KOLKATA: The rise in reports of atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government has sparked protests in India with many Hindu organisations joining in. The groundswell of opposition is in West Bengal, which shares a 2,200-km border with Bangladesh.
Organisations like the Hindu Jagran Manch have taken the obvious route of holding protests outside the offices of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata’s Park Circus area, while many organisations are working in the shadows “to strengthen the Hindu community”.
According to its senior members, the Hindu Jagran Manch aims to “enable social harmony and Hindu unity, propagate in public interest Hindu myths, and rehabilitate the victims of love jihad,” among other things. The Hindu Jagran Manch had hit the headlines in West Bengal last year when it announced plans to hold 5,000 processions on the occasion of Ram Navami, leading to fears of communal flare-ups.
However, the developments across the border have propelled others to start building up strength to fight back against atrocities. Among them are the Bengal Volunteers, an organisation that was registered in 2019, but takes its inspiration from the original organisation that played a key role in the violent fight-back against British rule.
“Just as the original Bengal Volunteers was formed in 1928 as an active revolutionary association under the leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, we too are inspired by its philosophy,” Animitra Chakraborty, the general secretary of Bengal Volunteers, told The Sunday Guardian.
According to its office-bearers, Bengal Volunteers is a heritage revival organization serving the Bangla speaking areas including East Bengal. Historically, Bengal Volunteers was formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as part of Indian National Congress to serve as its volunteer corps. The current revival organization is not affiliated with any political party or political ideology, but claims to serve all the peoples of both West and East Bengal.
“We do not recognise Bangladesh. For us, all that matters is the welfare of the Hindu community in both West and East Bengal, wherever they face atrocities” Chakraborty said.
According to the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav website run by the Union Ministry of Culture, the Bengal Volunteers emerged as an underground revolutionary group opposing British rule in India, operating from its inception in 1928 until Indian Independence.
This group was formed during the 1928 Kolkata session of the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose. Major Satya Gupta was appointed as the head of the group, with Subhas Chandra Bose serving as the General Officer Commanding (GOC). The Bengal Volunteers continued their activities beyond the Kolkata Congress session and soon transformed into an active revolutionary association.
In the early 1930s, members of the Bengal Volunteers decided to launch “Operation Freedom”. Initially, this operation was initiated to protest against police brutality in various Bengal jails. In August 1930, the revolutionary Bengal Volunteers devised a plan to assassinate the then Inspector General of Police, Lowman, who was visiting the Medical School Hospital. On 29 August 1930, Benoy Basu, dressed in traditional Bengali attire, bypassed security and fired at Lowman at close range, killing him instantly, while Superintendent of Police Hodson was seriously injured. The next target of the Bengal Volunteers was the Inspector-General of Prisons, Col N.S. Simpson, notorious for his harsh treatment of prisoners. The revolutionaries not only planned to assassinate him but also intended to strike fear within British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building, known as the Writers’ Building, in Dalhousie Square, Kolkata. On 8 December 1930, Benoy Basu, along with Dinesh Gupta and Badal Gupta, dressed in European attire, entered the Writers’ Building and killed Simpson.
The Bengal Volunteers, under the leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, made a significant contribution to the Indian freedom movement. Their actions created a substantial impact on the British administration, forcing a shift in policies regarding administrative operations. This continued until the year 1947.
“Inspired by the philosophy of Netaji and Benoy, Badal, Dinesh, recently, Bengal Volunteers organised a Bengal Veer programme, a community security officers training camp in south Bengal. A number of select trainees participated in the eight-day programme where professional security trainers with combat experience provided training in a number of critical areas such as security architecture, psychological profiling, personnel formations during violent aggression, tactical training in setting up fortifications and other defensive measures against mob charge, and general hand to hand defensive combat. The trainees were pre-selected based on psychological qualifiers and physical aptitude,” said Animitra Chakraborty.
According to the organisers, the architects of the “Bengal Veer” program took full account of the predicament of the hapless Hindu minority during the Kashmiri Hindu genocide where the instruments of the State—the police and security forces—were unable to protect the affected, resulting in Hindu extermination in the Valley.
“One of the most critical lessons learnt from the Kashmiri Hindu genocide is that the community has to train and build its own security, and cannot rely on the security instruments of the State. The similar predicament is observed in the recent events in Bangladesh,” they said.
The participants in the eight-day programme underwent rigorous training and were taught the basics of Tool, Tactic and Personnel. “From the beginning, the basic thought procedure got importance—to defeat a criminal, one must think like a criminal,” said Chakraborty.
“At the outset, the inability to think like the aggressor was found to be a major psychological deficit among the Hindu trainees. Almost none of the trainees had ever thought of what their tormentors thought and why they committed acts of aggression against the hapless population. In due course of the training, the attentive trainees started to grasp the need to profile the aggressors and made steady progress. The trainees then mapped the architecture that was made compulsory for them to attain,” added Chakraborty
The training consisted of two modes—theoretical in classroom and physical, consisting of a rigorous regimen of exercises and practices including running, pushups, squat, and other forms. The participants also received cyber-security training in handling secure communications, signalling and coordination. The participants were training in leveraging Google maps and VPN for securing ground operations in personnel mobilization and evading enemy intrusion.
The tactical training consisted of 24×7 patrolling including organizing effective night patrols, intelligence gathering, signalling, first response, security cordon, fortifications against hostile mob charge and defensive ambush. In addition to engagement training, the participants also received first aid and primary medical care, and survival tactics in hostile or remote areas with reduced ration and medical supplies. The eight-day training culminated into investiture of the trainees as community security officers who returned to their communities to form and train platoon strength general security ranks to secure and defend their respective local communities. The organisers of Bengal Volunteers denied any link with either the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. “We have no illusions,” Animitra Chakraborty told The Sunday Guardian.
Senior RSS leaders in Kolkata too professed ignorance about the Bengal Volunteers, but quoted Dattatreya Hosabale, Sarkaryavah, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, as saying that the atrocities being committed against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh by Islamic extremists, including attacks, killings, looting, arson, and inhumane persecution of women, are “alarming”.
“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) strongly condemns these acts…
“RSS also urges the government of Bharat to continue with every possible effort to prevent the ongoing atrocities against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh and take necessary steps to garner international support in this regard. At this critical juncture, Bharat, the global community, and international institutions must stand with the victims of Bangladesh and express their solidarity. It is necessary to demand respective governments to make possible efforts in this regard is necessary for global peace and fraternity,” the RSS said in a statement.
When contacted for comment, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rahul Sinha told The Sunday Guardian: “There is no doubt that the atrocities across the border are also seen in our side because of Mamata Banerjee’s policy of appeasement. Lots of organisations are coming up to fight for the Sanatani samaj. We, as a party, remain at the forefront of any protest against atrocities on