Bengal Tension: Violent Protests for Waqf Divide Communities.....

Bengal Tension: Violent Protests for Waqf Divide Communities

A wave of rising tensions and riots recently affected many places in West Bengal over the management and control of Waqf properties. From peaceful protests demanding accountability and transparency from their community members, the situation changed to violent form, which fueled further aroused communal tensions leaving serious worries about law and order, governance, and social harmony. 

Mismanagement and illegal encroachment

of waqf property-assets supposed to be preserved and used for a welfare purpose for the Muslim community make the prime-est possible problem. 

Those properties are made through donation for religious, educational, and charitable purposes, under the Waqf Board, which boards a statutory body. The board has long been burdened with allegations of corruption, non-transparency, and political involvement. 

Those have made the community, especially youth groups and local leaders, increasingly agitated at seeing their religious assets exploited for personal profit. Recently, it spelled havoc into large-scale protests in districts like Howrah, Murshidabad, and North 24 Parganas. 

Their problem was that they started gathering outside the Waqf Board’s offices, demanding audits and dismissals of corrupt officials, but as has happened elsewhere often, such peaceful assemblies soon turned into violent conflicts between protesters and policemen and counter-groups. Some shops suffered extensive damage, dozens of vehicles were set ablaze, and curfews were imposed within sensitive areas. It injured many and arrested a number; it fueled tension even further.

All possible communal fault lines, which have always been sensitive in the sociopolitical scenario of West Bengal, become accentuated by this unrest. People in Hindu nationalist groups seized this issue to reproach the government of appeasement, against which Muslim leaders are also divided-some pleading for peace while others inflaming the protest with fiery speeches. Besides, it has turned into another flashpoint in this politically troubled times as opposition parties have accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of mismanagement and favoritism.

TMC government, on the other hand, promises to probe the allegations and restore peace. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the violence, noted the necessity of unification, and warned against disintegrating communities for political benefits. She ordered an inquiry into the workings of the Waqf Board and promised reforms, but critics said those were too little and too late.

Violent incidents, and protests targeting Muslims, warrant extra strain on already frail inter-community relations, particularly in mixed neighborhoods where residents of both communities eye each other with suspicion. 

The intervention of local peace committees and civil society groups to mediate and soothe tensions cannot alleviate hurt, for deep wounds have been created. For many, the Waqf protests represent a far larger expression of injustice, neglect, and alienation on the part of a community that has been simmering with discontent for many years.

In the opinion of those who are best informed, the solution cannot be one of police or political statements. Quite immediate is the need for sweeping reforms in Waqf Board governance, community engagement, and independent oversight, so that Waqf property serves its purpose. Much-needed community talks led by local individuals trusted by both sides and conceded by the government are a sine qua-non to restoring trust and de-escalating existing tensions.

The Bengali Waqf properties are an ongoing assault on state responsibility and accountability for Waqf properties, triggering deeper social fissures. These are issues the state must grapple with, although bringing peace, putting justice in place, and not allowing divisive politics to further tear the community apart should come first on the agenda.