According to 2011 census data, Hindus constituted 70.54% of the population compared to 72.47% in 2001. Muslim population rose to 27.01% from 25.25% during the period under comparison.
Coimbatore : The RSS on Tuesday accused the Mamata Banerjee government of encouraging “jihadi” groups and anti- national elements in West Bengal due to what it called TMC’s Muslim vote bank politics. It also expressed concern over the “declining” Hindu population in the state.
A resolution adopted at the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS’ top policy-making body, condemned the extremist violence. “This (decline in Hindu population in West Bengal) is a matter of serious concern to the unity and integrity of the country,” RSS Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said while briefing reporters about the deliberations. The resolution said the ABPS strongly “condemns the violence by extremists and the Muslim appeasement policy of the state government and calls upon the countrymen to create awareness against the Jihadi violence and the communal politics of the state government.”
Hosabale said after partition, the Hindus from East Pakistan were forced to seek refuge in West Bengal. It was not surprising that due to such large influx, the Hindu population in the state, which constituted 78.45% in 1951 had declined to 70.54% as per the 2011 census.
Hosable urged the Centre to ensure firm action against the anti-national jihadi elements within the state in the interest of national security. Listing out several incidents of bomb blasts, arson, violence and “molestation of women” reported in West Bengal in the past few years, Hosabale said the worst sufferers of these atrocities on the Hindu society had been the members of Scheduled Castes. –PTI
