BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi has played up the refugee-infiltrator divide while discussing illegal migration from Bangladesh, saying Hindus seeking shelter from persecution should be treated as refugees and Muslims were mere infiltrators looking for livelihood or coming to cause trouble.
Party insiders felt this would help Modi get more votes for the party in Assam and West Bengal by playing on ‘anti-infiltration sentiments’.
But in Kolkata’s scores of refugee colonies that sprung up after the Partition, Modi’s pitch seems to have gone waste, with no tangible impact evident on the day of polling.
The inmates of these colonies are no longer refugees — many have attained success in life through thrift, hard work and education with good careers in trade and professions.
But they are still acutely conscious of their ‘East Bengali’ roots and even youngsters will no real link to a long-lost homeland speak the dialects of their forefathers.
Bangladeshi sociologist Gholam Sarwar Khan, who teaches in Sdyney, found the ‘retention of East Bengali identity’ rather strong in these colonies.
Shops with names like Dacca Stores and Comilla Hardware Stores are commonplace.
In Bijoygarh, one such huge colony that falls under the Jadavpur parliament constituency, polling on Monday was brisk and agents of both Left Front and Trinamul Congress were seen outside booths.
But the BJP was conspicuous by its absence — hardly any polling agent could be seen in the area and even Modi-centered posters could be found only in an area or two in Bijoygarh.
“The Communists were always strong here since they build up a huge support base through pro-refugee movement,” says Arin Sen, a former Left leader.
“Modi is not a factor here, will never be.”
Only once did Bijoygarh elect a BJP councillor — in 2010, when Malay Majumder won because of intense factionalism in the CPI (M).
But Majumder is now in Trinamul Congress and that leaves the BJP with hardly any presence in the area.
“Some of our people turned to Mamata Banerji when she came up with a regional appeal but her popularity is falling everyday,” said Sen, who now works in a construction firm.
The story is no different in Netaji Nagar, Ramgarh or any other refugee colony in southern Kolkata, usually the bastion of East Bengal refugees.
“We still value our association with Bangladesh, the land of our forefathers. Our language and culture is the same and can never be divided,” says engineering consultant Dipten Chatterji who lives in Bagha Jatin.
Chatterji was upset with the West Bengal chief minister for refusing to sign the Teesta water sharing deal.
“I go up the Teesta in Sikkim for my work and I know that normal flow in the river has to be maintained,” he said.
“Modi or Mamata, there is no point attacking Bangladesh when it is ruled by Sheikh Hasina, who is India’s friend and has done so much for us.”
That sentiment pervades the colonies where Sheikh Hasina is very popular.
“Mamata Banerji is nothing compared to her,” said one in the crowd.
Actually Mamata’s opposition to Teesta and land boundary agreement has not gone down well with these inmates of these refugee colonies.
They feel her position is denying India a chance to develop strong bilateral relations .
Modi’s anti-infiltration tirade has also drawn no response.
“These issues don’t work, how do we know who is refugee and who is infiltrator,” says Anish Biswas. “We want industry here and jobs.”
It might in some border districts of West Bengal where Hindus have been forced to come after facing attacks in Bangladesh in recent years.
Barasat is one such constituency where the BJP is fielding magician P C Sircar, who plays on his East Bengali identity to strike a chord with the electorate.
Modi’s promise to treat Hindus sympathetically is seen by many such post 1971-refugees as a possible chance to get Indian citizenship which is legally not possible now.
But if they are voters already, by means fair or foul, why should they care!
In some industrial areas of West Bengal, with high concentration of Hindi-speaking populations, like in Asansol or Serampore, the BJP hopes are better.
“They may get many votes in these places,” says businessman V Chandrasekhar.
Which is why Modi has repeatedly campaigned in these constituencies for BJP’s star candidates like Bollywood music guru Bappi Lahiri or Babul Supriyo.
Come May 16 and one will see whether the Modi effect has come to West Bengal or has been limited to pockets.
But it has surely not made an impact on the huge mass of post-Partition refugees.
Source: Bd news24
