A day after a controversy erupted over a ghar vapsi of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Birbhum district of West Bengal, the police on Thursday registered complaints against senior VHP leaders Praveen Togadia and Jugal Kishore for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and creating enmity between communities.
“Two complaints have been filed at the Rampurhat station. One was filed by Bhim Murmu and the other by Ukil Mardi,” Koteswara Rao Nalavath, Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Rampurhat, told The Hindu. In their complaints, Mr. Murmu and Mr. Mardi referred to the VHP events held on Wednesday in Rampurhat and in Kharmadanga village. The VHP leadership claimed that there was no ghar vapsi organised at the event in which Mr. Kishore spoke in support of the ceremony. “It is not only the responsibility of the VHP but every citizen to unite society, to bring those back to the fold who have strayed from it, to have ghar vapsi ,” Mr. Kishore had said.
Mr. Togadia, who spoke at a public rally at Rampurhat,had highlighted the issue of “infiltration” from Bangladesh. “The Muslim population has been rising, while the Hindu population is declining. If this trend continues, West Bengal will soon become part of Bangladesh,” he had said.
Tribals plan protestMeanwhile, Birbhum Adivasi Gaota, the biggest tribal rights organisation in south-central Bengal, said it is launching a protest. “On Monday and Tuesday, we will submit a memorandum to the district administration urging it to stop such conversions to maintain peace,” its convener Sunil Soren said.
