Muslims of West Bengal – Forging Initiatives for Dialogue in times of Siege
Anuradha Ghosh
It is indeed strange that in West Bengal though Muslims comprise 27.01 per cent of the total population, their presence in the intellectual public sphere is almost negligible. With the shrinking democratic space and intensification of communal discord in the state, the issue of minority rights has receded to the background. The nature of clashes in the past two years, be it in Bashirhaat, Baduria, Harishchandrapur in Malda, Asansol, Naihati, clearly indicates the growing divide between the Hindus and Muslims of the state. In 2017 alone there were as many as 58 communal flare ups in different parts of the state. The progressive disempowerment of the community, lumpenization of political organizations, lack of organised resistance, the general silence of the progressive, democratic intelligentsia – both within the majority and minority communities, and the prevailing order of violence has led to the escalating growth of the Hindu right wing in the state. If in the past seven decades, West Bengal had been largely a riot-free state (not necessarily a secular state), it was largely due to the nature of political movements within the industrial working class and the peasantry. With the decline of such movements and the rise of club culture that criminalized a section of the youth, lumpenization of politics was a natural fall out effect. In such a scenario, where fear and anxiety has overtaken the community as a whole, the natural outcome is withdrawal from the mainstream in a bid to survive against all odds.
The stark invisibility of the Muslim community in the intellectual public sphere, mainstream media narratives – print, electronic or digital, as well as literary and cinematic representations calls into question the nature of secular, democratic practice in the state. It demonstrates the acute nature of the crisis and the intense sense of alienation, social isolation and marginalization that the community is subjected to. The survey titled “Status of Muslim in West Bengal” (2014), done by a study group headed by Dr P. P. Ghosh, Director of Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) of Patna, brings to light that no improvement has taken place in the conditions of Muslims of West Bengal even after 7 years of the Sachar Report. In the first phase, the survey was conducted in 325 villages and 73 urban wards, to cover 97017 (79913 rural and 17104 urban) households, while in the second phase it covers 8000 households. While Muslims largely inhabit urban spaces in India, in West Bengal, they largely live in rural spaces (83 %), where manual and menial labour work is their option. The report finds that the literacy level among Muslims is very low and a lack of educational infrastructure is very obvious in Muslim areas. Similarly, in the health sector, Muslim areas suffer from lack of adequate health facilities, access to drinking water and electricity.
After two years, the Report titled, Living Reality of Muslims in West Bengal (2016), shows clearly that Muslims in West Bengal proportionally belong to the most poor and deprived sections of the total population of the state. In rural areas, monthly income of a family of 5 members in 80% of Muslim households is about Rs. 5000/- or less, touching the poverty line, and 38.3 % of them have less than Rs. 2500/- as their monthly income, which is well below the poverty line, while only 3.8 % of the Muslim households earn more than Rs. 5000/- a month. In the education sector, the condition of Muslims is equally abysmal with 68.3% literacy rate, only 2.7 % having a graduation or post-graduation degree. The reason of such performance in the educational sector is their economic condition as well as lack of educational infrastructure in Muslim dominant areas. Poor educational and health infrastructures mark Muslim areas, making them an excluded community in West Bengal. 13.2 % of Muslim adults have a voting ID and 41 % have their own houses in their lands. The report, like many others, clearly demonstrate that the condition of Muslims in West Bengal lags behind in all levels of socio-economic progress.
This socio-economic reality of Bengali Muslims marginalizes them from the mainstream but the initiatives taken by the community, though few and far between, to create platforms of exchange is a necessary step. For instance, in Khiddirpore, a Muslim-dominant pocket of Kolkata, Muslim academics and intellectuals have come together to create a citizens group who conduct heritage walks in the area to establish the cosmopolitan character of the place that has a rich history and also break the ghettoization of Muslims as a homogenized entity with religion being the only common denominator marking their identity. Not only are some of the oldest churches located here like the St. Stephen’s Church , two century old libraries – Michael Madhusudan Library and Hem Chandra Library but also the house of the celebrated poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt, which has been given over to private builders for construction of shopping mall. Are the custodians of Bengali culture worried that Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s house would be turned to a shopping mall? Not at all. The residents of Khiddirpore are and if the construction is stalled, then we owe it to the Muslim bhadraloks residing here. Similar forays are made by documentary film-maker Mujibur Rehman who is concerned in popularising the lives of intellectuals who ushered in modern thought like Begum Roqaiya, Nazrul Islam, Rabindranath Tagore, Prafulla Chandra Ray among several others. Soumitro Ghosh is yet another documentary film-maker whose films on Muslim lives of Bengal though commendable, have largely Muslim audiences. The little magazine movement in West Bengal demonstrates the assertion of Bengali Muslim intelligentsia. The diversification of content in Eid special publications creates yet another space for individual expression by members of the community. Newspapers like Kalam in Bengali, Azad Hind in Urdu caters to the needs of primarily a Muslim readership. In all these different kinds of endeavours, the objective is to break free from stereotypical images that are in circulation and forge new ties – both within and outside the community. How long can such initiatives go unrecognized? How long can we turn a blind eye to the living reality of Muslims of West Bengal?
1. For a summary of the report see “Seven years after Sachar Report, no change in condition of Muslims in WB: New Study”, June 1, 2014.
2. The foundation stone of this Anglican church was laid on 6 January 1844 by the Governor-General along with the Venerable Archdeacon and Rev. Thomas. It was opened to the public in 1846.
Anuradha Ghosh is Associate Professor, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi
