By Arun Srivastava
Weaponisation of the governance and criminalisation of the cultural ethos are fast taking a diabolical character in Bengal in the last two months of BJP rule in the state.. The actions of the state government and the daily policy announcements of the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari suggest that the BJP government is out to eliminate any amount of dissent and neutralize any opposition to the state government.
This was manifest in recent encounter of Prabhas Mandal the alleged rape accused of 11year old girl in Baruipur. Bengal had witnessed dreaded encounters and extrajudicial killings of Naxalite cadres and activists in seventies. The encounters at Maidan and Barasat (Nov 1970) in which eleven young activists were rounded up from a secret meeting at the Maidan, Beliaghata (Nov 1970) Operation Steeplechase (1972) which was jointly carried out by Bengal police and military are still fresh in the minds of the people of the state.
Those were the encounters of political nature. But encounter of Prabhas was purely a criminal act carried out by the polarized Kolkata police. Basically an “encounter” reflects a fundamental trait of fascist rule. It undermines constitutional rights, institutionalizes state violence, and establishes an environment where the state, especially police institution treats itself superior to law, beyond the legal framework. Fascist regimes prioritize state power over individual rights. State violence is often justified as a tool for “national rebirth” or security.
The Baruipur encounter was the first criminal police encounter, obviously enacted at the direction of the political masters since the BJP came to power in May 2026. It draws comparisons to police actions seen particularly in Uttar Pradesh, where Thokana (shot dead point blank by police) has the state sanction. Under democratic societies governed by constitutional principles and the rule of law, no individual can be deprived of life without a fair, transparent legal proceeding. Law enforcement agencies must operate within the law and will be answerable to the judiciary. But for BJP government of Bengal which was voted to power by the Bhadralok and middle class these are an alien concept. The use of extrajudicial executions is often a primary tool in authoritarian and fascist systems of governance.
Social activists and legal experts argue that the encounter has shattered the state’s cultural identity and democratic values. Political violence used to take in the state but the encounter underlines that state has moved away from the rule of law to Uttar Pradesh’ model of policing that rules the Jungle Raj. Parliamentarian Mahua Moitra, condemned the encounter as a troubling shift in the state’s policing methods, warning against adopting an extrajudicial “Uttar Pradesh 2.0” model. The state has been emulating Amit Shah’s Gujarat model. It includes aggressive law enforcement tactics, anti-crime crackdowns and strict police actions, which the ruling leadership in Bengal frames as a “zero-tolerance” approach to crime and a step toward a “fear-free” environment, but which opposition describes as authoritarian.
CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya saw shadows of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in encounter, “When an accused is killed in a staged encounter, that’s not justice. It’s short-circuiting of justice. And when such encounters become government policy, we are living under mafia rule, not under rule of law…. Amit Shah launched the encounter raj in Gujarat, Yogi Adityanath produced the combined model of bulldozer and encounter raj in Uttar Pradesh, now Samrat Chaudhary and Suvendu Adhikari are applying these models in Bihar and West Bengal”.
Dipankar further says; Be it West Bengal, Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh all are double-engine driven BJP-ruled states. One can still read the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao slogan behind buses and trucks on India’s highways. The reality on the ground however becomes increasingly insecure for young girls with every passing day. Perpetrators of rapes get routinely rewarded. Promoters of rape culture dominate the public discourse across institutions and media and social media platforms.
He however seeks to know, “Is the Manusmriti mindset becoming the ruling ideology in India 2026? Is rape and murder becoming the Uniform Code, civil or otherwise? Whatever happened to the tryst with destiny we had made and the pledge we redeemed on 15 August 1947? Whatever is happening to the Constitution we the people of India adopted on 26 November 1949? Staged encounter is short-circuiting of justice. And when such encounters become government policy, we are living under mafia rule, not under rule of law.
It has now been two months of BJP rule in Bengal. For the people of Bengal, these two months have been like a crash course in the kind of hate, lies, vandalism and violence, that defines the ‘new normal’ of BJP rule anywhere in India. From bulldozer to encounter raj to mob lynching and targeted attacks on Muslims and Christians, we have seen it all in the course of just the first two months. But these two months of saffron rule has conjured the common people, the slum dwellers and labourers to come to the streets to protest against the criminalisation of the society.
As in other BJP ruled states, the churches and Christian religious places have also come under the attack of saffron goons. Bangiyo Christiyo Pariseba (BCP) on July 8 through a press release has pointed out how their religious places are being targeted. It said “Over the past month, a series of deeply concerning, well-orchestrated, and barbaric attacks have been carried out against the Christian community, churches, and their religious institutions across various districts of West Bengal. The patterns of these extremist assaults are visibly interconnected: violent attacks are launched first, and subsequently, malicious counter-cases alleging “forced conversion” are filed alongside viral propaganda videos. This strategy is deliberately designed to legally cripple the victimized Christian community and manipulate public narrative.
BCP cited three specific incidents that took place in the month of July. In Paschim Medinipur (Palbari Area) on July 4, 2026 during a private, domestic thanksgiving prayer service and reception dinner organized for a newlywed couple, a group of extremists launched a sudden assault. Women were physically harassed, and their traditional marital symbols (Sindoor and Shakha-Pala) were forcibly wiped off and destroyed. Inspite of acting against the desperadoes the Kotwali Police Station IC took the church’s pastor, Rev. Anup Ghosh, into custody on baseless allegations.
At Purba Bardhaman (Katwa Subdivision) on July 5, 2026 during the sacred Sunday morning worship at ‘Grace Church’ in Faridpur Colony, a violent mob armed with sticks forcibly entered the premises, causing widespread vandalism and looting. Shockingly, the local police failed to prevent this attack despite a formal preventive complaint (Apprehension Complaint) being officially filed at the Katwa Police Station just the previous day (July 4).
In South 24 Parganas barely three days back a newly constructed church in the Buri Bot Tala area of Subhas Gram was attacked by an unknown mob chanting religious slogans. The sacred Cross installed on the rooftop was completely demolished, and the church doors were severely damaged. When the victims approached the Sonarpur Police Station to lodge a complaint, the duty officer refused to provide a General Diary (GD) number or an official acknowledgment, ordering them to leave.
In protest against the rise in attacks on Christian religious places, BCP has organised peaceful demonstration in Kolkata on July 14. The BCP will hand over a memorandum to Governor and Chief Minister demanding the immediate restoration of constitutional religious freedom and security. It also demanded immediate, fair, and independent investigation into each incident, and the swift arrest of the actual perpetrators involved in church vandalism and looting.
Their demand include deploy adequate security measures to restore a sense of safety among minority Christian families and their places of worship. Shockingly Amit Shah who was in Calcutta on July 6, did not condemn the horrific incident of rape or attack on Christian religious places. On the contrary he lauded Suvendu Adhikari; “I am fully confident that under the leadership of Adhikari, the commitment of building a ‘Sonar Bangla’ will be fulfilled.” (IPA Service)
