Bengal govt must foil any bid by 'jihadi elements' to stop Saraswati Puja anywhere in state: RSS

Kolkata: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) on Wednesday said any attempt to stop Saraswati Puja celebrations anywhere in West Bengal by 'jihadi forces' must be foiled by the state government.

Asked about reports that certain people objected to the holding of the puja in some schools and colleges in parts of the state, RSS state general secretary Jishnu Basu told reporters here, "Like neighbouring Bangladesh, pure jihadi elements are conspiring to stop the puja of the goddess of learning, which must be resisted by the state government in a befitting manner."

"Jihadi forces have become the cause of worry. We don’t wish to see a situation where such elements get a foothold," he said while announcing the itinerary of Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat from Friday.

"The state government's role is to ensure the culture and heritage of Bengal does not come under attack and the rights of Hindus are protected," he said.

Basu said, "RSS does not have any fight with any government, but it only wishes that the elements, who are at work to stop puja festivities in Bengal, are tracked, their affiliation identified, and the state addresses the issue in a firm manner so that the right to worship by Hindus, like other communities, cannot be stopped by anyone."

"In politics, we don’t have any fight with any government. We have a strong organisational network in Kerala, which is ruled by the left. In West Bengal, we have a large presence, and the state is ruled by the Trinamool Congress government. No party is our enemy," he said.

While Basu did not name any place, he was alluding to reports about a row over observing Saraswati Puja in a primary school in Haringhata in Nadia district, a law college in Kolkata, and a primary school in Birbhum.

On the issue of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, he said, "It has to be taken up at the international level."

"The arrests of monks like Chinmoy Krishna Das and his continued incarceration show the present interim government is not facilitating fair justice to those who dissented against the atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh in recent times. We can only protest and hope justice will be done to the minorities to ensure their rights," he said.