Tapan Ghosh (67), the face of Hindu resistance movement in West Bengal, died of Covid-19 in Kolkata on Sunday. He had been hospitalised since 28 June after being diagnosed with the infection. After some false signs of recovery, he passed away on Sunday evening. Dr Sambit Patra, BJP national spokesperson, himself a corona survivor, never knew Ghosh personally. He was the first to draw my attention to the news of Ghosh’s death breaking on social media. It appeared he was deeply affected by the news, and wanted to get in touch with someone close to Ghosh. Later I found, Dr Patra, amongst several other BJP functionaries/MPs, had tweeted condolence messages. The ABVP, of which Ghosh was once a functionary, also condoled his death. Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya, and Dilip Ghosh, president, West Bengal BJP, also mourned his passing away. The most emotional farewells came not from the Twitterati, the social media elites, but Facebook users. Most of them had worked under him in Hindu Samhati, or in Bajrang Dal (during his RSS days), and found their lives touched.
Ghosh’s death is perceived as a “major loss” by his adherents. He was the one who triggered an apolitical Hindutva upsurge in West Bengal in 2008. The wheels of change he set into motion, however, are unlikely to reverse now. The change in political discourse of the state was evident when the BJP’s seats tally shot up to 18 in the 2019 general elections from merely two in 2014. Ghosh was not affiliated to any political party as a matter of principle, arguing that distressed Hindus from any political background could approach him without hesitation. He did not want to foreclose that option by joining any political party. He helped bring a change in atmosphere with his courageous fight.
Ghosh was the right man at the right time. He had been an RSS worker for 35 years, discharging his responsibilities in ABVP, Bajrang Dal, etc, with distinction. He was stationed in Delhi in 2005, when this writer had the first opportunity to meet him. He used to lead the “Buddha Amarnath Yatra” (Rajouri, J&K) with a large delegation. Soon afterwards Ghosh got transferred to Kolkata, to look after organisational works in West Bengal and Assam. His contacts with Delhi, however, endured.
He was feeling frustrated within the “saffron bureaucracy”. Ghosh wanted to do something more direct, relevant and concrete for Hindus. He ended his ties with the RSS in 2007 without any clear idea about the future. In an email of that period he said he abhorred organising Hindus for organisation sake; tigers being brave roam free, only deer and lambs being timid exhibit herd instincts. Finally, he settled for a loose organisation Hindu Samhati. It focused on the frontier states West Bengal and Assam where Hindus in the countryside felt increasingly threatened due to infiltration and demographic marginalisation. The new organisation was launched to a house full at Indian Association Hall at B.B. Ganguly Street in Kolkata on 14 February 2008. His initiative found most resonance with rural masses. He had faith in their common sense, dynamism and attachment to Hinduism. Within one year his foundation day meeting moved from being “housefull” to “ground-full”. Many former RSS men also switched side to Hindu Samhati, a fact that RSS never took kindly, but acquiesce with Ghosh’s rising clout on ground level.
What were Ghosh’s methods that led to the meteoric rise of Hindu Samhati? Advocate Prasun Maitra, a former HS activist, has an insight into the subject. First, Ghosh was able to “Bengalitise” Hindutva with slogans like “Jai Ma Kali” and “Hindu Samhati: Hindur Swarthe Lorche, Lorbe” (Hindu Samhati will fight for Hindu interests). Second, he placed the rural, backward, and marginalised population of Hindus in the centre of his universe. Third, Hindu Samhati believed providing immediate and on-spot succour to Hindus in trouble. Fourth, it believed in looking eye-to-eye whether it was jihadi elements or the authorities. After the Trinamool Congress came to power in West Bengal in May 2011 the Kolkata Police started refusing permission for Hindu Samhati Foundation Day. The organisation approached Kolkata High Court, outfaced the police, to get the permission and hold the rally. Later, the West Bengal government stopped harassing them. Fifth, Tapan-da was accessible to anybody and had no airs of being a leader. This was the very reason why his reputation increased, and many other leaders had to acknowledge his leadership. As he went to jail, his popularity soared. Sixth, he intelligently used the ICT resources, beginning from Gmail and culminating in Facebook and WhatsApp posts in Bengali and English. He thus reached out everywhere from rural to international audiences.
Ghosh was able to break the adverse “Bhadralok” consensus — in India’s most secularised state — to reveal the groundswell for Hindutva. The Hindu Samhati used to meticulously document events of atrocities on Hindus along with photographs, which Bengali newspapers and channels would blackout, and post them on their website besides printing in their newsletter Samhati Samachar. Whenever any Hindu Samhati activist was detained or arrested, the mobile numbers of local SHO and Superintendent of Police were shared over SMS and social media. People from New Jersey, to New Delhi let alone local Noapara would immediately start calling and sending messages to those numbers. The West Bengal Police was in awe.
After the Hindu Samhati Foundation Day, 2018, he handed over his charge to Debtanu Bhattacharya. Subsequently, Ghosh distanced himself from any kind of organisational work. He, however, had already changed the discourse and dynamics in the state.
Julius Caesar dead was more powerful than Julius Caesar alive. Though Tapan Ghosh has passed away, his spirit lives on. He reminds us of Bengal revolutionaries of yesteryears. It will not be possible to stop the wheel of thought and action that he set into motion. As Subhas Chandra Bose said, “In this mortal world, everything perishes and will perish — but ideas and ideals and dreams do not. One individual may die for an idea but that idea will, after his death incarnate itself in a thousand lives.”
The writer is an author and independent researcher. The views expressed herein are his personal.