The West Bengal unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have refused to follow the state government’s instructions on Durga idols immersions, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. Their refusal came a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had issued an order against the immersion of idols after 6 pm on September 30 till Muharram processions ended. Muharram will be observed on October 1 this year.
“Hindus will immerse the idols following shaashtra guidelines,” Jisnu Basu, the general secretary of RSS’ south Bengal unit, told the Hindustan Times. “It is the government’s duty to ensure that both communities are able to perform their rituals as per religious guidelines. Hindus will immerse idols after 6 pm on Bijoya Dashami as the almanac allows it.”
The VHP also said that immersion processions will continue from 6 pm to 11 pm on Dashami, which falls on September 30. “The government cannot deprive the Hindus to appease the Muslims,” Sachindranath Singha, who is in charge of VHP’s West Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim and Andaman units, told the Hindustan times.
The West Bengal chief minister had passed a similar order in 2016, but the Kolkata High Court had stayed the directive. “Last year, under similar circumstances, the court was approached at the last moment and the judge rebuked the state government for appeasing minorities at the cost of the majority. His order makes it clear it is the administration’s duty to ensure peaceful commencement of both events,” said the RSS general secretary.
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