Bengal Guv takes to streets for communal harmony as cops stop BJP MP from reaching puja venue

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday took to the streets and talked to people as he went by assessing security measures in the city during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.

Following the Ram Navami clashes and Calcutta High Court’s directive to the state to seek paramilitary force, Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated with caution and strict security arrangements were in place in three localities of concern.

Setting a precedent, Bose began with a puja at a Hanuman temple on Kolkata’s northern fringe in the Lake Town locality. “Let this Hanuman Jayanti be an occasion for all of us to dedicate ourselves to peace and harmony in society. This should be a turning point… Bengal will unitedly decide, in the presence of the glory of the divine blessings of Hanumanji….” he said.

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Before heading for Posta in north Kolkata, the governor visited Ekbalpore in south Kolkata, predominantly a Muslim locality. There, he talked to the locals and told reporters that Bengal would set the trend for peace and harmony in society. “The feeling what I get from the common man is that they want Ishwar Allah Tere Naam, Sabko Sanmati De Bhagwan… that is the mood among the people,” he said.

In north Kolkata, the governor stopped at a roadside sattu-sharbat (gram flour stirred in water, with salt added) shop. He interacted with locals and police officials on duty.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee was restricted by the police from reaching her destination in Bansberia to offer puja. Chatterjee squatted on the road with supporters and chanted Hanuman Chalisa.

Chatterjee later tweeted, saying that when a regional MP can be prevented from attending puja, and religious ritual, in her constituency, then it could be assessed how the Mamata government is trying to end the religious rituals of common Hindus in the state. Priyanka Tibrewal, another state BJP leader, couldn’t make it to Rishra. The locality had witnessed sporadic violent incidents during Ram Navami.

BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari participated in the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations at three venues. Adhikari said he took part in the procession as a nationalist and not as a BJP MLA.