Durga idol immersion row: BJP hails Calcutta HC's order, says court has dampened 'communal' Mamata's divisive politics

Kolkata: Hailing the Calcutta High Court order on immersion of Durga idols, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said the state government’s attempts “to divide the people on religious lines and reap electoral benefits out of it” had been defeated. “The same thing had happened last year also, but the government did not learn any lessons from it. This year also the state government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tried to divide the people on religious lines, but it has been foiled. It is really sad that the Hindus in Bengal have no religious rights. They have to depend on the judiciary to celebrate Durga Puja,” he told reporters.

The high court on Thursday allowed the immersion of Durga idols on all days from Vijaya Dashami (30 September), including on Muharram (1 October), and directed the West Bengal government to make necessary security arrangements for the same. “We have serious doubts whether this government is for entire Bengal or a specific community, which accounts for 27 percent of the state’s population,” Ghosh said. The West Bengal unit of the RSS too hailed the high court verdict. “It is really unfortunate that the Hindus of the state have to knock on the doors of the judiciary to celebrate Durga Puja. The Hindus no longer have any faith in the state administration and the ruling party (Trinamool Congress). The ruling party is depriving the Hindus of their basic rights, only for the sake of appeasement of a particular community,” RSS general secretary of south Bengal Jishnu Basu said.