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In Birbhum, As Muslims Cross Over to the BJP, Violence Erupts
In the village of Makhra in West Bengal's Birbhum district, Anjana bibi breaks down.
Her brother Taushiq, 17 years old, was shot and killed, she told us , in a raid by a Trinamool Congress mob on October 27, which was sparked by a dramatic shift in political loyalties.
Makhra is a village almost entirely of Muslims, loyal to the Trinamool. But three weeks ago, like several villages in this Muslim belt, it made a surprise switch over to the BJP.
Her brother Taushiq, 17 years old, was shot and killed, she told us , in a raid by a Trinamool Congress mob on October 27, which was sparked by a dramatic shift in political loyalties.
Makhra is a village almost entirely of Muslims, loyal to the Trinamool. But three weeks ago, like several villages in this Muslim belt, it made a surprise switch over to the BJP.
In the village they tell us that after the Lok Sabha elections, in which
the BJP won 17 % of the vote in West Bengal - its best ever performance
- they began to see the party in a different light. "Only the BJP can
help us. We are not scared of Narendra Modi," says Sheikh Anar ul Haq, a
newly minted BJP functionary in Makhra.
They claim they left the Trinamool Congress because the village pradhan, a Trinamool man, was corrupt and had been siphoning off NREGA money.
Rahul Sinha, state president of the BJP, told us that a rattled Trinamool is using police to recapture Muslim villages that have slipped from its grasp.
"First the police raided the villages to empty our menfolk, then the Trinamool mobs came to regain control from the BJP," he said.
Two hours before the Trinamool mobs came, a police party had entered Makhra. But the Superintendent of Police of Birbhum, Alok Rajoria, told us that the Makhra raid was a follow up on a raid on the nearby village of Chowmandalpur - another BJP controlled Muslim village - where they had heard bombs were being made.
The village attacked the raiding party with bombs and fire arms; three policemen were wounded, one badly. That, Mr Rajoria said, was the only reason for the series of raids.
But Prabhakar Tiwari, the state BJP Vice President, claims his party was not involved in any bomb making. "In Bengal only those in power make bombs," he said, "because they never get caught."
But in Makhra, there is disturbing evidence that the BJP's new found supporters carry with them the violent political culture of West Bengal.
Muzammil, a 43-year-old Trinamool supporter from Makhra who fled the village a month earlier, was killed by BJP supporters when trying to return on the day of the raid. But because Makhra is now a 'BJP village', Muzammil's family is under pressure to claim he had switched to the BJP at the last minute, so that his death could be ascribed to the Trinamool mob.
The pressure was evident as I interviewed Muzammil's brother, Monirul, as to who killed Muzammil. He answered nervously saying he was not sure. Halfway through the recording, he was snatched away by a relative. Shockingly, moments later, a group came rushing towards the village entrance bearing Monirul. He was semi-conscious, foam emerging from his mouth. We were told he had consumed poison. He was rushed to the hospital in a police van. Later on, we were told he is out of danger, but his near-death experience is testimony to the violence and fear accompanying the political shifts unfolding in Birbhum's Muslim belt.
Given this fluid scenario, it would be simplistic to conclude that the Muslims of Birbhum have suddenly developed a great love for the BJP. As factional wars within the Trinamool Congress break out, those denied power are looking for political alternatives. But their selection of the BJP - despite their religious identity - shows that the saffron party is being recognised as a major political force in the state.
They claim they left the Trinamool Congress because the village pradhan, a Trinamool man, was corrupt and had been siphoning off NREGA money.
Rahul Sinha, state president of the BJP, told us that a rattled Trinamool is using police to recapture Muslim villages that have slipped from its grasp.
"First the police raided the villages to empty our menfolk, then the Trinamool mobs came to regain control from the BJP," he said.
Two hours before the Trinamool mobs came, a police party had entered Makhra. But the Superintendent of Police of Birbhum, Alok Rajoria, told us that the Makhra raid was a follow up on a raid on the nearby village of Chowmandalpur - another BJP controlled Muslim village - where they had heard bombs were being made.
The village attacked the raiding party with bombs and fire arms; three policemen were wounded, one badly. That, Mr Rajoria said, was the only reason for the series of raids.
But Prabhakar Tiwari, the state BJP Vice President, claims his party was not involved in any bomb making. "In Bengal only those in power make bombs," he said, "because they never get caught."
But in Makhra, there is disturbing evidence that the BJP's new found supporters carry with them the violent political culture of West Bengal.
Muzammil, a 43-year-old Trinamool supporter from Makhra who fled the village a month earlier, was killed by BJP supporters when trying to return on the day of the raid. But because Makhra is now a 'BJP village', Muzammil's family is under pressure to claim he had switched to the BJP at the last minute, so that his death could be ascribed to the Trinamool mob.
The pressure was evident as I interviewed Muzammil's brother, Monirul, as to who killed Muzammil. He answered nervously saying he was not sure. Halfway through the recording, he was snatched away by a relative. Shockingly, moments later, a group came rushing towards the village entrance bearing Monirul. He was semi-conscious, foam emerging from his mouth. We were told he had consumed poison. He was rushed to the hospital in a police van. Later on, we were told he is out of danger, but his near-death experience is testimony to the violence and fear accompanying the political shifts unfolding in Birbhum's Muslim belt.
Given this fluid scenario, it would be simplistic to conclude that the Muslims of Birbhum have suddenly developed a great love for the BJP. As factional wars within the Trinamool Congress break out, those denied power are looking for political alternatives. But their selection of the BJP - despite their religious identity - shows that the saffron party is being recognised as a major political force in the state.
