have been organising rival processions, often larger and backed by ministers and police. In 2024, Bengal government declared Ram Navami a state holiday, further institutionalising the festival.This appears to be paying off for both parties. In recent years, Howrah, West Burdwan, and North 24 Parganas have all witnessed communal tensions following Ram Navami processions. These orchestrated confrontations have deepened religious divides, systematically fracturing the state’s secular identity. “These communal forces are trying to distract people from real struggles – like fighting for livelihood or against corruption,” said Debanjan Dey, the Student Federation of India’s state secretary. “Using Ram Navami as an excuse, they’re inciting unrest. Our volunteers patrolled areas at night to prevent such attempts.”In Salkia, TMC MLA Gautam Chowdhury from Uttar Howrah participated in the Ram Navami procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). In Birbhum, the ruling party’s vibrant procession, featuring large cutouts of Ram and portraits of eminent personalities saw active participation from local TMC MP Satabdi Roy and TMC MLA Bikash Raychaudhuri. Days ahead of the festival, Hindutva activists outside Sealdah railway station, one of the busiest transit hubs in the city, were seen distributing free saffron flags, which they claimed were originally priced at Rs 200, to passersby. People distributing saffron flags ahead of Ram Navami in Bengal. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.Similarly, in Birbhum’s Khayrashol, TMC panchayat chief Bhupendra Ghosh personally distributed saffron flags and urged residents to celebrate the occasion. Similar campaigns flooded North Dinajpur, Paschim Bardhaman, and Purba Medinipur, where TMC workers canvassed shops and homes. In Alipurduar of North Bengal, on April 2, a Hindutva procession confronted a local Hindu woman returning home with her daughter.“They asked why I wasn’t wearing shankha-sindoor (traditional markers of a married Bengali Hindu woman),” she reportedly told neighbours. She was harassed publicly and told she should move to Bangladesh.“This is clear proof that religious fanaticism has begun. These people remain silent on real social injustices and corruption, but feel entitled to dictate what a woman should wear. We’ve demanded action from the police,” said a local, Sumit Bhattacharya.Translated from the Bengali original and with inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.
