By Arun Srivastava
The Bengali middle-class, particularly the bhadralok, that had enormously responded to Narendra Modi’s call to defeat Mamata Banerjee and elect BJP for a change, is repenting its electoral choice now. The meat and fish-eating Bengali Hindu now perceives the Hindutva godman Dhirendra Shastri’s homily as a part of the design to destroy Bengali identity and culture, which the RSS and Gujarat-centric BJP leadership has been targeting for long. Dhirendra, alias Bageshwar Baba, is known to frequently voice RSS views. BJP-RSS has been using him to taste the public mood. Bageshwar’s assertion that India is already a Hindu Rashtra is an example.
Bageshwar treats himself as a demi-god, an individual who has attained divinity. Obviously, it is expected of him that he must know the various sects and panths of Hinduism. How does he not know that his advice was against the Shakta tradition, under which goddesses Durga and Kali are offered goat meat (mutton) and fish as bhog (sacred food offerings)? Calling these practices hypocritical is certainly not just a design to reject Bengal’s unique spiritual heritage, but also a deliberate attempt to finish off Bengali culture and identity.
Across the political spectrum in Bengal, Bageshwar’s comment has been viewed as an attempt by an outsider religious figure to impose North-Indian, strictly vegetarian religious frameworks onto a region with its own established, diverse customs. Basically, this has been the reason why West Bengal BJP leaders, even the state president, have publicly distanced themselves from his statement, emphasizing that neither religious nor political figures have the right to dictate the food habits of Bengalis, citing historical figures like Swami Vivekananda who respected local culinary traditions.
Traditional animal sacrifice (bali) and offering meat or fish as bhog (sacred offering) to the deities is an age-old ritual performed devotedly at prominent shrines like the Kalighat, Dakshineshwar, and Tarapith temples. Hence, Bengalis of all political hues are equally miffed at this deliberate act of Bageshwar to diminish Bengali Hindu rituals. This is for the first time in the political history of Bengal that all the political parties have come on the same page for criticising the North Indian monk for his unsavoury comments. Never ever in the past any religious or political leader has called non-vegetarian Bengalis as “pakhandis” (sinners).
The Bengalis are so enraged at Bageshwar’s comment that at least ten FIRs have been lodged against him across the length and breadth of the state. Even political parties, like the Congress, have filed defamation cases, accusing him of hurting Bengali sentiments and attempting to create social disharmony. Despite previously welcoming him to the West Bengal, state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya firmly rejected Shastri’s diktat saying, “No Baba, no political party can decide what Bengalis eat. We eat Luchi on Ashtami and Mutton on Navami, and we will continue to do so… No Baba is bigger than Swami Vivekananda”. Leaders of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left also slammed him.
The RSS and BJP are focussing heavily on West Bengal to expand a unified pan-Indian Hindu nationalist identity, which is an effort to reshape and override traditional Bengali pluralism and secularism. RSS views capturing the socio-political space in West Bengal as vital for its goal of Hindu civilizational consolidation across India. Strategy planners have noted that winning over the cultural and political landscape of Bengal would be a major milestone for the wider Hindutva project.
The saffron ecosystem actively attempts to incorporate revered Bengali figures—such as Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, and Subhas Chandra Bose—into a virulently Hindu nationalist narrative. Interestingly, this reinterprets Bengal’s reformist and secular history to fit a communal majoritarian framework. Historically, the middle-class Bengali bhadralok and regional intelligentsia prided themselves on a distinct, syncretic cultural ethos (incorporating Sufi, Baul, and humanist traditions) that remained largely resistant to northern-style narrow majoritarian politics. Any emphasis on a centralized, Hindi-Hindu political vocabulary from national headquarters often clashes with the linguistic and secular pride inherent in Bengali identity.
The relationship between Bengali identity and its historically strong leftist orientation is a subject of significant historical and sociological debate. Rather than one being inherently “more effective” than the other, the two have deeply influenced, reinforced, and at times conflicted with each other over the last century. From the 1960s through the early 2000s, leftist politics became deeply woven into the fabric of Bengali identity. Bengali culture encourages literature, and poetry. Leftist ideology found a natural home in this environment. The secular framework of leftist politics aligned well with this cultural stance, resisting religious polarization for a long time. A leftist orientation proved highly effective in shaping a politically conscious, secular, and culturally vibrant Bengali identity throughout the 20th century. It fostered a society that valued education, literature, and agrarian equity.
While rest of India, especially North and East India looked at leftism as an idea imported from Russia and China, since the Bengali psyche was heavily shaped by the anti-colonial struggle and early leftist leaders were active in the freedom movement and fought against British imperialism, leftism was viewed not as a foreign import, but as a continuation of Bengali patriotism and radical defiance. RSS and BJP fear this.
Obviously, for its rise and expansion in Bengal, the saffron camp needed to attack and smash the hitherto syncretic Bengali culture and identity. It tried to do so during assembly election, but could not accomplish. Eventually it had to opt for manipulating the electoral system through the Election Commission of India, via the highly questionable Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which excluded over seven crore voters from the electoral roll. The BJP’s gamble paid off and it won. However, now the Gujarat-headquartered BJP has opted for visceral attack through godmen like Bageshwar. The saffron camp has a number of godmen on its roll. But no other religious figurehead spoke on this delicate issue.
Bageshwar was in fact used by Vishwa Hindu Parishad to perform the task. He chose to publicly target non-vegetarian food consumption during Durga Puja due to a fundamental clash between North Indian (Vaishnava) traditions and Eastern Indian (Shakta) traditions. He has a considerable influence on non-Bengalis, especially Gujaratis and Marwaris. During a recent Hanuman Katha event in Howrah, he strongly aligned himself with an advisory issued by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which requested that non-vegetarian stalls be kept away from Durga Puja pandals. Shastri took this VHP message forward by labelling those who consume non-vegetarian food during the festival as “sinners” (pakhandis) and calling the practice unholy, against ‘Sanatan’ strictures.
Shastri primarily operates out of Madhya Pradesh and caters to a North/Central Indian demographic. In these regions, the nine days of Navratri are strictly associated with fasting, rigid vegetarianism, and absolute abstinence from onion, garlic, and meat. The clash of Vaishnava vs. Shakta traditions highlights the distinct ways different sects worship. Eastern India heavily practices Shakta Hinduism (worship of the Goddess as the supreme power). In Shakta traditions, fish (maach) and mutton (patha) are not considered “dirty” or sinful. Significantly, Shastri often uses public platforms to advocate a uniform code of Hindu conduct.
One development is quite noticeable. Shastri, besides having the support of non-Bengali EBC and OBC migrants from Bihar and UP, Gujaratis and Marwaris, enjoys the backing of the BJP turncoats, who migrated from TMC and Congress. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, a migrant from TMC, has been his ardent supporter and had shared the stage with Shastri where he castigated Bengali Hindus for eating nonveg during Puja. For preventing the narrative from alienating local Hindu voters, the Bengal BJP quickly distanced itself from Shastri’s diktat. Shastri was recently welcomed to the state with fanfare by prominent local BJP leaders, making the situation politically risky. (IPA Service)
