A march down a perilous path

Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh surveys the arms on display at the Jholi Bajrang Akhara in Kharagpur town in West Midnapore on Sunday. The arms from the akhara, which is over 40 years old and is not covered by the 10-year cut-off announced by the chief minister, were later used in the Ram Navami procession. Picture by Saikat Santra

TT, Calcutta: Ram Navami, a devout and joyous celebration at homes and temples in Bengal till recently, was transformed into a saw-edged show of strength on the streets on Sunday.

Tension built up in several places and burst through in at least one village, serving a grim notice on the treacherous turns that lie ahead if Bengal politics goes further down a path it had shunned until a few years ago.

The hallmark of the processions in several parts of Bengal was the dominant presence of weapons, not all of them ceremonial. Knives with serrated blades and swords lacking in ceremonial glint but radiating menace were brandished without reserve.

At least in one place, pre-teens - both boys and girls - wielded stout sticks and shouted slogans in mock rage. It was not clear why the young needed to look irate on a celebratory occasion.

Neither was it clear whether they had been told they were celebrating the birthday of Lord Ram, whom devotees revere as " maryada purushottam", the epitome of conduct and propriety.

Some saw the hand of "competitive Hindutva" - a euphemism for the Trinamul Congress's decision to respond to the Sangh parivar with its own processions. Opinion also exists that other mainstream parties should not vacate the space and leave the field clear for the Sangh to interpret and influence Hinduism the way it wants.

On Sunday, the arms were mostly seen in processions associated with the Sangh parivar and the BJP, which has been striving to expand its footprint in Bengal. Arms were not noticed in the Trinamul rallies.

Last year, too, arms were on display. But this time, the tenor of some of the rallies seemed to have undergone a change with the scales tilting more towards a muscular, if not militant, display of faith.

A clash broke out in Purulia when a group of marchers wanted to make a detour through a pocket that was not on the original route. One policeman was grievously injured and three other policemen suffered milder wounds.