Videos showing a mob vandalising public property went viral, with social media claims alleging that a Muslim group targeted Hindu-owned businesses.
KOLKATA: As the 2026 Assembly elections approach in West Bengal, competitive communalism by the two main political parties – the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – is leading to tensions and violence in different parts of the State.
On Wednesday, during a time when Muslims are observing Ramadan, police said that a preparatory rally for Ram Navami passed a local mosque in Mothabari in Malda district. A section of people alleged that fire crackers were thrown near the mosque.
On Thursday, as the news spread, people blocked local roads. When police tried to lift the blockade, stones were allegedly pelted at the police and their vehicle ransacked. Police used baton charges and lobbed tear gas shells to control the mob. The mob then allegedly ransacked public vehicles and shops in the area. The orders were passed when fresh protests erupted on Friday and were quickly controlled by police.
Videos of the violence went viral on social media.
The videos showed a mob marching on the roads and vandalising public property. It was claimed on social media that a Muslim mob is selectively targeting business establishments owned by Hindus in the area. To stop the spread of incendiary videos following the clashes between the two communities, the authorities suspended internet services and issued prohibitory orders in the Mothabari area and surrounding areas in Malda.
The videos were shared by several politicians, including BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari and BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar. Sharing the video on X, BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the shops of Hindus were being selectively targeted by certain miscreants at Mothabari. He urged the senior police officials to take strong action to prevent the attacks.
Adhikari accused the West Bengal Government and the ruling Trinamool Congress of preparing the blueprint for “Greater Bangladesh” through appeasement politics.
Sharing the videos of the alleged communal attack on Hindus, the Union Minister of State for Education and Development of North Eastern Region, Sukanta Majumdar, wrote: “Horrific scenes from Dakshin Malda’s Mothabari—Hindu homes & shops vandalized by a violent mob. And what do @MamataOfficial and her mute spectator @WBPolice do? SILENCE. This is the cost of her shameless appeasement politics—lawlessness, fear & injustice for Hindus!”
One of the videos shared by Majumdar shows a violent mob vandalising shops without any provocation and carrying Islamic flags. Another video shows vandalised property and houses.
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya also shared a video claiming to show the communal violence in Mothabari. Posting the video on X, Malviya wrote, “Communal violence erupts in Mothabari, Dakshin Malda—mobs of Muslims attack Hindu homes,shops, and vehicles without provocation. Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is in London, indifferent to the chaos unfolding back home.”
On Friday, a division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De at the Calcutta High Court, responding to a PIL filed by a lawyer-cum-BJP leader Kaustav Bagchi seeking the court’s intervention in the matter, sought an “action taken” report on the incident from the District Magistrate and police superintendent in Malda.
Bagchi also made an appeal for the court’s direction for the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel at Mothabari till the time the situation is totally under control.
“Right now, the situation is under control. The administration has called for a meeting of a Shanti (peace) committee where people of both communities will be present. We have appealed for peace to everyone. We have asked people not to pay heed to rumours on social media,” said Sabina Yasmin, Trinamool Congress MLA from Mothabari, speaking to The Sunday Guardian over phone.
Meanwhile, the BJP claimed that a delegation of their party was not allowed to enter the Mothabari area on Friday. “Their targets were Hindus. That is why I feel that CAPF deployment is the only solution to control the situation, as police have failed to contain the vandalism and hooliganism. The state police personnel were acting like helpless puppets: just pleading with the miscreants with folded hands. The miscreants took control of the main roads and freely vandalized several vehicles,” the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari added.
“Since yesterday, the situation has been tense in Mothabari in Malda. Hindu temples and houses were ransacked. I have spoken to Governor C V Ananda Bose and reached out to the office of Home Minister Amit Shah. Now the situation seems to be under control, but the question is why such incidents are recurring in Bengal,” said BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.
Observers say that the intensifying rivalry between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has led to both parties increasingly leveraging religious identity to consolidate their voter bases.
Says Biswanath Chakraborty, political observer: “This dynamic is shifting the State’s political landscape from its historical focus on class struggle and secular ideology toward a more polarized, religion-driven discourse, which is fuelling tensions and sporadic violence.”
He said that the TMC, under Mamata Banerjee, has traditionally positioned itself as a protector of minority interests, read the Muslim population, which constitutes more than 30 per cent of the State’s electorate and holds sway in roughly 125-130 of the 294 Assembly seats.
The BJP, too, has aggressively spoken out for Hindus, capitalizing on communal incidents—like the recent unrest in Bangladesh involving attacks on Hindus—to stoke fears of demographic change and rally Hindu voters.
This competition has created a volatile environment where both sides accuse each other of fanning communal flames, often leading to clashes between their supporters.
Observers say violence is being driven by several factors tied to this communal contest.
First, the struggle for control over local resources and political turf, especially in rural areas governed by panchayats, amplifies tensions. Political loyalty, a longstanding fault line in West Bengal, now intersects with religious identity, turning party rivalries into communal confrontations.
For instance, incidents like the Holi clashes in Birbhum in March, where more than 20 people were injured, reflect how local disputes can quickly escalate when framed in religious terms.
Second, the BJP’s rhetoric, such as Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari’s claims of TMC aligning with “radical Islamist forces,” and TMC’s counter-moves, like Banerjee asserting her Hindu credentials, deepen mistrust and provoke grassroots aggression.
Third, the entry of parties like the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad Muslimeen (AIMIM), planning to contest all 294 seats, threatens to fragment the Muslim vote, prompting TMC to double down on its minority outreach while BJP intensifies its Hindu consolidation efforts—both strategies risking further polarization.
Experts say that historically, West Bengal’s political violence—rooted in the Naxalite movement of the 1970s and Left Front-era turf wars—has been normalized, but the current shift toward communalism marks a new phase. Unlike past ideological battles, today’s violence often flares around religious flashpoints, such as festivals or cross-border issues, and is exacerbated by the State’s failure to curb hate speech or enforce law and order impartially.
Analysts note that this “competitive communalism” is edging Bengal toward a tipping point, where electoral strategies are increasingly reliant on division rather than development, setting the stage for heightened conflict as the 2026 elections near. While no single party